Paints used with Bones


Miniatures

Dark Archive

Hi. I have someone in my group that wants to paint her Bones minis & wanted to know if she can use Acrylic paints for them. I have absolutely no knowledge of painting minis. I couldn't do it to save my life. I went to Reaper website & I couldn't find the answer. If you can help I would appreciate it. Thank You


BeefSupreme wrote:
Hi. I have someone in my group that wants to paint her Bones minis & wanted to know if she can use Acrylic paints for them. I have absolutely no knowledge of painting minis. I couldn't do it to save my life. I went to Reaper website & I couldn't find the answer. If you can help I would appreciate it. Thank You

Yes, she can use acrylic paints. If she gets on youtube there are a hundred different tutorials on the subject. I started with a starter acrylic paint kit from Hobby Lobby and gradually added in higher-quality paints (currently using Vallejo, which are acrylic dropper bottles). She will need to use a primer and finish, as well.


Absolutely. Most miniature paint lines are acrylic paints. You can use acrylic craft paints too, depending on your budget and skill level (craft paints usually have a less finely ground paint pigment than actual miniature paints).
The second largest paint product when it comes to miniature paint lines is enamel based paints, although they are rarely used in fantasy miniature painting (they are usually used with model car/plane/ship miniatures). Enamel based spray paints (for priming miniatures) seem to stay sticky on Bones models so regular enamel paints might do the same. This can probably be worked around by priming the Bones with some of the non-enamel based spray paints/primers.

So, if she has Games Workshop, Reaper, Vallejo, P3, Coat d'Arms or similar acrylic paints, no problem!

EDIT:
Acrylic paints works fairly OK directly on Bones miniatures, without priming, if they are washed thoroughly with a mild soap (ordinary dish washing soap) to remove the mould release residue they might still have on them. If one should want to prime them the 4 products that seem to be the best are:
Army Painter primers
Krylon Dual Paint + Primer
Vallejo Acrylic-Polyurethane Surface Primer (can be brushed on or used in an airbrush)
Liquid Gesso


Does she have an internet connection?

The Reaper forums have some serious help for Bones painters:
http://www.reapermini.com/forum/index.php?/forum/48-bones-miniatures-legend ary-encounters/

Dark Archive

Thanks All. This really helps. I gave her this link & she is off to buy paints today. Once again thanks.

RPG Superstar 2015 Top 8

ONE THING TO KNOW:

Bones are designed to be BEST painted by Reaper Master Series paints specifically. I'm sorry I can't find the video tutorial that showed this (Youtube is now flooded with "how to paint Bones" tutorials and my search fu is too weak to find the one that compares them best). According to what I have read, however, the RMS paint stick best to the Bones and you don't need to prime them.

If you use other paint, I would test out the results. If you find the paint beads or has inconsistent coverage, I suggest priming the miniatures first, or preparing them with gesso. Then things should be fine.

SECOND THING TO KNOW:
If she is using ordinary craft acrylics, she should get some acrylic paint thinner, as craft acrylics tend to be a much thicker consistency than miniature acrylics (which both have more finely ground pigment and different additives to make them work best for miniatures). Craft acrylics will work fine but you do need to be sure you thin them down or they will show brushstrokes and obscure detail on the minis (and Bones aren't the best minis for crisp detail anyway, so you don't want to do anything that further obscures what detail is there).

Sovereign Court

Acrylic thinner is going to be crucial for the base coat as well.

Normally you thin miniature paints down with water. The PVC material bones are made out of is hydrophobic - water beads up on it. So for your base coat you need to either not thin the paint (RMS, Vallejo, Citadel) or thin it with matte medium / acrylic thinner (craft paints).

Or as Deathquaker suggests, prime the mini with gesso or another brush on primer. Check the reaper forums to see which primers work well with PVC.

After the base coat is down you can thin with water as normal, the paint will stick to the base coat.


DeathQuaker wrote:
Bones are designed to be BEST painted by Reaper Master Series paints specifically.

What about the HD paints?

Anyway, the current Reaper KS has two HD paint sets, $18 for 12 paints, as well as $10 for 50 bases. Good price.

HD paints are better for basecoats, MSP for details. Search on "Reaper MSP HD" for more info.

Sovereign Court

The HD paints work well with bones.


Pathfinder Maps Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Very important with Bones - wash them first. Sometimes there's residue from the agent they use to release the mini from the mold. I think they recommend a bit of mild dishsoap (e.g. Dawn) and maybe using a toothbrush to scrub, if necessary.

And if the mini is bent or deformed, get some water not-quite-boiling, and dunk the mini it - it will generally spring back into its original pose without any need to reposition, although you can bend it into position if necessary. Then dunk it into very cold water. (Don't ever use that pot for food after using for plastic. And don't squeeze the mini too hard, nor let it touch the metal pot.)


One thing I like to do with metal minis takes some work to make effective with the Bones minis. After the spray primer dries on my metal minis, I like to give them a quick wash with a seriously thinned black or dark grey so I can see all of the details better than I could with a white mini.

With the Bones minis, which act (for the most part) like they are pre-primered, you CANNOT do this, as the Bones polymer will repel the watered-down acrylics! If you like to do this it is IMPERATIVE that you primer it first. If you primer it first you will find that the white miniature accepts white primer quite well but it is difficult to tell if you have achieved the coverage you want (white on white, you know).

For most people this won't be a problem, but if you use this technique...be advised!

I recommend spray primering black, since it shows up so well on the white polymer, followed by re-primering with a brush-on white primer on any pieces that should not be black prior to the base coat.

If you just want a painted mini, or don't like the wash-to-pick-out-details method, please disregard. All others, you're welcome.

Community / Forums / Gamer Life / Gaming / Miniatures / Paints used with Bones All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in Miniatures