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Like MANY others, I jumped in on the awesome Reaper Bones Kickstarter and now have around 200 or so unpainted plastic Bones to paint in the near future. I'm very excited to get into this plastic mini painting hobby, but I'll need some expert advice :)
I've been reading up on various message boards but I have a few questions. I'll post each one separately so things can stay on topic. Please remember that I am ONLY interested in how these questions, answers and advice applies to the plastic Bones minis. I'm not interested in painting metal minis.
Onward!
Bones supposedly do not need primed before painting (assuming you wash them well with soap and water to remove any residual mold release agent).
For those that have actually painted some Bones, did you try painting them without priming them first and, if so, how did it go?
I bought a few 'test' bones models a few months ago to get used to them in preparation for Bones-mas.
I picked up 5 (Minotaur, Gnoll, Ogre, Bugbear, Purple Worm), and started painting them straight out of the package. The first two had no issues with using GW paints on them straight from the package.
On one (the Gnoll), I had beading of normal paint, so I washed it (and the other two) with dish soap.
When I came back to them I had no issues with beading when using normal paints. When using an ink on bare plastic, it didn't react the way I would like, it almost acted like water on rain-x... it just slid around. I sprayed the model with primer and it inked perfectly well.
So! If you're going to put base colors on the models before inking, you can skip priming entirely and go straight to the basecoat stage. If you wanted to ink the bare plastic, I would probably expect to prime it first (even if you wanted to keep it white), but depending on the ink and the model, it might work out for you. That said, for the majority (if not all) of the models, I don't think you'd want to ink over Bonesium-white, so you can safely basecoat without priming if you want to work up from white. There is still value in spray-priming black, grey, or whatever basecolor though, as a time-saver.
Buglips the Goblin on the Reaper Forums (under the WIP in Craft Corner) has shown his painted models for a while now. He swears by not priming. he doesn't do a lot of inking, but he certainly does paint HORDES of the things!
Here's a link to a discussion on the Reaper boards which touches on priming too (plus how to straighten/re-position any bent weapons, arms, wings etc.).
You have to be careful which primer you chose if you want to prime them. Some (I think the consensus are enamel based primers) will react weirdly with the plastic the minis are made of and never fully dry - i.e. they stay tacky from the primer.
There are some different primers mentioned in the above thread.
From that thread and from what I've been able to gather from elsewhere on the internet, the two primers with the best results are any of the Army Painter aerosol primers (they come in a wide variety of colours, handy if you need to paint many similar coloured models or a large model) or Vallejo's Acrylic-Polyurethane Surface Primer (generally used in an airbrush, but can be brushed on too).
I plan on priming my models when they arrive (after washing them first) since I always dilute my paints when painting them, so they won't adhere properly if I don't prime them (paint straight from the bottle is just too thick, it can obscure details and leave ugly brush marks).
Marc, if you are using Reaper's Master Series Paint, you do not need to prime the Bones.
I painted my first Bones models at Gen Con last year, threw the painted figures in my backpack, and took them out when I got home. They were fine.
I did that because there were a lot of people asking about not primering the models at the paint-n-take, and I wanted to be sure about my answer before I gave it.
I have no experience with Bones using other paints as a basecoat.
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Marc, if you are using Reaper's Master Series Paint, you do not need to prime the Bones.
I painted my first Bones models at Gen Con last year, threw the painted figures in my backpack, and took them out when I got home. They were fine.
I did that because there were a lot of people asking about not primering the models at the paint-n-take, and I wanted to be sure about my answer before I gave it.
I have no experience with Bones using other paints as a basecoat.
I am indeed going to be using Reaper's Master Series Paint - I added sets 1 and 2 to my Vampire level and I just ordered a few additional colors, plus some brown Reaper ink to try today!
The paints will be fine. The ink won't work as a basecoat; it needs paint to adhere properly.
There's a whole discussion of inks vs paints that I won't get into, but if you basecoat with straight MSP paint, you'll be fine putting inks over the top.
From what Reaper's facebook thread on the subject says, the only paint that doesn't work well on them right out of the package is games workshop (citidel) paints
I wouldn't believe that until testing it first. It sounds more like a marketing thing to get you to buy their own paints instead of the GW ones. Either way, I have some citadel paints sitting here, and I'll be getting some of the Reaper paint along with my Vampire order. I'll be testing it and find out for sure.
From what Reaper's facebook thread on the subject says, the only paint that doesn't work well on them right out of the package is games workshop (citidel) paints
I've got a collection of Citadel paints that goes back to 2001, and while I didn't use every bottle of paint I have on my 5 un-primed bones, I did use about 30 different colors... and none of them had any issues adhering to bare bones once washed (and on two models they had no issues adhering without being washed).
maybe the one bone that I had beading on pre-wash would have taken Reaper paints without beading? But I don't foresee and issues with using my GW paints. Which is a good thing, because I've got several hundred pots of the stuff at this point.
I wouldn't believe that until testing it first. It sounds more like a marketing thing to get you to buy their own paints instead of the GW ones. Either way, I have some citadel paints sitting here, and I'll be getting some of the Reaper paint along with my Vampire order. I'll be testing it and find out for sure.
:rolleyes: yeah it couldn't possibly have anything to do with current GW paints being complete crap. Back in the day Citadel was the best (if most expensive) option out there. Now? I'd rather paint with dog shit than that stuff.
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I wouldn't believe that until testing it first. It sounds more like a marketing thing to get you to buy their own paints instead of the GW ones. Either way, I have some citadel paints sitting here, and I'll be getting some of the Reaper paint along with my Vampire order. I'll be testing it and find out for sure.:rolleyes: yeah it couldn't possibly have anything to do with current GW paints being complete crap. Back in the day Citadel was the best (if most expensive) option out there. Now? I'd rather paint with dog s~&+ than that stuff.
That's annoying, Citadel paints are much easier to buy here (UK) than any other.
What makes them inferior?
I wouldn't believe that until testing it first. It sounds more like a marketing thing to get you to buy their own paints instead of the GW ones. Either way, I have some citadel paints sitting here, and I'll be getting some of the Reaper paint along with my Vampire order. I'll be testing it and find out for sure.:rolleyes: yeah it couldn't possibly have anything to do with current GW paints being complete crap. Back in the day Citadel was the best (if most expensive) option out there. Now? I'd rather paint with dog s~&+ than that stuff.That's annoying, Citadel paints are much easier to buy here (UK) than any other.
What makes them inferior?
Nothing but opinion. Some are worse than their former incarnations, some are just as good, some are better.
Same as with every paint line.If one doesn't like GW paints (or doesn't want to support GW/pay their prices) there's always the option of Vallejo's ranges, Privateer Press' P3 range or Coat D'Arms (supposedly the old GW/Citadel paint formulas) - all of which should be easy to get in Europe (either in gaming stores or through any of the numerous online stores).
If anyone is unsure what colour to get to replace another company's colour, here's a colour comparison chart (doesn't cover everything, but it's a good start).
I also think it's more of a matter of opinion. I use mostly Citadel's paints but also a range of Vallejo's gaming paints. I prefer Citadel's ones in most cases, though their bottles are inferior to Vallejo's. Caps don't close well and you have to clean them regularily to keep the paint from drying between the bottle and the cap. Also had some bad luck with already dried paint in a sealed bottle. And some of the paints have a strange mixture that requires very rigorous shaking before getting them to flow properly. Other than that I think threy're great =).
I had a bad experience priming a bunch. I used a spray primer, and it reacted badly with the plastic in that it has never dried properly and left them felling permanently tacky- almost as if the chemicals in the primer are melting the plastic.
If you do prime, I'd do the brush on primer not a spray primer.
I had a bad experience priming a bunch. I used a spray primer, and it reacted badly with the plastic in that it has never dried properly and left them felling permanently tacky- almost as if the chemicals in the primer are melting the plastic.
If you do prime, I'd do the brush on primer not a spray primer.
Like I mentioned above (and as is discussed in the thread I linked to) it depends on what kind of primer you use. Some spray on/aerosol primers don't cause this.