75 replies to this topic

[DixonGrfx]

I was at Reaper this last weekend for Paint Club and got a chance to see the Bones line. A couple of guys there were painting some. They had painted them with the MSP line. Initially I was skeptical of the claims that once the figure was painted, you could twist and bend the figure and the paint would remain intact with no chipping or cracking. Much to my astonishment, the claims are totally true. This I assume is in no small part due to the elasticity of the MSP. But these guys had painted their figures with no priming, just strait out of the package. I was curious, from those of you who have used primer on your bones figures, is the paint keeping that elasticity and bounce back when you twist and bend the figure? Or does it cause the paint to stiffen, crack, and chip?

[Adrift]

Can't say, I'm using a small shot of primer and Vallejo paints for the time being. SOON I'm going to place a huge paint order and get HD and MSPs. I'm too chicken to do the bend and twist, so I'm basically treating like they're metal. :)

[Reaperbryan]

We have also done a few here in the shop with various primers, and I think I can say with confidence that unless the primer itself is prone to cracking, (which a good primer won't be) the paint itself will not begin cracking just because you put primer on.

Having said all of this - YES, you can eventually go crazy enough to force these things to happen, but we believe that with normal use, there's enough durability for our claims to hold up quite well.

[Maugan22]

I really don't like the way the bones unprimed take paint, having painted for decades I'm set in my ways and resistant to change but you can't argue with that price point.

I just did a little experiment last night.

painted up one of my bones to a gaming standard using two *light* coats of citadel chaos black as primer. For pigment I used a mix of citadel and reaper paints and it went on nicely. Sealed with Krylon Matt sealant, spent the entirety of today with the model in my pocket up against my keys, phone and wallet as I ran about my office, plus scratching it with my fingernails and bending the weapons every which way when the opportunity presented itself. there's only one somewhat noticable bit of damage where I think my keys scraped the paint off the sword edge but you need to know where to look, I would never even try that with a old school plastic or pewter mini. I'm very impressed, this means less time touching up models after my friends are rough with them.

I think that the acrylic paints we use are naturally flexible but I think there may be a chemical reaction between the primer and the surface of pewter models that creates a brittle layer between them, not a chemist but it's the only way I can explain the great performance I'm seeing from the bones.

I'm now eyeing a vampire pledge for the kickstarter now :D.

[DixonGrfx]

So we are digging up dead threads too!! hehehehe

Maugan, good to know. Sounds like it performed better than I anticipated. Back when... I hadn't bought and painted any Bones yet. Since then I have. Love 'em. Can't beat that price point. I have been painting mine strait out of the package with just a few slices with my xacto to clean up mold lines and have had no issues. Glorious bones kobolds strewn across the table lying dead at the feat of tiny heroes.. And clean up is so easy. Pick up your heroes and scrape the kobolds across the table into their chessex case. All 12 of them, snuggled in the case all together. They have been slain several times over now and I couldn't be happier about it.

[Reaperbryan]

If I may be so bold - My comments are often perceived as biased, so we would definitely appreciate it if those of you with testimonials like this would share them in the comments of the kickstarter. People frequently believe we are exaggerating with our claims of durability, paint retention, and so forth.

[Baphomet69]

I can testify that Bones taste great and are less filling!

[Adrift]

I have had zero issues with a light dusting of primer and vallejo paints on my Bones miniatures; with regards to bending, cracking and/or adherence of paint to the Bones line.

[klarg1]

I cracked open a Gnoll Warrior Bones (Bone?) specifically to try it out before spending all my money on the Kickstarter campaign. I found that really thin paints had some trouble spreading properly on the fresh plastic (it tended to bead up, rather than cover nicely), but slightly thicker paint worked great. I haven't tried primer yet.

I was sure that the bendy chain on the flail would crack and shed paint, but, so far, it shows no signs of wear at all.
(And I have been bending it back and forth to test it.)

Frankly, I can't figure out how they did it. (I suspect voodoo or advanced, alien technology)

Edited by klarg1, 03 August 2012 - 09:01 AM.

[Reaperbryan]

Frankly, I can't figure out how they did it. (I suspect voodoo or advanced, alien technology)

People continue to be amazed that our claims made in our advertising are actually true. I've just had to resign myself to that fact. We have what I consider the best quality, and an amazing new medium that this Kickstarter will help us get out there to everybody. I am glad your experience lived up to our hype.

Normally I'd say keep the news of our advanced alien tech secret, but I'd actually rather you tell everybody.

[klarg1]

People continue to be amazed that our claims made in our advertising are actually true. I've just had to resign myself to that fact. We have what I consider the best quality, and an amazing new medium that this Kickstarter will help us get out there to everybody.

I can't speak for abybody else, but a big part of the skepticism for me came from being burned by low-quality plastic from other companies in the past. The fact that you managed to make a soft, rubbery material that works well and is also cost effective blows my mind.

I do have one question: Do you have a recomendation for what kind of glue sticks best to Bones plastic? I can imagine conversions, basing needs, etc. that would call for it, and it sure doesn't feel like conventional resin, ABS or polystyrene.

Thanks!

[Eilif]

I think the consensus is that any Cyanoacrylate (superglue) works best. I recommend BSI "Insta Cure + " as a good all around glue (I like to have many consistencies on hand) that is available at most model shops and a good bargain, but whatever you have will probably be fine.

I've only got one bones fig, but I'm looking forward to doing some conversions when the kickstarter arrives. Bones cuts really easily and that should make conversions dead easy.

[MiniCannuck]

For glue, I've used superglue for my conversions with great results. When I base them, I use Gorilla Glue. I can't be bothered cutting them from the original bases and find that the natural expansion of the glue help with grading the rest of the base. I then go back with Polyfiller to finish evening it out before painting and adding texture (flock, stone).

[kristof65]

If I may be so bold - My comments are often perceived as biased, so we would definitely appreciate it if those of you with testimonials like this would share them in the comments of the kickstarter.

I just posted my testimonial there.

Further testimony to come after I take my kobolds to my next D&D game in my pocket.

[Paheej]

For glue, I've used superglue for my conversions with great results. When I base them, I use Gorilla Glue. I can't be bothered cutting them from the original bases and find that the natural expansion of the glue help with grading the rest of the base. I then go back with Polyfiller to finish evening it out before painting and adding texture (flock, stone).

Is the material that hard to cut through? I'm interested in basing all my Reaper minis on either 25mm (GW style circle) or 30mm (Privateer Style w/ Lip) bases. If it is a hassle to cut them off I may need to buy Litko thin bases and use green stuff to make it look graded.