36 replies to this topic

[ThornDJL7]

Yea, but looking at them, there aren't many that I would use in my pure fantasy outlook. Nothing against sci-fi, but it's not what I paint. :)

[Pingo]

Don't just go by the color names. Look at the colors themselves and think what use you might have for them. Set #4 has some interesting colors. "Alien goo," "LED blue," and "neon yellow" look pretty bright and might be useful for fire or glowing eyes effects or whatever the name is for brushing on color to look like light playing over a figure. "Lonestar leather" and "IMF olive" appear to be cool, greenish-tinged browns, which are the sort of thing I find useful in a fantasy environment. The other colors look like they'd have their uses too.

I'm not saying you should buy them, only that they have uses beyond their labeled names.

[ThornDJL7]

I'm not saying you should buy them, only that they have uses beyond their labeled names.

LIES!!! The Reaper Police will find you, and destroy you and your blasphemous words!

[Qwyksilver]

I'm thinking about getting sets 1 and 3 simply because all I've got are artists' acrylics, which have a much thicker texture and I suspect are more difficult to handle for specifically miniatures painting. Those two to my eye look like excellent basic sets.

Not to dissuade you from buying from Reaper but the artist acrylics will work perfectly fine on minis. They are quite a bit thicker coming out but you can thin them with no issues since they have such high pigment content. I'd use some acrylic medium plus water instead of just water since these have to be thinned more.

[Pingo]

I'm thinking about getting sets 1 and 3 simply because all I've got are artists' acrylics, which have a much thicker texture and I suspect are more difficult to handle for specifically miniatures painting. Those two to my eye look like excellent basic sets.

Not to dissuade you from buying from Reaper but the artist acrylics will work perfectly fine on minis. They are quite a bit thicker coming out but you can thin them with no issues since they have such high pigment content. I'd use some acrylic medium plus water instead of just water since these have to be thinned more.

Thanks. That's good advice.

I'm still dithering over getting the paints (thankfully the Kickstarter manager thingy isn't out yet so I don't *have* to decide *just* yet). I do have a lot of artists' acrylics in great colors whose compositions and properties I know exactly, which I trust more than premixed colors. I have some reason to believe that Golden fluid matte acrylics or something very like them are the foundation for most mini paints, so I'm trying them out for starters.

But although I think in the long run they are cheaper, more stable, and easier to control, artists' acryics have a steep learning curve compared to premixed, preformulated mini paints. For beginners and people who don't expect to paint more than minis, I think these sets are a good deal.

[cthulhudarren]

So for a n00b painter who is getting vampire and a bunch of extras, cthulhu, all the giants, some dragons... I am getting paint sets 1 and 3, what should I supplement these with? A few artist acrylics (steep learning curve?) in what colors? I'm more interested in the fantasy side, btw. Thanks in advance

[smokingwreckage]

For a beginner I would recommend Reaper's Master Series Paints above all other alternatives. Have a look at the colours, and consider adding a brighter or darker shade of something you might want to use a lot (and therefore shortcut a lot). I would add a dark gold metallic and a really bright silver metallic, and Brown Liner. Kit one gets you a good starting outfit, kit three gives you the all important gold and silver, plus some good shading options.

After that, start painting. If you find yourself wanting something "Like that but brighter", "like that but darker" or "just not that shade of green" then it's time to look for more colours!

Example 1: the MSP "Clear Bright" formulations are extra-bright but not very good at covering. If you find a colour isn't intense enough, grab its "Clear Bright" cousin to layer over it.

Example 2: if you find you want to shade armour deeper and faster, grab some Black Wash.

Example 3: if your metallics just don't come to a bright enough highlight, grab some Pearl White.

Anyway, there's plenty of cheerful advice to be had here on the boards, to help you pick the right colour for the task.

[psyberwolfe1]

So for a n00b painter who is getting vampire and a bunch of extras, cthulhu, all the giants, some dragons... I am getting paint sets 1 and 3, what should I supplement these with? A few artist acrylics (steep learning curve?) in what colors? I'm more interested in the fantasy side, btw. Thanks in advance

Artist acrylics are unnecessary unless you want/need a specific color. I have a bottle of Liquitex Payne's Grey soft body acrylic, but I use it for a very specific purpose. MSP is such a wide paint line you're really spoiled for choice. The best advice is once you get your new paint sets start painting. It will become evident what colors you need as you start working. Or you can be like Buglips and I and have hundreds of bottles of paints for no other reason than we can.

[Qwyksilver]

I will probably never need those coral colors of MSP but gosh darn it...I might...so I must have it.

[buglips*the*goblin]

Or you can be like Buglips and I and have hundreds of bottles of paints for no other reason than we can.

One of these days, one of these days I'm going to look at a miniature and say: "You know what this needs? This needs a good layer of Bullywug Belly." And on that day I'll have it. Maybe only that one time, but I'll have it.

[CashWiley]

I saw paint set 4 right about the time I got this mini in from the UK:



Going to be great for Sedition Wars!

[ced1106]

So for a n00b painter who is getting vampire and a bunch of extras, cthulhu, all the giants, some dragons... I am getting paint sets 1 and 3, what should I supplement these with? A few artist acrylics (steep learning curve?) in what colors? I'm more interested in the fantasy side, btw. Thanks in advance

Get some painting under your belt before you decide. Army Warpainter's Quickshade Strong Ink (not the minwax stuff) is very useful as a general brown wash. Do a search on it. Also, look around the house for something to use as an eye dropper! Very useful for thinning paints! The Master's Brush soap is a must and inexpensive with a Michael's or other craft store coupon. Get some cheap synthetic miniatures brushes to experiment with. When you're ready, move on to sable brushes.

If you want some practice, buy a game or toy set with a ton of mini's and go nuts. Find a sale of craft paints at a craft store, buy a few paints, white spray primer, and pick up a detail brush and a regular-sized brush. If the mini's can fight each other, get a copy of Song of Blade and Heroes for $4. Army men vs. dinosaurs. Cowboys vs. Indians. Farm animals vs. Everyone.

[smokingwreckage]

If you find SOBH not to your taste, there's plenty of other good rules-sets out there. The suggestion of Quickshade and a good brush soap is an excellent one. I'd suggest getting one good fine brush, like a Winsor and Newton Series 7, size 00. Don't bother going down to a 5/0 (ie., 00000) or anything like that, yet.

If you don't have a decent desk lamp or two, with bendy necks and swivelling heads to put the light on the angle you want, start looking for some. Anything will do for now, but you might want to avoid fluro lamps since they can do very strange and sneaky things to contrast and colours.

[DrakeSpirit]

Don't just go by the color names. Look at the colors themselves and think what use you might have for them. Set #4 has some interesting colors. "Alien goo," "LED blue," and "neon yellow" look pretty bright and might be useful for fire or glowing eyes effects or whatever the name is for brushing on color to look like light playing over a figure.

Thats why I ended up getting set 4 as well, there were too many possibilities for funky highlights and detailing

[Adrift]

If you didn't have any paints which of the paint sets would you get? I was thinking I would get 1, 2, and 3. Now I'm thinking of just 1 and 3. Hmm

The only paint set to which I'm indifferent is the one with all the metallics in it. Though, I'll probably get that one too and just give my friends what I don't want.