"What does "a joy to paint" mean?" Topic

Do they make you whistle "Ode to Joy" while you paint? Do you tapdance between figures?
Or do you just mean that they are fun?

I have a rather minimalist approach.
To me, "A joy to paint" means:

There is not a mold line running down the middle of the face, with a 0.5mm misalignment.

The straps do not blend together. They also line up… The number of straps on the front of the figure matches that on the back.

There is not a lead tumor under the cap bill. Or armpit. Or between the gun and the chest.

The gun barrel is not posed so I slurp Gunmetal on scarlet.

The belt on the loader lines up with the machine gun on the other piece.

There is not too much "stuff" piled on the back, like bags, pouches, canteens, ditty bags, dirty bags, medicine bags, laundry bags… Poor Prussians and Hessians, I feel for you.

The stuff I have to drybrush is not an interior detail.

The rider sits on his horse, and does not look like Ichabod Crane on a stampeding mule.

I am down wit dat.

The missus, who gets to hear me cuss at figures, yet is far more critical than I of sculpting and casting quality, says, "That just about says it all."

Allen

I concur!

I would also add no bad mold lines anywhere nor major flash.

I paint them, and I am happy doing it.

Which pretty much requires what you said.

Sharp, clear visible detail. That's what gets me humming Ode to Joy. Which now, by the way, I can't get out of my head, thank you very much.

It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small, small world.

Does that help?

While we're at it what does "paints up nice" mean?

Yeup, something crisp that doesn'r require squinting and guessing where the paint is to go.

to me, Extra C, it means a figure that doesn't look so hot in the bare metal but after priming and painting, turns out above expectations ?

You got the gist of it John. Crisp, well defined details, with minimal flash or lumps. Also no craters or pits in the casting either. I also like reasonable faces on my minis. This is more a 25-28mm thing but it's always nice when the face you are looking at looks more than vaguely humanoid or something that either came out of the backside of a nuclear holocaust or from John Carpenter's The Thing.

"A Joy to Paint" ????

Never heard of such a ridiculous thing in my life. Nothing is "a joy to paint." What are you crazy? :-)

Grimm

I am actually happy trimming flash (with what's left of my fingers) but as I manly paint 15mm or smaller now it is not too much of a problem

For me I do like crisp detail but also the figure itself has to fit with the minds eye image I have and as I only have Scifi and Fantasy this can be hard.

Figures from a new range or supplier are always a joy as I love to see the grey metal get coloured by my own little skill – maybe thats the secret to 'joy' watching the item take form under my paint?

Andrew
blog.kings-sleep.me.uk

For me nothing is a joy to paint, but "paints up nice" is a useful term (also called Irregular Miniature Syndrome) for castings that arrive in the post and prompt you to think "what the hell have I bought" only to turn out just dandy once they've got a coat of paint on.

Poses allow access to all points easily. Unfortunately, some of the realistic action poses create spots it is difficult to angle the brush into.
And oh, yeah minimal mold lines a must :)

You hit it on the nose. The blending straps is really one that gets me although the tumor under the cap is quite monstrous as well I must say. All sculptors and casters should read this post of what not to do.

Now, how many manufacturers actually have figures that are a joy to paint as defined above?

Lots have a few, but full ranges are rare. Peter Pig are the most consistent candidate for me, with the exception of their prone figures, which are hit and miss.

It means you get a lass called Joy thrown into the package and she arrives with a paintbrush and paint carousel and paints them for you.

I'm with Fredd.

John's list is technical and is very good. I get irritated with odd lines that I thought I got in hte initial trim, but now show up primed. A joy to paint on hte other hand for me are minis that get me motivated to drop other things and sit down and paint them because they are such nice poses, full of character and detailed. Since that is very subjective it is hard to quanitfy. The same minis might seem a grind now and six months later be hard to put down. I had the Hasslefree (generally a good bet) harem for almost 9 months before I figured out how I wanted to paint them then breezed through.

All Right Fred ! Where do I sign up for that service ?

Joy t paint for me means I sat down and painted 30+ figures and didn't have to chain myself to the chair to get the project done.

I was going to say I agreed with John entirely, but now that I've read Fredd's opinion, I have to agree with him more.

I think a joy to paint means that as the details come out, the figure looks better. All the features that drew you to enjoy the figure (presuming you did so in the first place) are enhanced as the figure is painted, and thus you are encouraged during the painting process to carry on.

Where a sculptor has created fine crisp detail that has not been lost in the casting.

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