"Painting Zombicide Miniatures Question?" Topic

How well do the Zombicide miniatures take/hold paint?

Are they hard or flexible plastic?

Any tips appreciated!

I am thinking about getting the game and was wondering if the miniatures could be painted well and hold up for use in ATZ?

Thanks!

James

link

Here's one link, there are many painted examples out there due to the success o the game.

They are pretty hard plastic, nice detail, and given the usual spray of plastic primer take paint well in my experience. The weapons are sturdy, I've had no experience of breaking.

My Army Painter primer came out a bit tacky a few weeks after using it on the Zombicide figures, but Testors Flat Black 1249 seems to work fantastic as a primer.

It's a harder but somewhat flexible plastic, so make for a nice durable figure.

JezEger – your fatties are wonderful ! nice painting on everything .

i only have a couple painted so far . i primed with Liquitex black gesso , painted with Vallejo Model Color , washed with GW coloured shades (new versions) , highlighted with more vallejo and finished with 2 coats of Liquitex matte varnish (stirred , not shaken !) . no problems painting at all and the finish seems very tough . the plastic doesn't flex enough to crack the paint .

Ernie- not mine I'm afraid, just a link to show off how they can look.

Sounds like your painting is similar to mine, except I prefer grey primer with blackwash. Mine take the punishment my nine year old can dish out admirably. Actually, i find them more sturdy then metal. They are not so brittle as to snap when mishandled/dropped, yet have enough flex to bounce without cracking the paint.

I've done the first season figs, and while they do have some flexibility, they haven't had any problems so far. They were washed, then primed white with hardware store spraypaint. Painted with a mix of GW and Vallejo paints and washes.

JezEger – oops ! a nine year old is probably the perfect test for a painted figure , if he can't destroy it nothing can ! :)
i'll try the grey + blackwash method , what wash do you use ?

Normally I use thinned oil from a tube. Thinned with turps it dries very quickly and absolutely flat. I also use Vallejo wash occasionally. Main reason is I have always struggled with black undercoat in seeing details. Blackwash achieves the same result with less eye strain for me, plus the colours tend to show better through grey rather than black.

JezEger – Do you varnish or fix the oils?
It's something I'd like to try eventually. (I've never used oils for figure painting OR 2D art.)

… also would waterbased oils work? Or should I go full-renaissance and do proper oils :)

evilcartoonist- No, I don't do anything special with the oils. Just thin with regular paint store turps and off you go. It gradates into the recesses and acts as a great pre-shade. Depending on the finished colour of the mini I might use burnt umber or black, or a mix. All the nightmare stories about oils drying is when you use linseed oil, it takes days and days to dry. Another tip is to squeeze the oil onto a napkin first as this will soak up much of the oil in the paint. I've been doing this for some 30 years and never had any issues with painting over it.
I've never used water based oils (sounds like a contradiction!), I always use cheap tubes from the craft store, after all, its only for washes. If I was doing a painting I might be more selective.
Another thing you can do with oil is to apply a little thicker (something like milk), then sponge off. Works well for weathering and horses.

Thanks all!

Ah- I missed the part where you're using them just for the washes; I'm still going to try. I always enjoy a little experimentation … with my paints .. that didn't sound good either:)

Thanks for the info!