monash1916 | 20 Dec 2014 1:03 p.m. PST |
I really enjoyed reading all the responses on the "painting eyes on 28mm mini's, yes or no?" But it also made me wonder about something else, do the people who do not paint the eyes also don't paint other details as well? Like for instance brass buttons, buckles or other small things? Sometimes for instance I find it hard to paint all the brass buttons on a uniform in an equal size on a mini…., gets me frustrated a bit. But on the table it is hardly noticable… So how far do you go with details in general, or does it only applies to the eyes of the miniatures? |
whitphoto | 20 Dec 2014 1:13 p.m. PST |
Depends on what I'm painting. If I'm painting a dozen troops to fill out a squad for WWII I won't spend too much time on small details. If it's a character like an officer or for a small model count skirmish game like Malifaux of Infinity then I tend to take the time to paint buttons and whatnot. |
morrigan | 20 Dec 2014 1:15 p.m. PST |
Only applies to the eyes for me. |
Winston Smith | 20 Dec 2014 1:21 p.m. PST |
I hardly ever paint buttons. |
Doug MSC | 20 Dec 2014 1:21 p.m. PST |
I paint everything but the eyes. |
Gone Fishing | 20 Dec 2014 1:33 p.m. PST |
Yes, it's inconsistent, but I do everything but the eyes. |
JezEger | 20 Dec 2014 1:47 p.m. PST |
Depends. Sometimes I paint buttons if they are clearly defined. If not, trying to define them can make them look worse than if you never tried. As with eyes, look at a pair of jeans from 5 yards and see if you can see the brass button. On parade those buttons would be highly polished, before a battle on campaign, probably not. |
wrgmr1 | 20 Dec 2014 1:51 p.m. PST |
I usually paint everything but the eyes. Only on special figures or armies do I paint eyes. |
Timmo uk | 20 Dec 2014 2:03 p.m. PST |
I don't paint eyes and on a lot of figures I leave off all the fine detail that I can't hope to paint in scale. For example, the piping on Napoleonic uniforms is so fine in reality that often the finest it can be painted is so over scale that to me it gives a false impression of the true overall appearance of the historical uniform. I know most disagree with this approach but it makes figures easier to paint if you ignore the tiny fussy stuff and concentrate on painting the units not the individual. If you consider on a real jacket a line of piping may be 6mm wide on a 28mm figure that line should be approximately 0.1mm to be in scale. I can paint a consistent line of less than 1mm but not 0.1 mm. Go down to 18mm figures and that line drops to 0.06mm if it's to be in scale and yet we see figures with piping that is several hundred times over scale… I think all this has happened because many of the magazine images tend to focus on close ups of small groups of 28mm figures rather than complete games/battles that we used to see in the early MW days. This in turn aided by the internet has perhaps lead the hobby down a different path which is more about trying to present a painting tour de force than perhaps more realistic armies which might appear rather more dour. Nothing wrong in each person painting how they wish but trying to capture every last detail can, in some circumstances, be totally counter productive to what I think we're trying to achieve. Less might actually be more, as in more realistic. |
Hlaven | 20 Dec 2014 2:22 p.m. PST |
Faces. Dark wash. Then some highlighting. I would do eyes if I was good at it. But, for 30 years of painting I determined I am not. |
Norman D Landings | 20 Dec 2014 3:24 p.m. PST |
All depends on the sculpt. If the detail is there, clearly sculpted and well-defined, then I paint it. If the detail isn't sculpted on, I rarely bother to paint it on freehand. First, its the aspect of painting I find most difficult and least enjoyable. Secondly, as Timmo points out, painted-on detail is often oversized and appears unconvincing. The exception I make is for stuff that has some tabletop significance, like painting rank insignia on command figures. |
The Nigerian Lead Minister | 20 Dec 2014 4:33 p.m. PST |
If I need them to be individuals, I do the eyes. If not, no eyes. Same on the rest of the details, if they need it stand out they get it, otherwise the ones in the unit may not get that treatment. |
IanKHemm | 20 Dec 2014 4:40 p.m. PST |
With the figures i do for skirmish games i paint every detail because of the small figure count. But when painting battalions I don't even think about it except for special characters (generals and such like). |
vikingtim | 20 Dec 2014 5:19 p.m. PST |
I'm with timmo on this one. |
PatrickWR | 20 Dec 2014 6:04 p.m. PST |
I avoid minis with buttons and buckles … … but I always paint the rivets! |
nnascati | 20 Dec 2014 6:39 p.m. PST |
For pre-1900 figures I will paint buttons, belt buckles etc. whether I do eyes or not. For more modern figures I will not, I assume the buttons are covered by cloth. |
Jamesonsafari | 20 Dec 2014 9:08 p.m. PST |
I will paint buttons, lace and buckles if they are clearly defined. I never paint eyes, they end up looking stupid. I let a dark undercoat or wash shade the eyes in for me. |
Sho Boki | 21 Dec 2014 12:15 a.m. PST |
I painted eyes in 15mm earlier..
..but now I am too lazy to paint them. |
Martin Rapier | 21 Dec 2014 3:33 a.m. PST |
I paint less and less detail ad I get older and just rely on washes and drybrushing. Partly my failing eyesight, but partly because these are wargaming pieces, not display models. I actually went over a bunch of 15mm tanks a few months ago and painted out all the unit specific markings I'd lovingly painted on some years back so as to make them more generic for current use. They just got a heavy top up of mud and dust. The only figures I paint eyes and buttons on are 54mm now, and I can't remember the last time I bothered with things like helmet decals. |
Porthos | 21 Dec 2014 3:54 a.m. PST |
It's (as always) the perception on the table. Soldiers with helmets hardly get eyes because you cannot see them. Officers (with caps) however do. Buttons are only painted if they need to be nice and shiny, or you won't see anything else anymore ;-)). Shield decals ? Definitely, but not to be painted (I am not good enough). The colour of buttons, lace, etcetera, especially in periods like Napoleonic or earlier are often depending on the unit. The (15mm) Prussian Army of 1815 for instance has white or yellow buttons and various coloured collars and shoulderstraps. They most certainly get painted. The gaiters show buttons, so they get painted too (but no more than four or so !). Failing eyesight I try to redress with special painting glasses (which still helps at 68). |
DHautpol | 23 Dec 2014 7:27 a.m. PST |
My Napoleonics are 6mm Adlers; the only figures to have piping depicted on them are my French Light Regiments. The piping is suggested by a very fine line of white around the cuffs and along the edge of the coat turnbacks. I recall seeing some Napoleonic Association re-enacters at Salute one year and being struck how the red piping on the French uniforms was virtually unnoticable at about 20 yards away. |
HammerHead | 24 Dec 2014 9:48 a.m. PST |
Overpainting kind of kills your will to do a whole unit in such details. base coat, first highlight, washes second highlite and that is just the base, yeah I paint buttons.only on 28mm figs. I am more annoyed when manufactures get basic details wrong for the figs I paint |