Dave Crowell | 18 Jan 2015 7:30 p.m. PST |
Why do I bother painting details I can't see on the tabletop? Like all the collars, cuffs, scabbards, etc on 15mm or smaller horse&musket figures? yes, when I pick up the individual figures they look better, but after the dip and basing when I put them on the table I'm lucky to see the basic coat color. Coat, trousers, musket, hat, three spots of flesh, cross belts, and that's all I can usually see anyway. But, still I persist in painting all those little details, doing individual markings on horses, painting tiny straps and mustaches, if it's on the figure I paint it. I painted about a company worth of 6mm Epic Space Marines with full chapter and rank insignia because I could. That was a serious pain. I usually block paint and dip, instead of shading and highlighting, but I still block paint every single detail. Why Anyone else find themselves doing tis with small scale figures? |
Winston Smith | 18 Jan 2015 7:40 p.m. PST |
Because when you hold it in front of your nose while painting it, it annoys you when those places do not have the requisite paint on it. I refuse to paint eyes yet I am a sucker for buttonhole lace. |
morrigan | 18 Jan 2015 8:16 p.m. PST |
Yes, if the sculptor has taken the time to sculpt it then I will try to paint it. |
dBerczerk | 18 Jan 2015 8:25 p.m. PST |
Try painting a few 54mm figures. It may help you overcome the compulsion to paint all those details on your 6mm and 15mm figures. |
gamertom | 18 Jan 2015 8:47 p.m. PST |
I bought some 15mm ACW from a friend many years ago that were block painted with no straps or fine detail, but gently washed. On the tabletop you can't tell them apart from the ones I painted with all the details. The difference only shows up when you pick them up and hold them about a foot away. The folks who tell you to paint at arms length may be right. Of course you have to accept you won't look at them any closer! |
raylev3 | 18 Jan 2015 9:18 p.m. PST |
You are correct….think about how much more efficient we'd be if we did as you suggest. And no one would really notice once the game began. |
McKinstry | 18 Jan 2015 10:13 p.m. PST |
I paint camouflage patterns on 1/6000 ships (including destroyers) and my 6mm philosophy is, if it's there, I'm painting it. OCD or not, it makes me happy and it doesn't matter if I'm the only person that knows the detail is there. |
wrgmr1 | 19 Jan 2015 12:12 a.m. PST |
I'm with McKinstry, if the detail is there I'll paint it, even if no one else sees it. |
ochoin | 19 Jan 2015 3:12 a.m. PST |
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GildasFacit | 19 Jan 2015 3:15 a.m. PST |
I paint a lot for others and find that, in general, it isn't only painters that want and appreciate the details you can't see on the table at playing distance, my customers do too. Maybe it is because I work like Dave Crowell and the others and so I only get customers that want that but I'm not convinced. Painters & owners of small scales are no less fussy about their work & collections than those of larger scales. To be brutally honest, very few 28mm units could be ID'ed across a table without a flag and yet they probably have the correct pattern of lace around the pockets. Why should 6mm be that different ? |
Striker | 19 Jan 2015 4:26 a.m. PST |
I dumped 15mm as a scale for this reason. Detail was there so it was painted but the scale meant many more figures than a game with 28mm. So the volume needed like 6mm but the time taken closer to 28mm. |
normsmith | 19 Jan 2015 4:42 a.m. PST |
A friends brother paints models (the 6 – 8 inch high ones). He was painting an ancient archer. He painted each arrow in full detail and then glued them into the quiver …. so all you could see were the flights ….. but he had to know that all the detail had been painted. |
Dave Crowell | 19 Jan 2015 5:56 a.m. PST |
I did once play in a 28mm F&IW game against Mohawks that had been primed white and washed with chestnut ink. It was a couple of hours into the game before I noticed. With a scenic table, and the distraction of a good game none of us noted the unpainted figures. Yet still, if the detail it there I want to try to paint it. It's Napoleonic Austrian Hussars that have brought me to regretting this philosophy… Next time, it's French in great coats |
FABET01 | 19 Jan 2015 6:36 a.m. PST |
Sometimes it's about the journey, not the destination. |
LeonAdler | 19 Jan 2015 6:57 a.m. PST |
Dips belong on the dinner table for nachos………… L |
Sundance | 19 Jan 2015 7:05 a.m. PST |
I do this on 15s and 25s – would never try it on 6s. |
Fizzypickles | 19 Jan 2015 7:38 a.m. PST |
Paint some with and some without all those details. When completed, put them on the table and stand back. Then decide whether or not it's worth it. |
John Treadaway | 19 Jan 2015 7:40 a.m. PST |
Dips belong on the dinner table for nachos I used to think like that too, Leon. Then I checked my calandar, worked out how long I have left on this ball of rock, and then worked out (on the basis that I won't play with unpainted figures) where, on my graph, 'time left' (X) meets 'available toys that need to be painted' (Y) and – for 15mm at least – they crossed at 'point D'. "D" for "Dips", I'm afraid. Nachos are good too, mind… John T |
GoGators | 19 Jan 2015 8:45 a.m. PST |
Do what makes you happy. Hobby time is for enjoyment. |
Dave Crowell | 19 Jan 2015 9:01 a.m. PST |
My freshly dipped Austrian artillery looked awful. Then I hit them with matte varnish and they looked a bit better. Then I flocked the bases, now they look great. They have a muddy, grimy, dirty, powder smoke blackened look that suits my reenactor's experience of what a black powder battlefield looks like. Not at all the sparkling look of the parade ground, or the beginning of the battle when everyone is fresh and eager in newly chalked and brushed uniforms. But the ground down and weary armies fighting to bloody exhaustion. In short, I got the look I like. All the details I need to know are there, most of them even show, at least up close, but I didn't bother with the buttons. I still enjoy looking at perfectly highlighted and shaded figures with every button painted. I will happily play against parade ground immaculate toy soldier shiny troops, realistic matte troops, full dress, campaign dress, what ever you put on the table. Even half painted or unpainted if that's all you got and we want to get a game on. |
Marc the plastics fan | 19 Jan 2015 10:03 a.m. PST |
Paint some good ones for the "show and tell" session at the start of the game, and dip for the rest. I am cursing myself for 20+ years of over painted miniatures (born from my fantasy painting background). These days dip works really well for me and my game night friends where we actually get to play a game with figures these days. YMMV |
Dave Crowell | 19 Jan 2015 1:25 p.m. PST |
And of course there are the details I know are wrong, but can't be bothered to correct. Like my Austrian artillery having black tubes when the should instead be aged brass. Since aged bronze artillery tubes are a dark metallic sort of brownish, grayish, blackish colour, and black artillery tubes look fine anyway, I am not going to bother repainting, but probably will do them correctly in future. |
platypus01au | 19 Jan 2015 1:39 p.m. PST |
Just finished some Byzantines. I want them to look bright so no dip. But as I painted I kept saying to myself, "Wargames standard, Wargames standard….." JohnG |
ordinarybass | 19 Jan 2015 2:16 p.m. PST |
I've come to a happy medium with my 28mm figs. I paint a bit more detail than can be seen from three feet away, but I skip eyes and I've learned which details the dip (I brush on minwax polyshades) will essentially paint for me such as eyes, contrasting animal spots, etc. |
Augustus | 19 Jan 2015 8:19 p.m. PST |
I use dip. And then go out to a movie. |
LeonAdler | 19 Jan 2015 11:28 p.m. PST |
John, You'll forgive me for quietly shuddering at the the thought of 'dips'. L |
Marc the plastics fan | 20 Jan 2015 4:41 a.m. PST |
Leon – embrace the "dips" |
LeonAdler | 20 Jan 2015 8:16 a.m. PST |
Thanks for the thought Marc but I think not. Been around way too long to indulge in something that costs more, takes longer and is around so people can sell me something……as well as making figures look like………well different to the way I like things to look. Everyone to their own :) L |
Dave Crowell | 20 Jan 2015 11:36 a.m. PST |
Costs more? A can of varnish is a can of varnish. One quart should last me quite a long time. Longer than they acrylic paints I use do. Probably my one quart of Minwax will outlast the comparable cost in acrylic paints. Takes longer? I can paint faster. Just block paint and dip. No more shading and highlighting. Around so people can sell me something? I use Minwax Polyshades from the hardware store. Not a bespoke wargaming product. The bonus is I can use the same stuff for woodworking. Making figures look like..well different to the way you like things to look? No argument from me on that one. We all have our own "look" that we like in miniatures. As long as you like the way your figures look all is good. |