"Painting 15s vs. 25s" Topic

I just got off a painting jag in which I cranked out over 200 15mm zombies. I decided to freshen things up and restart a long dormant 25mm witch hunter project. To me, the 25s require a different style and a lot more attention. I was surprised with how fast I cranked out the zombies, and I am also surprised with how little progress I seem to be making with the 25s.

I think I can generally paint 18mmm nearly three times as fast as I can 28mm. It certainly feels that way. However, often when I look at an 18mm unit finished I wonder why it took me as long as it did.

I tend to use two tones or one colour and a wash on 18mm but sometimes as many as four tones on 28mm. I also leave off some of the fussy detail I can't paint in scale on 18mm figures.

More and more I have decided the shade/highlight thing is mostly a waste of time. Once units are on the tabeltop you can't see any of that work anyway. So I now go for black prime, block color, one highlight (which I do because I enjoy it) and call it a day. This gives me a nice looking mini, and the black prime helps the colors stand out from each other.

Every serious change in scale means a change in technique. (I say this having done both 28mm and 2mm in the past month, plus some in-between.) But yeah, generally as you shrink scale you lose detail and need to increase contrast--and, also, need brighter colors for the same effect. And EC's general point is valid: for a game figure and not a display piece, most of the time if you do it right you need either a wash or a highlight, but not both. And the closer you come to an assembly line, the faster the pace. If they don't have uniforms, you can still line them up and do all the faces, then break out six suitable bottles and do all the coats--doing every sixth man in the same coat color all at the same time--then break out seven bottles and do the trousers, for instance.

But mostly, time and persistence pay off.

Or as you increase scale you can produce a more toy soldier look – which is how I paint my 54mms… Some get a black lining wash afterwards but not all.

Mike

I still block paint my figures, then give them a 50/50 wash of Agrax Earthshade and Lahmian medium. For special figures, I might do a bit more.

I'm with Extra Crispy. I am also an assembly line painter. I do simple block painting, followed by the original Dip technique (brushed on, not dunked). I only paint gaming figures, nothing for special display purposes. At arm's length, they look decent enough.

I have too many figures to paint, and not enough years left to live to see them all painted, and played with, at least once! Difficult choices, we each must decide for ourselves. Whatever you choose, have fun with your approach to life, liberty, and gaming! Cheers!

I agree with Sgt Slag here, too many figures still to paint in my collection and I'm now well into my 60's. The only way is to not worry about too much detail, be satisfied with the table-top effect and use them more. Be happy about your hobby instead of anxiously striving for perfection.

25s take longer because they are bigger (I know … no **** sherlock but because the scale up is 3D they really do have a lot more surface area to them – particulalrly the clumsier sort of 28mm types) … but I think that as the figures get bigger, the job gets less challenging. So it can be boring as well as just longer. That sometimes makes progress a bit of a crawl.

That said, I'm up for it right now.

Phil

I'm with the block color and paint on army painter for some depth. Too many figs and not enough time. Fortunately few people around here paint at all so my figs at least have some color!