 etotheipi  | 14 May 2020 9:36 a.m. PST |
Specifically with respect to painting your minis and how much effort you put on undersides of models. Do you just slap some base colour underneath and leave it at that? Maybe make the underside a shade darker, but no more effort? Or are the undersides just as detailed as the part everyone sees? I generally try to shade with lighter colours on top and darker ones underneath, but I still do not put significant effort into the true underside of a mini. Stuff like the bottom of a tunic where you would have to flip over the mini and twist the angle to catch a glimpse (for … reasons?) or the undercarriage of a car or jeep. |
Skeets  | 14 May 2020 10:01 a.m. PST |
Sounds like an OCD issue to me! |
| Oberlindes Sol LIC | 14 May 2020 10:08 a.m. PST |
Miniatures be laid on their sides or tops, for example if a fighter becomes a casualty, or a vehicle gets flipped over by an IED. For that reason, I paint the undersides of things. I paint the undersides of bases the same color as the top (usually dark gray), the insides of skirts or kilts the same color as the skirt or kilt (it's already on my brush anyway), etc. |
| 79thPA | 14 May 2020 10:47 a.m. PST |
Funny, I was pondering this question a few days ago while I was holding a painting stick upside down in order to reach the underside of a 15mm figure. At that point I decided that I was getting too ridiculous and stopped. If the only way I can see something is by holding it upside down, it doesn't matter whether I paint it or not. |
| Coyotepunc and Hatshepsuut | 14 May 2020 11:28 a.m. PST |
Frequently, my miniatures are displayed above eye-level for many viewers (we have significant height disparities in our family) and so the undersides are very important too. |
 Bashytubits | 14 May 2020 11:37 a.m. PST |
I have seen the underthings your troops have, its not pretty…
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| Slow Oats | 14 May 2020 12:38 p.m. PST |
As a general rule, if I can reach something easily it can easily be seen, and if I can't it can't. When it comes to hard to reach spots I tend to just get some color in there to create a shadow and hide the primer. I save the detail work for where it will be seen, which is both easier to do and more pleasing to look at. So it's not really about under vs. over, it's about visible vs. obscured. |
| Legion 4 | 14 May 2020 1:09 p.m. PST |
I only do 6mm … so pretty much every thing get painted. But I don't normally paint the undersides of Vehicles. |
| Syrinx0 | 14 May 2020 4:30 p.m. PST |
I generally paint the underside with the base shade color and if easy to reach, a bit of the midtone. As Slow Oats noted, if I can't reach it you can't see it. |
| von Schwartz | 14 May 2020 4:49 p.m. PST |
Of course, they can't very well go into battle commando…unless of course they are commandos…it's all very confusing! |
 Yellow Admiral | 14 May 2020 6:17 p.m. PST |
I paint the undersides of all my airplanes, and even put decals on them.  |
| Yellow Admiral | 14 May 2020 6:23 p.m. PST |
I have an ongoing internal debate about what to do with the undersides of ships and land vehicles. For the most part the underside is invisible, but there are times when I want to turn the vehicle on its side (sinking ships, brewed up trucks/tanks/cars, etc.), and for that I want it dark (since the undersides of these things are never cast to look realistic). OTOH, there are also plenty of vehicle types on which I print important information, and for that I want a light color so the print is legible. I have a bunch of 1/2400 ships that are white underneath for this reason. I split the difference with the minis I painted for Ogre/GEV, painting the bottoms black and writing in white. This may be a better approach. I'm considering repainting the 1/2400 WWI and WWII fleet undersides in "hull red" – it just seems a more appropriate color, even if the actual underwater part of the hull is missing. - Ix |
