red_eagle123 Posted January 24, 2005 Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 Re: Champions miniatures I really like the white-brushing. It makes him look (alternately) dusty, or illuminated by some light from beneath. Stellar work! Reaper puts out some awesome figs, I totally agree. Bill. Actually the white on the legs and hand was a complete mistake. The matte sealer I used came out clouded (Just like on two of my players miniatures, this must have been sealed with that same batch). That's the only finished character I have, the rest are ready for the matte sealer, but I want to make sure I get new sealer and for the weather outside to settle down enough that I can go outside and spray them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aryanun Posted January 24, 2005 Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 Re: Champions miniatures I haven't managed to look through the entire thread, but there are some nice conversions going on here. What kind of paints is everyone using and what do you use to thin your paints with? The little work I've done with plastic has left a sour taste in my mouth (paint/primer wouldn't stick even after large amounts of scrubbing) and when I needed to adjust something I couldn't (plastic doesn't like to bend and I needed to adjust the dragon's tail so the thing would stand). During conversion work are you finding you need to do pinning or does the plastic seem to hold okay with epoxy/superglue/greenstuff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redmenace Posted January 24, 2005 Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 Re: Champions miniatures Paints: I use a mix of Reaper acrylics and Americanna, (this is a craft paint available at craft stores like Michaels etc, it has a beautiful range of very vibrant colors that make for great supers and comes out to less than 1/4 the price of Reaper.) Every paint I use is water based except for the primer I guess. Primer: I swear by Games workshop white primer. many people use auto primer which you can find from Walmart to auto supply shops and which is cheaper in cost. Putty: Green Stuff or white stuff works very well but there are people who use all sorts of non baked clays. Repositioning: Clix plastic is temperature sensitive, cold hardens it-heat softens. You can sometimes reposition by heating the fig thrpough emersion in hot water, manual repositioning and holding it while dunking it in Ice water. I'd imagine the thicker the plastic the more reistant to repositioning it will be. Pinning: I tend towards doing this rather than just repositioning most of the time. The relative softness of the plastic, compared to metal anyway, means you don't need to drill on smaller pieces, a thumbtack or needle can give you and adequite set of holes. Just snip the wire to fit, glue and cover with putty like any metal mini. Here are the links to Bill Keyes' articles on miniatures from Digital hero. They are free and offer great advice. http://www.herogames.com/digitalHero/Samples/dh12miniatures.htm http://www.herogames.com/digitalHero/Samples/dh14miniatures.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Posted January 24, 2005 Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 Re: Champions miniatures I'm sure the real experts here will give you the best stuff to use. I use whatever's convenient (and sometimes it shows). Glue: Games Workshop superglue (just cuz that's what they had at the hobby store) Kneadtite (Greenstuff) for some bonding. Green Modeling Putty for "spackling". Whatever paints are on hand (Reaper, usually, in the little squeeze bottles) Thin with water as I pour. Games Workshop spray Primer (Black and White) Acetone (From the art or hardware store) I strip the plastic with acetone and a toothbrush, let dry, modify as appropriate, glue to base, primer in black, then after it dries I give a dusting of white so I can see the depth better, then paint. <---Typically in a hurried and haphazard fashion before my interest wanes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aryanun Posted January 25, 2005 Report Share Posted January 25, 2005 Re: Champions miniatures Hmm, guess I should mention what I use. Personally, right now I'm using Reaper Pro, although I want to get my hands on some of their new Master Paint series. For primer I use their brush on white or IWM's brush on white (spray primer and humidity don't mix, and I live in a very humid area). For thinning I use Anne Foerster's (in house painter for Reaper) GUNK (it's a mix of flow improver, extender, and a bit of water). It allows the paint to behave as well giving me time to work with it. I'll use more extender for wet blending, but if I'm just doing layers then I'll use less. For sealer I'll hit it once or twice with Testors gloss followed by a shot of Dullcoat to kill the shine. I'd link to the one mini I have online (no digital camera yet and the film for the rest of the minis is still in the camera) but it's not "family friendly." I've been tempted to look into getting some of the Silver Age Sentinels by GoO (I've been a huge Garrity fan since the early 80's) but I wanted more dynamic sculpts for superheros. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrlyn Posted January 25, 2005 Report Share Posted January 25, 2005 Re: Champions miniatures Everyone else has mentioned most of my favorites already, but here's what I use for paints: Currently Citadel/Games Workshop paints (slowly using them up and replacing them with...) Vallejo Game Color/Model Color paints - I can't say enough good things about this line of paints. Better coverage, better mixing, better thinning, etc. etc. All around the best paint I've found for miniatures. I thin paint with a mixture of Future Acrylic Floor Wax and Water (also know as Magic Wash) and regular old tap water. The Magic Wash solution is great for doing ink washes and a few drops to thin initial color layers. It does tend to get shining if used in excess, which is why sometimes I add a little extra water to the solution to thin it out a bit further. Hope that helps! Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red_eagle123 Posted January 25, 2005 Report Share Posted January 25, 2005 Re: Champions miniatures For paints I use primarily old Partha paints. Whenever I buy any new paints I buy the Reaper paints. I'm sad that Partha went out of business, or at least stopped making paints. But all well. One other thing, I never mix paints. Mainly because I've never come up with a good place to mix them (IE: Something reusable and easy to port around with the rest of my paints). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aryanun Posted January 25, 2005 Report Share Posted January 25, 2005 Re: Champions miniatures IWM is reproducing the Partha Paints (though, sadly, not the dragon cremes). As for something portable for mixing, I use a white ceramic tile I purchased at Home Depot for under $1.00. The beauty is that it is easily washable and reusable, and if it breaks, it's cheap to replace, unlike the real ceramic palettes that cost over $15.00. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh bunneh Posted January 25, 2005 Report Share Posted January 25, 2005 Re: Champions miniatures Red Eagle -- Partha paints are now being done by Iron Wind Miniatures. They are nice paints; I still have some in good condition from the late 80s! (obviously these are colors I don't use much...) Redmenace -- thanks for the plug. Those articles are written for the "casual" painter/modder in mind -- the guy who doesn't want to spend a ton of money or time on making his figs. But as you'll see from my own list of paints/tools, even professional painters can (and do!) use these things... Most of my paints are from the craft store: Americana, Apple Barrel, Folk Art, and Ceramcoat. They cost about a buck for 2 oz (as opposed to, say, Vallejo which are very nice but can cost up to $4 for a 1/2 oz!). I only rarely use extender. I think the stuff I use is called "Gunk," but I can't recall for sure. I thin my paints with filtered water. I like them very fluid, with a consistancy just slightly thicker than cream. I prefer to put down multiple thin coats of paint to one thick one. I find one thick coat obscures details. I prime with auto primer. I prefer black, but I can work with white. I seal with auto sealer, then use a blast of Games Workshop matte sealer to take the shine off. My miniatures are very nearly impregnable. Kneadatite is best for doing conversion work. To do bases, rocks, or other non-detailed objects, I use cheap plumber's putty (you can find it at Lowe's or Home Depot for like $5 for a 10 oz package). Aryanan: to get the paint off a plastic Clix figure, you should use Acetone (available at Lowe's or Home Depot for cheap). Pour some in an old glass (not a plastic cup!!!!), drop the fig in, swirl it around for 30-45 seconds, then scrub it off with an old toothbrush. Don't wash it in water. If there's still paint on, wait about 12-24 hours and do it again. Do not soak your figs in acetone for more than a minute -- the voice of experience warns you. Once most of the paint is gone, set the fig aside for 12-24 hours before priming. The acetone softens the plastic slightly, giving it a "tacky" feel. Paint won't stick well to it until the plastic has had a chance to regain its integrity. I rarely pin plastic figs (too light to worry about it). If I'm combining plastic with metal, I almost always pin. I use Zap-a-gap cyranoacryllic glue. It's essentially superglue, but thicker. It fills cracks/gaps nicely. I use Zip-kicker accellerant to make the glue harden instantly. One thing I've been curious about (but haven't tried yet)... Zip-kicker smells and feels exactly like WD-40, so I wonder if it's the same thing? I'd rather buy a big can of WD-40 for $4 than a tiny can of Zip-kicker for $8. EDIT: Be very careful when using zip-kicker if you're gluing a highly detailed part. the zip-kicker seems to cause the glue to expand slightly, so you can end up with a large bulge over the figure's hand, eye, sword, or jewelry. HTH, and welcome to the boards! Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red_eagle123 Posted January 25, 2005 Report Share Posted January 25, 2005 Re: Champions miniatures I prefer to use a Grey Primer myself, unless I'm doing skeletons or very evil characters. If I'm doing skeletons I prime them black, then dry brush bone white and voila, quickly painted miniature. I prefer to use Grey because it still causes some vibrantness to the paints over top (Such as White) but also dampens the colors slightly (Like black) but doesn't obscure details like I've found Black does. It's a nice neutral color for the primer, and often after priming I make out more details than I did an unprimed figure. When I prime figures black, it's hard to make out some of the smaller details, at least for me it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh bunneh Posted January 25, 2005 Report Share Posted January 25, 2005 Re: Champions miniatures Actually the white on the legs and hand was a complete mistake. The matte sealer I used came out clouded (Just like on two of my players miniatures' date=' this must have been sealed with that same batch).[/quote'] Huh. Had me fooled! I've had sealer do that to me, too. I think it has to do with the temperature and humidity. If it's cold and wet, the sealer can dry cloudy. Still, you can tell people that you white-brushed him and they'll never know. I prefer to use Grey because it still causes some vibrantness to the paints over top (Such as White) but also dampens the colors slightly (Like black) but doesn't obscure details like I've found Black does. It's a nice neutral color for the primer' date=' and often after priming I make out more details than I did an unprimed figure.[/quote'] Your argument has much merit. I know people who swear by gray primer, but I haven't found any that I like well enough to use. Ultimately, it comes down to personal preference -- I love black primer and do my best work with it, but some very excellent painters won't touch it. Shrug. Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh bunneh Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 Re: Champions miniatures Introducing: Durak, Scorpia 2010, and Rasputin! Durak is a Reaper Clay Golem. Scorpia is... a Reaper fig, but I can't recall exactly which one. Rasputin is an IndyClix Rasputin. Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redmenace Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 Re: Champions miniatures Dynamite pieces Bill. They all look great but the reworked Scorpia really caught my eye. Looking forward to your new mini article in Digital Hero as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrlyn Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 Re: Champions miniatures Have to agree with RM Bill, great stuff. Very nice repaint on Rasputin, and the work on Durak is really outstanding. Keith Dynamite pieces Bill. They all look great but the reworked Scorpia really caught my eye. Looking forward to your new mini article in Digital Hero as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 Re: Champions miniatures I'm not sure I'd pack Durak with the other miniatures. Something tells me he doesn't work well with others. It's the face that really impresses me. I've seen Reaper's Golems, and while I like them a lot, there's not much expression in the faces (being big lumps of clay, iron, flesh, etc.). Is the head from elsewhere? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrlyn Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 Re: Champions miniatures Actually Blue, that's what the reaper sculpt looks like: http://www.reapermini.com/gallery/2700s/2706_G Their work in recent years has become fantastic, and the detail level has improved greatly. Keith I'm not sure I'd pack Durak with the other miniatures. Something tells me he doesn't work well with others. It's the face that really impresses me. I've seen Reaper's Golems, and while I like them a lot, there's not much expression in the faces (being big lumps of clay, iron, flesh, etc.). Is the head from elsewhere? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh bunneh Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 Re: Champions miniatures Thanks, guys! Yeah, Durak looks like three kinds of mean. I thought the fig was perfect for the "Bad Man." The only mod on any of them is Durak's feet -- as you can see from the link Myrlyn posted, the original model has bare feet. I just added some putty to make them look like boots. I'm going to be using them in my upcoming UNITY 2010 campaign. My players will hate me. http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27202 Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 Re: Champions miniatures Man, just when I thought I'd seen all the reaper minis I think the thing I still need to work on is the items that impresses me most on the work you guys do, and that's the paint job. I still tend to paint without detail, and more as a means of covering up flaws than accenting things. The detail on scorpia is a great example of detail. I recently bought one of those table-top lighted magnifiying glasses (a la CSI, and also the guy in Deniro's RONIN who is painting samurai minis), but it doesn't seem to help much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh bunneh Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 Re: Champions miniatures Thanks Blue. Speaking of detail, as soon as I can get some good pictures (probably after Dundracon) I'll put up shots of my Christmas Witch (to go with my Hallowe'en Witch). Talk about tiny details -- by the time I was finished, I friggin' hated Werner Klocke. That dude puts buckles on top of his buckles and it drives me nuts! :crazy: Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redmenace Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 Re: Champions miniatures I'm with Blue on the painting. Have you given any thought to a DH article on the finer technique of layering? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh bunneh Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 Re: Champions miniatures Right now, I have the following articles planned: 1) How To Find Miniature Terrain (featured in this month's DH) 2) Building Miniature Terrain On A Budget (coming soon to a DH near you!) 3) Photographing Miniatures 4) Building Better Bases (or, How To Make A Neat Base For Your Figure) 5) Painting Realistic Fire (I may also include Painting Realistic Rocks, if there's room) I hadn't considered an "Advanced Painting Techiques" article, but if there's a demand for it, I will. What else would folx like to see? Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrlyn Posted February 15, 2005 Report Share Posted February 15, 2005 Re: Champions miniatures Found some one else's cache of their HeroClix mods that included some good Champions characters and thought I would share the inspiration: http://au.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/cmrntwine/my_photos Take a peak in the "Various" section. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh bunneh Posted August 12, 2005 Report Share Posted August 12, 2005 Re: Champions miniatures Forgive a little thread necromancy, but I didn't really want to start a new thread for this... This is my latest project. I just finished her a couple of days ago. I call it The Final Voyage of the Dark Maiden. What do you think, sirs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSword Posted August 12, 2005 Report Share Posted August 12, 2005 Re: Champions miniatures Wow, that is quite a figure. Very nicely done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redmenace Posted August 12, 2005 Report Share Posted August 12, 2005 Re: Champions miniatures Wow, the ship/revenant is glorious. Is that a mod or someone's specic mini? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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