Prep work - How much for gaming minis

[count zero99uk]

Hi all. Ive been posting a couple of my minis that i have done in my WIP and some of the same comments come up. Missed mold lines or a rough finish. It has been suggested that it could be either my primer, using white gesso atm so will try that watered down with multiple coats on my next model see if that helps. The other suggestion i that i may not be spending enough prep time on smoothing out my model.

At the moment i have an exacto knife and 3 files, a round, half round and a flat.

What else should i look at getting to help get my models ready for the table and what prcesses should i use?

Then what do i need get andd use to take it to that next stage (say a 7 on the scoring)

I look forward to hearing from you all

Take care

 

[TrystanGST]

In the end you have to decide what you want. This site is heavily biased towards display level models. People forget that according to the guide, 5 is tabletop. I see a lot of stuff that would be at home on a table scoring low 4s. When you're prepping 160 zombies for an army, missing mold lines is going to happen. Hell I put together 20, and I'm sure I missed some. It's just not worth the effort to chase down every last line unless you're aiming for a demon.

Now if you're aiming for a 7+, you're going to have to completely change the way you're approaching painting the figures. There aren't many people who can paint a WFB army to 7+ and especially in a timely manner.

 

[Einion]

Now if you're aiming for a 7+, you're going to have to completely change the way you're approaching painting the figures. There aren't many people who can paint a WFB army to 7+ and especially in a timely manner.

What he said.

It has been suggested that it could be either my primer, using white gesso atm so will try that watered down with multiple coats on my next model see if that helps.

I doubt it'll make enough of a difference. Acrylic 'gesso' primer is actually made to provide a microscopically-rough surface, so at high magnification you should see texture. It's not the best primer in another way in that its adhesion to metal isn't great, but if it's what you have to use it's what you have to use and you accept the realities.

The other suggestion i that i may not be spending enough prep time on smoothing out my model.

Approximately how long are you spending currently? How long would you be willing to spend? I only do display models, so for me cleanup takes as long as it takes. And for some minis that means well over an hour.

A knife and those three files is just fine to do most cleanup, for years all I used were two X-Actos and a single half-round file (not including working over the casting with a brass brush). Additional basic stuff would include fine abrasive paper (wet 'n' dry) and fine steel wool, although not everyone uses that or the equivalent Scotchbrite.

Einion

 

[finn17]

A very general answer would be, 'as much as you need and as long as it takes'. I spend hours prepping models, because like most art work the preparation is the most crucial stage. You don't need tons of equipment, a good selection of needle files are essential though IMO...I must have amassed dozens by now....the round, half-round and flat are certainly the essential ones, but if you experiment you'll just find that some work better than others. My own favourite needle files are treasured possessions
The only other thing I'd say is essential is not being afraid to strip and start again...once you've got that first coat of primer on...critical examination is essential as any imperfections won't be covered by subsequent layers...get re-filing etc as many times as it takes.

EDIT: One other 'essential'... a pin drill and selection of small diameter drills. Nothing puts me off more than an un-drilled gun barrel

 

[me_in_japan]

I think it depends on what game youre playing, and your own personal tolerances for imperfections. If you play WHFB Skaven or similar, then I can see that filing every last mould line off your one-hundred-and-fifty-ninth clanrat could get a bit twitch inducing. However, if youre painting your Malifaux Ortega gang (about 6 minis) then its well worth your trouble to go over them carefully, spending a few hours on getting them ready for undercoating.

If you are painting large numbers of tabletop minis, it may not be worth your trouble to post them individually in the gallery section. People on this site expect display quality minis, so anything below that gets rated pretty harshly. You could perhaps reduce this by posting pictures of an entire regiment or 40k unit, with a close up at the bottom of a single mini. That would make it clear that it's clearly a gaming mini, and painted to that standard deliberately. For feedback and improvement, use the forums rather than the galleries. (as you are doing now, fr example )

As for getting your minis up to a 7 rating, I'd advise against doing this for your whole army. It would certainly be beyond me. If you selected a single mini from what most people would call a "very nicely done" gaming army, it would probably rate a 6 here. A centrepiece model would maybe get a 7 or 8. There's also something of a difference between what looks good on the table (bright contrasts, striking colour schemes) and up close in a gallery (subtle contrasts, subtle colour choices.)

Basically, 7 and up is where it starts to get fancy, and with that, time consuming. Proper prep work (removal of all visible imperfections, including filling gaps with putty, milliput washes for rough surface smoothing and filing off mould lines), good undercoating with proper primer (I think I read in another thread that spray is no good for you? Brush on primer is fine, if that's the case. I use both, with similar results.) and then complex highlighting and shading, with careful blending, juicing, and all that kinda technical whojimawhatsits.

Good luck with your painting - based on this and your other threads youre obviously putting in the effort to improve your work, and that means that sooner or later you will do.

 

[count zero99uk]

Thanks for all your comments.

Im in a bit of a funny position at the moment with what i am painting. Im doing 28mm skirmish, such as Malifaux. And my main reason for trying to improve is to do those minis justice. Also i have about 100 westwind brits to do for secrets of the third reich and i wouldbe happy for these to just be finished and ready to play with.

Ive been told before that the more you,paint the better, so im trying to do some most days and also improve a little each time. The support given by this forum is fantastic, and i thank you for it.

Take care and lets see how this journey moves on :-D

 

[Hasdrubal]

Plenty of good advice already. As an Ork player in W40K, I'm using an army constiting of 70+ infantery models, and 3 "tanks" (battlewagons). The infantry are standard tabletop level: basecoat, shade, highlight. Heck, for some color I won't even do highlight, since I'm playing a Bad Moon themed army, and yellow is a b***h of a color to get a smooth coating. On the tabletop, the mass effect looks great, and the lack if finish gets unnoticed.
The battlewagons, however, are the centerpiece of the army, so I'm willing to spend much more time on them, even though not quite going to display level (i.e. I'm OK with little imperfections or rough painting that would require hours to fix).

So I'd suggest to get your 100+ brits up to basic tabletop, using a colored primer if available to cut the painting time. However, take the time to do a decent job for your Malifaux crew, since your objectives are to do them justice and to improve your painting level.

Most important: have fun, and take a break when paitning turns into a chores!

 

[count zero99uk]

Cheers Hasdrubal

 

[count zero99uk]

Probably a silly question, but im looking for some finer files that what i have and ive noticed riffler files would these be better than a set of needle files, concidering ive allready got the 3 main files?

 

[MrPickles]

pick nice models too. i basically only do plastic space marines. cleaning the mold lines takes no time at all, the models fit together nicely, there's a million and one different parts you can mix and match and it will still look great.

on the other hand if youre trying to put together some big metal model that fits together badly where you have to put putty in all the cracks and pin the whole fricken thing together it's going to be a nightmare. fuck that - keep your life easy. i hate metal models. i wish they only made plastic.

as for that gesso primer or whatever, i dont know wth that is but i use army painter spray primers and i love them.

 

[Einion]

Probably a silly question, but im looking for some finer files that what i have and ive noticed riffler files would these be better than a set of needle files, concidering ive allready got the 3 main files?

Riffler files are just a type of file, their 'cut' is going to vary just like it does with normal files. I have a couple of rifflers myself (that I practically never use, but that's neither here nor there) and they're a little coarser than my original needles files, but others could be finer.

If you want some new needle files that are finer than the ones you already have, that's tricky - even seeing them in the flesh you might not be able to tell for sure if they'll leave more scratches than your current ones, but buying over the Internet it might be impossible. I picked up a second full set of needle files on holiday a couple of years back because that were too cheap to pass up ($2 or $3) and despite being so cheap they actually cut better than what I had, while not being more prone to leaving obvious file marks. But they look like they'd scratch more.

I think the only sure way to get new files that are finer than what you already have is to go for diamond files. They don't have to be expensive; the high-end ones run to $$ per file, but you can find sets of 7-10 for less than ten bucks (e.g. from Widget Supply or Harbor Freight).

Einion

 

[RuneBrush]

I do use files, but tend to do most of my tidying up using a scalpel (Swann Morton with #10A blade), in fact it's not uncommon for me to not use a file on a plastic model to be honest. A new blade tends to get fairly regularly as you can pick up 100 blades for less than a tenner (from a place such as here).

I would say though that it does take a little while to get used to using a scalpel and you have to be really careful as the one above will happily slice through skin and plastic with no effort.

Nice quality pin vice and small bits are also useful - as Finn says undrilled gun barrels = anger

pete.

 

[finn17]

Just to reinforce what Runebrush said...

I don't think I've ever used files on a plastic mini they clog up too quick and leave horrible scars....I rarely even use the blade, normally the corner edge of the rear of the blade does the job

Possibly it's just me, but I find files improve with use...? They start off fairly course but once they begin to get clogged up and wear down you soon end up with a very nice tool indeed.

 

[Einion]

Possibly it's just me, but I find files improve with use...? They start off fairly course but once they begin to get clogged up and wear down you soon end up with a very nice tool indeed.

Nope, not just you! Does depend a bit on the file and what you use it on but I'd say the majority of the ones I've had were like this to an extent.

Einion

 

[Tee999]

count zero,
I use the exacto and wet dry sandpaper for most of my cleaning. I only really use my files or dremel when I an doing alot of materiel removal.

Tee