Reaper Bones...paint flaking?

[Stormhammer]

Hello everyone. I just picked up painting again after not having touched a mini or paint for about 8 years. So I bought one of the Reaper paint kits and went to work with it last night. The miniature turned out about as good as my skill right now will allow, but I did have a question on an issue I'm running into.

Mainly before, I painted GW WH40k miniatures. Never played, just enjoyed painting them. I never had a problem with the paint flaking off of those. As a matter of fact, I've had some in a plastic tub for about 8 years now that have rolled around and been moved time and time again and still look like they did the day I painted them. With the Reaper mini I painted last night, I'm already having paint flaking from it just by handling it. I let it cure overnight but still, if I'm not handling it with the utmost care, I'll peel off paint just by holding it. I don't know if this has to do with the paint itself or the fact that the Reaper Bones minis are made to be painted un-primed.

Has anyone had any experience with this and if so, is there anything I can do, besides taking something like Army Painter primer and spraying them down, to keep this from happening? Attached below is the mini I painted and the flaking areas I'm talking about circled in red.

View attachment 57657

 

[Baldur8762]

I too am very new to mini painting and I recently picked up the Reaper Learn To Pain Kit and painted all 3 minis. I have not had this issue at all. I am now working on 2 more bones minis and have not run into this problem on them either. In fact I have seen lots of postings on the Reaper forum showing that bones minis can be bent and bounced about without paint chipping at all so I do not think it's the material.

Did you wash the mini before painting? A good scrub with some dish soap removes the releasing agent from the molding process and it is recommended by everyone who paints bones minis. From my limited knowledge, that would be what I think the problem is. If you did wash it, and you are still getting flakes, it would probably be your paint. The bones minis are extremely durable and hold paint very well from what I can tell so far.

EDIT: Also, Bones do not need to be primed at all. A lot of people on the Reaper Forums use the Reaper Brown Liner as a primer, but that is personal preference. A slightly thinned paint adheres very well to Bones as a base coat. If it's too thin, it will be a problem, but after the base coat, you can thin down the paints to the most watery consistency you desire and it will stick.

 

[Stormhammer]

Yeah, I actually boiled all the minis in water like the instructions say to fix bent pieces, then scrubbed them with a toothbrush and dish soap before painting. Not sure why mine are doing this.

 

[Baldur8762]

I don't know. If you primed the mini with anything it may have affected it, but people do prime them and still don't have issues. I suggest checking this out, it was invaluable for me.

http://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/48669-bones-the-first-coat-is-the-difference/

 

[Zab]

What do you use to hold the mini while you paint? I wonder if some oils from your hand got on the mini and are keeping the paint from sticking to the mini on those places?

 

[Stormhammer]

I took an empty medicine bottle and put some folded Gorilla tape on it and set the mini on that so I wasn't touching it. I'm wondering if my basecoat was just too thin. I put 2 coats on before I started painting anything else, but maybe 2 wasn't enough.

 

[Baldur8762]

Two coats is more than enough. I genuinely don't know what it could be. I have several bones minis painted and not once has a single one ever flaked, chipped or scratched and I use them for table top gaming.

 

[KruleBear]

Seems odd. I was going to suggest the prewashing with dish soap, but it sounds like you did that. I have rubbed off the paint on some of my Bones paintjobs, but never seen peeling. usually too thinned paint just doesn't stick to the mini-- the material seems a little hydrophobic, so I ptime them even though Reaper says you shouldn't have to. Another possibility is the paint was too thick in those areas and a dry shell formed on the outside preventing the paint next to the plastic to never dry and be susceptible to peeling.

 

[Dragonsreach]

I've not painted any of the Kickstarter set I bought yet, but the inspection I've given them suggests to me that the figures are very flexible and that could be adding to the issue of paint flaking.

 

[Baldur8762]

I don't think they are substandard at all. I have painted several and have had no issues. Many people on the Reaper forums have painted literally hundreds of Bones minis and have not had complaints about the material. This instance sounds like an anomaly. I personally think Bones are a fantastic. If you need stuff for tabletop, you can spend 2-3 times less on a bones mini than a metal one and still have a great looking mini. Whatever this instance is, I do not think it applies to the entire Bones line.

 

[Stormhammer]

Well, as per the stickied post on the Reaper Mini forum, I tried using one of the recommended primers on the other 2 minis that came in the kit I got. After 2 light coats, both miniatures are now incredibly sticky/tacky. I probably won't even paint them. I wasn't a huge fan of the flexible material anyway, but I think this pretty much does it for me as far as these are concerned. Going to stick with pewter or hard plastic minis.

 

[Stormhammer]

Hah, totally understandable man. I agree with all that. It's nice they can be dropped, stepped on, etc. and not have damage, but like you said...too soft/bendy and poor detail. I think GW miniatures are really overpriced, but I always had good results priming, gluing, and painting them. I also always liked the modular design of them and the transfers that come with certain models. I ordered a metal mini from Reaper's Dark Heaven line, and I picked up another one that was cheap at the local comic shop here to practice on as well that is also metal. I won't be buying any Bones though.

 

[MAXXxxx]

bones for human sized minis was weird for me from the beginning.
Most reaper minis are pretty cheap as metals too (most are $6 or so). For me getting a much lower quality for such a small 'saving' was never an option.

For the larger figures (dragons and whatnot) I think it could still work ok.

 

[Stormhammer]

Yeah, it seems like they (the metal ones) may be hit and miss as well. I picked up a Reaper miniature that's an alien at the comic book store here yesterday that was cheap, just so I could get a feel for the metal and see what they were like since the other one I ordered online hasn't come in yet. I'd have to agree with you on the detail, although they aren't nearly as bad as the Bones line. Do you have a brand/type you recommend? I'm looking to use them for Dungeons and Dragons miniatures, and would prefer metal ones, but I'm not opposed to a good plastic either.

 

[MAXXxxx]

Brand /Type:
from reaper I have a few metals from the Dark Heaven line I found them pretty good, especially the Werner Klocke sculpts.

it if doesn't have to be reaper:
- Dark Sword miniatures, visions in fantasy line for example. They are made for DnD games, also some of the old DnD lines from old DnD artists Easley, Parker, etc. Some of the minis are very delicate, with tiny-tiny details that can be a pain to paint.
- Hasslefree miniatures. Lots of character, bit limited to DnD, some may say that they lack of details, but I think they just know the meaning of space/pause. Also as the name suggests: mostly hasslefree as they are not cluttered with unneeded detail.
- Mantic / GW despite the price are good imho.
- I could suggest scale75's wargames minis, but no real experience with them
- also there are uncountable small companies making fantasy minis in 28-35mm that are too numerous to list.

 

[Stormhammer]

Great! Thank you for all those recommendations.

 

[Dragonsreach]

- I could suggest scale75's wargames minis, but no real experience with them.

Very fine sculpting BUT fiddly small pieces to fix for arms etc.
If you do get them, then assemble over a box, might save You 30 minutes hunting for a piece unlike me.