Zombie Miniature Painting Question from a Non-painter

KingZombie

KingZombie

New member
Let me start this by saying an I woefully inadequate as a painter. What I did try painting in high school 20 years ago looked like crap.
I usually find a friend and pay them to paint for me... which is great when you only have a few minis here and there.
But now I have over 100 minis coming my way and it's time to learn.

What my questions are:

1) What paint to you choose to use & why?

2) Painting it all or using the Army Painter Dip method: What are the pros and cons?

I must say the dip method looked like something I could probably do... it seemed easy enough... or am I deluding myself?
 
Archon Shiva

Archon Shiva

New member
Post got eaten. Dollar store paints and brushes + dip will get you much better results than you dream possible for a first attempt. I'll try to make a tutorial tonight.
 
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Niranth

New member
Up in the painting forms, the paint question rages on and on. I currently use Reaper MS because he paint acts like I expect on and coming off the brush. I like the dropper bottles as the paint does not thicken on me in the container. I also have Vallejo Model Color and Game Color and the older GW paints. If I use my airbrush, then I use Vallejo Air Color as the pigment is exceptionally fine.

I have tried the new Games Workshop paints and I think they may be easier for the beginner painter for large "armies".

What ever paint you decide upon, pick up good brushes, Preferably Kolinsky Sable, CMON has a good selection.

I have used the dip method, both brushing on the varnish and dipping to good effect. One concern that I have is how the medium will interact with the plastic. You will want to dip a test zombie just to be certain it does not melt the plastic. (I don't expect it to be a problem, but yo never know.) Dipping certainly hides painting mistakes very well. Dipping will dry glossy.

Which brings me to the last bit, protecting your paint. I use Krylon gloss to give my minis their bulletproofing coat, (two or three coats actually) and then use their Matte to take off the shine. Again, you will want to test one mini first.

Edit: There are several painting classes available at Gen Con. As you will not be painting zombies before then, you may want to take at look at those. The event schedule was posted last Tuesday and there were more painting classes than last year. Most are put on by Reaper so they will use their own paint.
 
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Scorpion0x17

New member
I use GW paints, currently GW brushes, and some Vallejo ancillary products (mediums, paint-on-varnishes, plastic putty, and masking fluid) - because that's what I've got (but I'm hoping to get a set of Rosemary & Co Kolinsky Sable brushes for my birthday (and if not, I'll certainly be buying some for myself before September)).
 
Skittlebrau

Skittlebrau

New member
One other thing about dip.... if you use Minwax polyshade as your dip...that stuff dries like a coat of glass over the model. nice hard coating to prevent nicks. Then you can do a quick shot with a krylon dullcoat to take the glossy look off and be left with bulletproof good looking mini, with far less effort and skill. Plus it's just QUICKER to dip.

(NOTE: If you use the minwax...let them sit for 3-4 days after you dip them. Seriously. When you thinks it's totally dry, wait one more day. It takes a bit to setup with that rock hard finish, and it will hold a thumb smudge like nobodies business if you grab it early...
 
Archon Shiva

Archon Shiva

New member
LOL. That's awesome, Niranth, and very good advice, but I think it precisely what KZ isn't looking for. There's airbrush and chemistry in your post! There are discontinued paints in there!!

Then again, maybe I'm projecting, but when I wanted to start out, well, anything -- the "semi-pros" who want to help are thinking at their level, and often with their budget. Of course after you get good brushes you'll ask everyone why they ever let you work with crap for so long, but there needs to be an entry path where people help you do it wrong, but just right enough that you'll want to get better. It's like when I decided to make an arcade stick and people everywhere are saying "Sanwa parts or it will be unusable (and eat your grandmother)" - way to scare people off!

Strong opinion, here - not claiming to hold absolute truth. I'm also deforming what you said and putting it out of context.
 
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Niranth

New member
Archon Shiva said:
the "semi-pros" who want to help are thinking at their level, and often with their budget.
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ROFL, you probably are right about most of your points, but I am no semi-pro! Most of what I post has been learned through books, videos and classes. There was a comment posted earlier in the painting section about a guy comparing himself to the people who post pictures, he was "a child with poster paints". Me, I am a slightly evolved monkey smearing what is usually flung.

As far as budgets go, Dick Blick is an amazingly good discounter. Also, check out the CMON store, they have good brushes for cheap.

For the record, I will not be painting this game - I have a huge "to paint" pile already! The stuff about what I have is in response to his first question.

Edit: Darnit, I left out two learning methods, forums and trying it. grumble, grumble
 
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KingZombie

KingZombie

New member
Niranth said:
Edit: There are several painting classes available at Gen Con. As you will not be painting zombies before then, you may want to take at look at those. The event schedule was posted last Tuesday and there were more painting classes than last year. Most are put on by Reaper so they will use their own paint.
Click to expand...

Alas.... I will not be making it to GenCon this year, but there is a new paint company up here in Wisconsin, Prism Gaming and they will be doing workshops around the state which I AM planning to attend.
 
KingZombie

KingZombie

New member
Skittlebrau said:
.

(NOTE: If you use the minwax...let them sit for 3-4 days after you dip them. Seriously. When you thinks it's totally dry, wait one more day. It takes a bit to setup with that rock hard finish, and it will hold a thumb smudge like nobodies business if you grab it early...
Click to expand...

Who makes miniwax? Same company?

Also, I should be able to leave them sit for a week or more as I have a cache of painted zombies to stand in if I am needing to play before they dry.
 
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Niranth

New member
KingZombie said:
Who makes miniwax? Same company?

Also, I should be able to leave them sit for a week or more as I have a cache of painted zombies to stand in if I am needing to play before they dry.
Click to expand...
Actually, it is Minwax, they make varnishes for wood. You can find it at WalMart in with the paint.

Any classes are good :)
 
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ischa

New member
if you´re going for dipping, i´d say keep to cheep nylon brushes. no reason to buy da vinci or windsor newtons for 7-15 bucks. and for gods sake, keep away from the horrible, overpriced gw crap brushes. gw paints are just fine, but for dipping, you can get the equal results from crap paints:p no reason to spend hundreds for beginners painting=) vallejo stuff is great, if you dont mind the cost!
 
Skittlebrau

Skittlebrau

New member
For a dip method, I use white. You want the colors bright and clean, and let the dip do the shading. If you start out too dark, they will come out darker after a dip, which might be good for the zombies if you want...

Or even better, a colored primer that matched the color with the most area of your mini, so you have less detail to paint before the dip. (I.E. For a guy wearing an orange jumpsuit, an orange primer would be best, less area to paint.)
 
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