18 replies to this topic

[TheMundaneYesYes]

It dawned on me that the way I paint my minis seems a touch odd.

A few years ago I was told that a few of my models lacked detail and I had trouble with washes drying too quickly (I tried to make my own by just deluding black paint, also I use acrylic) so I decided to just paint the details/panel lines on. Just recently while browsing other peoples battle tech minis it dawned on me that I have not seen a single person do what I do.

I have painted about 15 battle tech minis this way and about 15 more in 3d printed minis (all grey/tan/black/dark grey and bright orange cockpits save the uziels which are brown, black, dark grey and dark brown) this is just a example that I feel show what I do well enough.

Weird or not?

[Roland09]

Why odd? Looks like some ceremonial guard-type paint scheme. Your wash seems to work fine. Is a wash ever anything other then diluted dark paint?

[TheMundaneYesYes]

It is not a wash, every time I tried to apply a wash it would dry after a few seconds discoloring the mini. I brushed the panel lines on it.

To me it seems weird because most people do not do it in that way, at least not with straight black I think.

Everyone that I have seen paints like this (not mine mind you but one I was looking at)

[DevilCrayon]

Some people I play table top with use a Micro 005 and ink in the panel lines, when they do this sort of thing.

[Luscious Dan]

Black lining used to be very common maybe 10+ years ago in a lot of different mini painting fields. You're not weird at all to use black panel lines, though a lot of people use something a bit more subtle.

The CBT community is small and not always the most up to date on tools and techniques. There's a handful of excellent painters out there using a bunch of techniques to get their results, but not as many as other games like Warhammer and whatnot. To be brutally honest, the old models weren't well regarded at all by most high end painters. I think you'll see that changing as the plastics get better.

[Horseman]

Blacklining is pretty comon with Gundam models, I believe

[TheMundaneYesYes]

So it was more common with much older models and is not thought well of anymore and is more common with gundam then battletech.

I actually have a few gundam models which is why I decided to do black panel lining because I just could not seem to make a usable wash so I decided to do the same thing with them as I did with the gundam models. I did the panel lining in response to being told that they lacked detail, I have a feeling I went in a drasticly different direction then what they thought I would.

Going to try a different way of painting then. I am going to try and look up a few ways to paint minis but not sure where to start, any suggestions for someone with a low budget (literally water, brushes and acrylic paints) and any more suggestions on something to strip paint from plastic minis? I heard hot water and laundry detergent works most of the time. Going to strip the paint from the battlemaster and try a different way of painting as well as buy the battletech starter box (Wanted the griffin and will use the wolverine to test a different style)

[Daetrin Voltari]

Your mechs look great.

I think Luscious Dan was saying that the old figures were looked down on, rather than black-lining, and to be honest some of the early Ral Partha figures were rough. Black-lining has declined in popularity because it's fairly time consuming compared to a wash and a dry brush, and several companies make very easy to use washes and glazes. Also, some people feel a true black is too stark for panel lines at this scale, but it's all a matter of opinion. I think a lot of people have been influenced by the guys at CamoSpecs Online, who paint the mechs used in the BattleTech rulebooks.

As for paint stripping, I'd be careful of anything using hot water. I don't have any of the new plastics, so I don't know how they hold up to heat, but the old plastics were very susceptible to warping. I'd suggest being very careful and watch for flex in any small parts. Personally, I either use Simple Green or Purple Power. They are great on acrylic paints and are gentle enough that I've left mechs sitting in them indefinitely without harm. Both are available at most supermarkets, big box stores, or auto parts stores. I get mine for dirt cheap at Walmart. If the figure is painted with acrylics, I just put it in a container with some Simple Green, leave it for a few hours or even a few days, and give it a rub with an old toothbrush under clean water.

If you are looking for new techniques, there are a lot of great tutorials online. Camospecs has guides on dry brushing, chalking, pigments, panel shading, and bunch of different color guides. In any case, keep up the good work and welcome to the hobby.

[TheMundaneYesYes]

Never heard of Simple Green or Purple Power before but I will take a look at Walmart on my next payday for them and give them a try.

I have seen the older plastic minis and did not have a urge to go with them until the new plastic minis came out, in fact I am even wanting to do the CGL kickstarter for a few of the minis, love the way the executioner looks and the new nova too (though I wonder since it has a actual waist ect now does that change the rules for it? I am still learning the rules*) As I said before I am going to try a different way of painting the minis and the wolverine turns out okay I will try it on the clan mechs.

[DevilCrayon]

Yep. if you're trying to field a large number of mechs quickly, a wash, add a few detail areas, and dry brush will get you through 'Mechs a lot faster than detailed panel panting. I'm just getting back to pointing, and have put a collective dozen or more hrs into painting up a lanch of 'Mechs, a lance of vehicles and an infantry squad and they're still not done. That rate isn't great if you're trying to get a large force ready to field.

[TheMundaneYesYes]

When someone calls a model or mini clean does that mean something to do with weathering or quality in the painting?

[MW Waldorf Statler]

im used Black Lining by all my Mechs , its complicated by the metal models , the Quality its not like the Models from Warhammer or WH40k(or the new plastic BT models?).

Edited by MW Waldorf Statler, 07 August 2019 - 09:14 PM.

[Horseman]

Number767, on 07 August 2019 - 08:39 PM, said:

When someone calls a model or mini clean does that mean something to do with weathering or quality in the painting?

Quality of painting. No colors going out of bounds where they don't belong.

[TheMundaneYesYes]

MW Waldorf Statler, on 07 August 2019 - 09:04 PM, said:

im used Black Lining by all my Mechs , its complicated by the metal models , the Quality its not like the Models from Warhammer or WH40k(or the new plastic BT models?).

I have a few metal minis, the quality can be hit or miss but the new uziels from IWM are pretty good. The only thing that bothers me about metal minis is that even with primer the paint can rub off easily where as the plastic minis I got from the game of armored combat and the starter box the paint holds on to the minis even without primer.

The new plastic minis are cool but need just as much work as the metal ones such as sand this , drill that and in some cases filling areas. The biggest issue I have had with the new ones are the wolverines thighs look like something I once tried to scuplt out of playdough when I was a kid.

[DevilCrayon]

A sealer coat really helps with the metal minis. I had a fair bit rub off while working on them, but once they were sealed they've stayed pretty well.

[TheMundaneYesYes]

DevilCrayon, on 08 August 2019 - 12:23 PM, said:

A sealer coat really helps with the metal minis. I had a fair bit rub off while working on them, but once they were sealed they've stayed pretty well.

Any suggested brands? I tried Krylon once and it resulted in me stripping the paint.

[DevilCrayon]

I'll check when I get home, but I'm pretty sure the matte sealer I have is from Army Painter, but might be Citadel.

[DevilCrayon]

DevilCrayon, on 12 August 2019 - 09:37 AM, said:

I'll check when I get home, but I'm pretty sure the matte sealer I have is from Army Painter, but might be Citadel.

Yep, The one I have is Army Painter's anti-shine/ matte finish. "super matte varnish"

[TheMundaneYesYes]

DevilCrayon, on 12 August 2019 - 06:05 PM, said:

Yep, The one I have is Army Painter's anti-shine/ matte finish. "super matte varnish"

Thanks, I will see if I can order some and give it a test on my test piece.

Also why does some paint brands behave so drastically different even though say they are both acrylic paints? For example
The Griffion was painted with Testors acrylic and the red one is with Tamiya Color. The Tamiya went on badly after I thinned it, like it would clump up like it was a enamel paint when thinned with water (I do not have access to anything else right now and assume water would do for all acrylic paints) and over all I found it much harder to use over the other brand and if you look closely you can see some variation in shade of the paint from darker red to lighter red even though I made sure that the paint was properly mixed. Should I start using a different method of thinning paints?
Tamyia Color is much harder to correct a error in painting I find.



EDIT: I am looking for tips and criticism. Also, does anyone know any brushable primer or if even brushable primer is worth it?

Edited by Number767, 15 August 2019 - 03:58 PM.