Reaper Bones

You've convinced me, maybe I'll do a wash on the translucent figures. It would be nice to have some of the very cool details (particularly the fire elemental) be shown off.

I soaked all of mine in warm soapy water and thoroughly rinsed them. I didn't really scrub them. I have only painted one figure so far (a lizard man) and it went fine.

I do most of my painting outside on the back deck. When you come down you'll see what I mean.

Just build one of those wooden paint holders like I did (or be a puss and buy a small tool box LOL) and you can bring your shit anywhere.

Come to think of it, as a bribe for the iniquity of being forced to spend time with me[/-s] gift, I'll give you a paint tool box I used to use. It'll hold maybe 70 paint bottles as well as brushes, X-actos and whatnot.

My wife and I had the grand unboxing of our Reaper order.
We are both impressed with the quality of the molds and relative lack of flash.

In my package, though, the Force of Nature minis had no left arms.

I was a little underwhelmed by the Clockwork Dragon. The exhaust stacks seem to be an afterthought. The sculptor needed to take a clue or two from the Warmachine universe. I think I will be using metal foil and Testors Buffable Metalizers on the fig after modifying the wing position. I am also wondering if I can fabricate wings for it out of metal and acetate(?).

Got a ship notice for 17 lbs of Reaper glory.

Forgot I got a bit loose in ordering bits for this one. I remember making a list of games that I thought I could improve with a lot of what was coming in this set. Wish I knew where it was so I could parcel out the minis right away. As it stands, I suspect this is going to be one of the very few hobby-purchase boxes I've ever had the need to smuggle into the house. My mother-in-law appeared over the weekend with some bookcases from her mother's estate that are large, lovely, mahogany, and altogether smaller than the shelves I had to take down to make room. (And since they were her late, beloved grandmother's, their place in the house is utterly non-negotiable with my wife)

Now I have a titanic pile of books that I really don't want to get rid of (most are academic histories; many OOP and a *ton* of far right-wing literature that took me an eon to track down and collect. I may talk to georgetown U's special collections to see if they're interested in much of it as they've got a few extremist collections that this could serve as a bit of an adjunct to. But I can't bring myself to part with 'em just yet. They're also inextricably linked to a period in my life that truly encompasses a great many of my highest and lowest points) and, unfortunately, don't fit and absolutely no place to go at the moment--and that have already completely filled the spot where I had intended to stash these minis for the long-term until I got round to painting the various bits I really wanted to use.

And I'm just not up for explaining to my wife where the hell I'm going to put these things at the moment as...well...I have NO freakin' idea. Ah well....as long as they go to the basement, she'll not give me too big a raft of crap about it. Lousy timing though...

Very annoying move on my part but I'm looking forward to these minis nonetheless...

DO NOT PRIME. I ruined ten minis by priming. They remain perma-tacky....fuck sakes.

SuperflyTNT wrote: DO NOT PRIME. I ruined ten minis by priming. They remain perma-tacky....fuck sakes.

Is that a feature of the primer, the plastic, or just bad friggin' luck?

Usually a combination of two or all of them. I've heard reports of primers working fine. Can't be bothered to remember what primer though. Maybe lathering them in PVA/water solution or leave them be at half a lifetime. I've had miniatures tacky when sprayed with cheap-o spray paint, and about a week later (maybe less) it feels normal.

The Reaper website says priming is not necessary with this miniatures.

They have quite a detailed review and test of priming with a variety of primers and not priming. Turns out not priming came out better than most primers.

Came home to my box last night!

So many little plastic baggies!

So, here's the deal...

I washed the minis in warm soapy water, and scrubbed with a brush. Don't use even sort-of-hot water because these fuckers deform at around 100 degree water as best I can tell. I think that if you left them in the sun, they'd melt. The upside of this is that they're all deformed a little bit, so correcting that (or changing the pose) is really easy - put under HOT running water for 10 seconds, hold the pose you want, and then immediately cool under cold running water for 10 seconds. It sticks right where you put it. I corrected a LOT of bent swords/axes/bows like that so far and it's stayed hard.


Then, I primed with three kinds:
Citadel Black
Armory Grey
Krylon 2X white

All three became tacky, with the Krylon shit so tacky that the miniature sticks to your finger like honey. I tested this out because white figures are harder to make black than black figures, and because I've had so much weirdness happen with plastics, I always test 3 primers as some are better than others for different plastics.

I also live in a VERY humid area, so I primed them outside and immediately took them to my climate-controlled garage to cure. It's been a week in there, and they're still sticky as fuck all. Really pissed about the spiders.

Now, I've heard people complain about Armory primer, but I'll tell you, I've found it to be the best on the market. Most people don't shake it for 2 full minutes (gamers generally can't shake anything for 2 minutes..) and therein lies people's major problems. The shit NEEDS to be shaken up. It reacted the LEAST of all of the primers, but still, it's not good.

I'm thinking that these models were bagged right after creation or something and never fully cured/outgassed, and that's why they are the way they are. They didn't stink much, per se, like that New York Mafia Eagle game I wanted to desperately to play but couldn't handle the stench, so I can't say for sure if that assessment is true. All I know is this: DON'T FUCKING PRIME THEM. Better to go over them with a brush on primer or just a basecoat of black if you want to make them darker.

Sevej is DEAD RIGHT. Paint on a 4:1 water/PVA solution and let dry for a couple days, and you can paint anything onto anything. It's magical shit.

Anyhow, craft, Vallejo, and Coat d'Arms paint really does stick to the PVC models very well. Flow is very good as well, no beading up or anything. Remarkable shit, to be sure. The neatest thing is that if you blackwash them (as I usually do as a guide to the lines on white models) the flow is SO good that the lighter parts really don't hold the water but the recesses soak the shit up really well.

The translucent ones are NOT the same plastic. They don't react to spray aerosols like the PVC. I shot Krylon Matte over them and they're fine, and now paint will stay on them.

Luckily, I used the bugs/swarms as testers, and while I'm a little fucked off about the spiders, so it's no major loss. I will endure any iniquities for my FORTRESS friends!