With the imminent revival of Heroscape, I've decided to whip my collection into shape! There are many small and large projects that need to be done, and certain portions of my armies to be filled out with 3d printed miniatures. I'll be documenting my journey in this thread!
With the announcement that the miniatures will be unpainted, some have expressed concerns about the time and cost of painting miniatures. I decided to test both of these limiters to get a number on how cheap I could go on paint supplies, and how long it takes to paint a miniature to match Heroscape's standard. With that in mind, I purchased some 3d printed Protectors from TREX (https://www.heroscapers.com/communit...ad.php?t=54809), and the cheapest paint and brushes I could find at Walmart.
I'll list the needed equipment and cost when I do my Protectors post, but before I put my precious Protectors to the brush, I needed to test the paint. And there is a project I have been putting off for literal years... Rebasing my C3G collection.
Heroclix Rebasing
Spoiler Alert!
I always had a small amount rebased, but that left about 70 miniatures on ugly bases which couldn't stand on ladders. With my friend's online 8-hour DnD finale coming up, I decided to buckle down and get it done during that. I wiped down a section of my garage workbench, set up my DnD laptop, and got to work! I didn't finish. But I got a lot done, and several days later, I finished up!
1. Step one was to take everything to pieces. I started by prying the bases apart, per Grishnak's rebasing tutorial (If you want an easy and good-looking base, this is the way to go! https://www.heroscapers.com/communit...ad.php?t=33485).
For my base, I'll actually be using the dial of the base, which means I'll need to remove the miniature. Many have a small base or round circles on their feet which means they will stay pretty stable but some are going to have a fragile connection to their base if it's only by their feet. I managed to complete this step with only two puncture wounds and one Xacto cut, so I was pretty pleased.
For the base, I removed the sticker, covered it in tacky glue, and pressed it into sand. I then pressed the miniature's feet/mini base into the sand to wiggle out a flat area for them to be later glued to.
2. Now for the sticky part. Before the sand can be painted, it needs to be sealed solid. I use liquid super glue to seal the sand and add texture. Without this step, the sand will crumble offer during painting and play. My fingers did get covered in super glue, but this had the bonus effect of sealing up cuts from the previous step.
3. Now for painting. I needed to match my already completed bases, and for some god-forsaken reason, I had put six paint passes on those. And because I had no concept of how money worked, I used Citadel paints. This time around, I used Apple Barrel.
Layer 1: Black
Layer 2: Dark Grey, heavy drybrush
Layer 3: Medium Grey, medium drybrush
Layer 4: Black Wash
Layer 5: Light Grey, light drybrush
The result is pretty nice looking but the last step is what makes it really pop!
Layer 6: Black, painted on the rim of the base
6. Now for the final step. At this point, those cleared spaces on bases have certainly gotten paint on them to some extent, so I go in with a Xacto knife and cut a bunch of crisscrossing "###" to give the super glue something to grab onto. This is also something you can do to the bottom of the miniature's feet when rebasing to give them more "grip".
Now for the fun part, the final result! I think the paint worked wonderfully, and I'll definitely be testing it out on my Protectors next.
End Result:
Low Cost Painting Test (Protectors of Ullar)
Spoiler Alert!
Because of the news that the new Heroscape will be unpainted, there’s been a lot of discussion regarding the cost and time investment needed to paint miniatures. As a test, I decided to buy the cheapest hobby paint at Walmart, Apple Barrel, and see how cheap I could paint a Protector of Ullar.
Costs:
Cheap Spraypaint: $3
Set of 10 Apple Barrel paint: $6.50
Cheap Paintbrushes: $4
Citadel Gloss Black Wash $8 Total: $21.50
I’ll be painting a clone using Army Painter paints to compare as I go. The goal will be to make the Protectors fit in with the art direction of current Heroscape minis, so I will not be using any fancy techniques. No dry brushing, no highlighting, no thinning paints.
1. I started off by giving the minis a light dusting with the spray paint. I never entirely cover them with spray paint, this is just a layer to help the actual paint stick. I used black because I would be painting light colors, and I wanted to see if there was a noticeable difference in coverage between the cheap Apple Barrel and the more expensive Army Painter. Normally I would not do this, as it only adds work. Painting light colors = light spray paint.
Now, you might ask why I painted all of my Protecters black if I was only comparing two of them. This is because I am a foolish individual who loves to waste my own time by not thinking before acting.
2. Next up is the white base coat. There was an enormous difference in coverage, as the Army Painter took two coats to cover the black, while the Apple Barrel took four. While this might seem bad, keep in mind that I specifically spraypainted the mini literally the opposite color to test coverage.
Had I spraypainted the mini white, this would have been much better for both paints, with Army Painter likely taking one coat and Apple Barrel taking two, possibly one.
3. I did the skin next. The Army Painter almost covered in one go, but required some touch-ups. Since I had a limited selection of Apple Barrel, I had to mix a skin color, which turned out to be tough. The skin color looked decent, but the Apple Barrel doesn’t mix well, so the colors streaked and separated a bit while painting. After the third coat, it ended up looking good, if a bit orange.
4. Next up, straps and boots. Army Painter took two coats, Apple Barrel took three.
5. I did yellow and green at the same time since I had experience doing Tyrian repaints, and I knew there would be some back and forth painting between the shin pads and the boots. Interestingly enough, Apple Barrel covered much better. This is likely because the Army Painter green is so much brighter.
6. Since I didn’t have any metallic colors, I just painted the crossbow a light grey. With everything all painted, time to see how he looks on a board.
(Please ignore the cat, she is attracted to small pieces of plastic and will attempt to commit great violence towards them if given the opportunity)
Wellll, he looks like a clown. The colors included in the pack turned out to be a bit garish, but I wanted to minimize any extra steps, so I didn't tone them down. So that’s the result for $13.50 worth of material, but what if we add one more step? I had recently gotten the army painter Dark Tone, and I wanted to test it out. I figured it would help him tone down the colors and match the black wash used by Heroscape minis.
It turned out very grimy, but he fits in much better on a Heroscape board. However, I used my usual Citadel Gloss black wash on the clone, and I think he fits in much better and looks way cleaner. I may need to practice more with the Army Painter tone, but I think the Citadel Gloss black wash just matches the Heroscape look perfectly, so I will keep using it, and I recommend it for anyone else, no matter what kind of other paint you are using.
Conclusion
Apple Barrel paints are completely acceptable as a base coat. There are larger sets than the one I used which would allow you to avoid mixing paints, and the price is still far lower than any model paint brand. If you do go this route, I still recommend that you finish the miniature with a coat of Citadel Gloss black wash, as it really brings the paint scheme together and replicates the look of classic Heroscape. If Apple Barrel paints are used, just know that it will result in extra time and loss of definition due to the extra coats.
I picked up the Army Painter Warpaints: Mega Paint Set from Gamersroll for $90. It contains 50 paints, including metallic colors and tones. While not a cheap entry point, I was very impressed with their performance, and I won't be buying any paint besides the Gloss black wash for years.
As a side note, my basing steps for sticker-covered bases:
Spoiler Alert!
Finished Protector Squads:
Rooty Tooty Cowboy Shooty
Spoiler Alert!
As someone who never owned a single Heroscape cowboy, I was super excited to find out that:
A. They are super cheap to buy due to 3D printing (thanks again, Trexy3D)
B. CV3 had rounded out the faction with Kate Crawford and gave them synergy due to Clayton Pierce.
I happily snapped up the minis, painted the 3D-printed sculpts, and rebased and blackwashed Kate and Clayton. As soon as I drag a friend over to play, this posse is going to be my first game back (outside of playtesting against myself).
Guilty McCreech had a disturbing case of gasmask face, so I gave him a nifty bandana.
I've been slowly collecting the various minis I need for my next project. Here's a hint, it will involve a horrifying amout of miniature surgery
Spoiler Alert!
Army Painter Speedpaint Test - MacDirk Hoard
Spoiler Alert!
After hearing so much about the Army Painter Speedpaints, I knew I had to give them a shot. I was blown away by how easy and fast they were to use. I was able to paint and base 17 miniatures in around five hours, so each miniature was completed in around 18 minutes. Blazing fast compared to the 30-60 minutes it usually takes me!
Unfortunately, things went sideways with the black wash. I found out the Citadel Gloss Black Wash I've been touting as the perfect finish went out of production years ago, and I'm almost out. I tested a different option, and it looks fine going on, but came out grimy, particularly on the skin. But that isn't the Speedpaints fault, and after this test, I highly recommend them. I'll be trying to thin the wash out on the next batch, as the Speedpaint provides all the depth that's needed; I just want the wash to tone down the colors a bit and provide some cohesion to all the colors.
Something to keep in mind is that the models still need a white(or whitish) basecoat. A few normal paints, particularly black, white, and metallics would be very good to buy along with a Speedpaint set, since you can use the black and white to cover up mistakes, and there are no metallic colors in the Speedpaint range.
EDIT: Alistair was painted with traditional paint, he's there for the side-by-side comparison. I think it shows that the Speedpaints look just as good, (in my opinion better), as painting quickly with the normal paints.
(Isamu is the only Ninja I speedpainted, he took a grand total of 2 minutes to finish once basecoated)
Hrognak and Bugs and Bugs and Bugs and
Spoiler Alert!
I found a two-dollar Triceratop figure at Krogers, and knew I had to repaint it and make Hrognak. His howdah is a mix of thin wood shapes and airdry clay, and is decorated with Chaos Space Marine Rhino bits. I went ahead and gave Hrognak a quick repaint to match my own orcs, and rebased him to a WH4K0 base so that he could fit into the howdah.
I went on a buying spree of extremely cheap prank bugs after buying the High Dune Scorpions (Which are currently under Unified Fanscape review in the SoV process), and gave them all quick paint jobs. This ended up being tricker than expected, as the paint was left sticky even after weeks of drying time. The scorpions in particular were very gummy, and I ended up having to scrub off a layer of paint with a toothbrush.
To fix this, I covered them in a couple of heavy washes and a heavy spray of varnish. As long as that outer layer is dry, I don't care how sticky the inside is. While the paint jobs are not stand out amazing, they no longer look like, well, fake prank ants and spiders, and I'm happy with the result.
Fire Ants
Red Ants
High Dune Scorpions
Fyorlag Spiders
That's a lotta bugs
C3G Horror
Spoiler Alert!
I didn't quite get all the horror minis C3G has on offer, but I got enough to run a few teams of slashers. These guys were a bunch of fun to build and were mostly very cheap and available. For the rarer and more expensive minis, TREX provided me with some lovely 3d printed sculpts. I normally paint pretty fast these days, but I took my time on those sculpts, as they were just too nice to rush.
Jason
Micheal
Freddy
Ghostface
Leathface, Pinhead, Sam, and Chucky
Leatherface is my favorite of the mishmash builds. The three different Heroclix minis that make him up really mesh well. For Pinhead, I ended up positioning himself terribly on his base, he's standing right on the edge, leaving a bunch of open space. So I got a little creative with a knife and blood effect, and I gave him a victim.
Terminator and cooler Terminator
T-2 follows the exact formula laid out in his Book, but for T-1 I tricked him out with an assault rifle from Captain America and a pistol from an ODST, so that he better matches his movie loadout.
Ash
I'm going to round out the horror faction, and then get to work on slayers. With how much I love horror, my games of C3G may become superheroless
Rebasing/Painting Arena of The Planewalkers and Speedpainted Mohicans
Spoiler Alert!
Heroscape is dead, long live Heroscape! While watching the crowdfunding attempt, I had been considering ways to rebase the figures to match my current collection without losing all the extra strength gained by having the miniatures molded directly to the base. Without some very, very precise cutting of the base stickers, it's not happening. Next best option was to cut off the miniature and strengthen the bond between the base and the mini. To achieve this, I bought a small hobby drill off Amazon test out a method on my Arena of The Planeswalkers minis, which I had recently been painting and using for the Arena of the Valkriery custom project.
1. AotP are often painted pretty poorly around their feet. While I wasn't going to repaint the prepainted models, I did tidy them up a bit.
2. Cut the model clean off with an Exacto knife. For the Lantern Geists, I used wire cutters to clip the base away and put them on the usual Trexy3d base. Fair warning, clipping them did cause deadly shards of plastic to fly everywhere.
3. Next up, I used the hobby driller to drill holes into the base and one of the model's feet. I used an unpowered drill because I was worried about making sure I had absolute control over it. I was concerned it might not work on the harder and more brittle 3d prints, but it did! You can see the Mohicans based with this method below:
4. Now, I just needed a connector. Naturally, I used the most obvious material, a used incense stick. Hear me out lol. The piece is short enough that it's not in danger of snapping, and soft enough that it can be slightly large than the hole, which allows for extra strength after it gets covered in superglue and pushed in/
5. While the superglued incense stick is dring in the model's foot, I drilled a hole in the base and gave the edges three to four coats of Army Painter Leather Brown, which is an exact match for Heroscape bases. The base's plastic was not meant to be painted and it will scrap off easily, so I had to be careful until it was coated with varnish.
6. Lastly, I put the sticker on, poked the hole, and that it's it! Now the model just needs a bit of superglue on the feet, and once the stick is pushed into the base, I added a drop of superglue from the underside as well.
Here's a few pictures of everyone based and painted! I left the squads pretty simple, but I was a bit more, ah, ambitious with Ozuul. I loved the gravity theme, so I tried to give him a black hole/galaxy theme, with mixed results. I don't dislike it per se, but I might try to refine some methods and eventually give Ozuul a remaster.
Lastly, I got a batch of Mohicans done. Not much to say here except it was another rousing success for speedpaints, I finished all nine in a couple hours! I'm considering buying a 3D printer and if I do, I'll be looking to get at least 4 of every common squad, and you can bet speedpaint will be with me every step of the way .
@caps
I used your recommended mix of water and runic grey to wash them, and I was very happy with the results! That will probably be my go-to wash now, so thanks for that
August 16th, 2022, 10:09 PM
Similar Threads
.
@
Threaded Mode