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Wednesday, January 22, 2014

How Green Is My Orc: Reaper Pro Paint vs. MSP

So I made myself start painting, cold or not. Ability to go outside and dip or matte finish minis or not. I wanted to get some of the extra fodder minis I ordered from Miniatures-Giant* covered with paint. It's that or put down some white Bones with their painted kin, which just loses some of the impact. Plus, it occasionally prompts Dryst's player to announce "I fight this battle under protest!"

I also decided to do the old boil-and-bend on some bent Bones I have, including some orcs. And then I figured, while the mass-painted fodder is letting a coat dry, I'll start to do up some of my new orcs.

Which Green For Orcs?

I busted out my new paint pot, 09034 Muddy Olive, chosen based on this color equivalency chart.

Sadly, 09034 Muddy Olive is more like a dark forest green than the more olive-y 08049 Troll Flesh. Annoying, because that's the color I used for all 70+ of my orcs. I picked up Muddy Olive to replace the dried-up Troll Flesh pot I had. I'm trying to get a closer match on my orcs than I can get otherwise. I have a lot of orc minis, and a lot more (all the ones from Bones Kickstarter, with duplicates I traded for), and I'd like the new ones to look like the old ones.

Any help? What's the best match for Troll Flesh, which is now out of production (and tended to dry out way too fast, anyway)? For now, I'm using Anita's 11119 Olive Green. It's a bit light, but the right "shade" of green, so I can darken it with Army Painter Quickshade or a black wash. I'm also trying the slightly darker and more forest-green-y Apple Barrel Colors 20756 English Ivy Green.

Still, it's nice to be painting again. Even if I'm just clearing out fodder.

Orcs Are Like Green Pirates - Well, at least my orcs are. I like to paint them as if they wear whatever strikes their fancy, which might happen to be a great mix of colors that really highlights their weapons and armor and flesh tone. Or more often it's a terrible mix of colors that shouldn't mix. Some pieces are bright and new, some worn and ratty, often on the same guy. It's a great excuse to pull out any color and use it on bits of cloth, shield decorations, and hats. It makes it fun to paint them and extremely easy to tell them apart. "Uniform" means "more or less the same weapons" in Orcish.

So it's fun painting again, even if I can't finish the job.

* By the way, they got me my backordered minis very quickly. Thanks guys!

9 comments:

  1. I don't know much about mini painting, why would you need to be able to go outside to dip things or do a matte finish? Does it give off fumes so you need to leave it outside?

    Maybe the slight green variation is all right, like different skin tones. Just need to go back and mix up the colors a little more and then it's all gravy.

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    1. It's the fumes, yes. I've done some varnishing indoors, and I may again, but only when I can air out the place I do it. Or not use that room until I can air it out. "Safe once dry" and "safe to get inside my lungs in droplets" doesn't mean the same thing, I figure.

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    2. Yeaaah, I wouldn't want stuff like that in my lungs either.

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    3. Which is worse, Muddy Olive lungs or Troll Flesh lungs?

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    4. I'm not terribly worried about paint fumes in my lungs, not from acrylic paints in small quantities. :)

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  2. Acrylic fumes are just water, so no worries there.

    I use the general hobby paints available in most hobby stores and sections, rather than the expensive brands put out by the miniature makers. So, I don't get too excited about matching, as the selection of colors is far larger, and I can always mix a large batch. I found a pot I had mixed up over 5 years ago, still good!

    I tend to prime figures in large numbers, because it's such a hassle to mess with. So, I am rarely lacking for primed figures to paint. Not that I have time to paint, any more.

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  3. Acrylic fumes are just water, so no worries there.

    I use the general hobby paints available in most hobby stores and sections, rather than the expensive brands put out by the miniature makers. So, I don't get too excited about matching, as the selection of colors is far larger, and I can always mix a large batch. I found a pot I had mixed up over 5 years ago, still good!

    I tend to prime figures in large numbers, because it's such a hassle to mess with. So, I am rarely lacking for primed figures to paint. Not that I have time to paint, any more.

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    1. Most of mine are craft paints, too, but sometimes I find just the right one in a model color and pick it up.

      I do the prime-and-store thing too - I have a few big boxes of primed minis ready to go. The Bones are nice because it's just wash, dry, and then start painting. They do better with an undercoat though, especially for metallics (NMM looks like plastic to me, so No NMM for me).

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    2. All this talk of painting makes me want to get some minis and start a hobby. This sounds like a terrible idea.

      What is NMM?

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