a kind of advice ...

[franck edet]

hello friends,
As you may guess, i'm involved too in some fbook groups about figures painting. Lastly i see a "trend" about advertising such or such products (paints, groundwork, etc.) from various brands.
And i would like to give you a look to the other side of the mirror.

for 10 years + i've earned my life by building, painting and writing articles for several magazines (Models, Military Armour, Military armor international, etc.) I was a so called "Pro".

what does this mean ? simple : brands, once you've been published once or two times, wants your name on their product. Contests wants your name on the list (and generally gives you a gold : you're a guest afterall) ...

the twisted side is that : in the articles you read (most of them online nowadays but it's certainly the same) you'll read about this brand of brushes, this kit "out of the box with some resculpting" , this absolutely revolutionary paint, this invicible airbrush, etc. name it, it's all there !

Guess what, generally i was not impressed with the daily delivery of brand new products to my studio, most of them i never used (still have more brand new MIG pigments in my stash than the local hobby store), airbrush ? wellllll got all those fancy stuff for free. i just never used them. i had a trusty simple action badger that never failed me ... "filters" oh yes ... "filters" ... yep i promoted those, at large, never opened one single bottle ... maybe one ... to test it. but a good old glaze was way more effective ;0)

so : to make a story short : do not let yourselves impressed by the "pros" and do not spend hard earned money on fake products ... do you know for exemple that all the so called water effects (put here any brand you want) are just ... acrylic gel ? you can buy this at your prefered arts store for almost nothing ! (and you can even choose the level of viscosity and shine)

happy modelling and painting my friends. keep your money to invest into real figures from the artisans and let's make them survive !

 

[kevininpdx]

Well said. I realized a long time ago this hobby is very much about buying stuff. I am perfectly aware the paint manufacturers are the giants and the actual figure makers are the mom and pops. It makes me sad to see creators I won’t name lamenting about struggling to survive when without them this hobby is done.

 

[Babelfish]

Well said. It's the proliferation of paint sets that really does my head in, it's reaching new levels of crazy almost by the month. Scale 75 even now do one that's (supposedly) specifically for "Ribbons, Medals & Rewards" .

Same story with washes as well. Several pounds / dollars / euros (plus shipping) for a farty little pot. As if you can't mix up any shade of wash you like from your paints and a bit of thinner or water for next to no cost, and which does the same job just as well if not even better.

I will though confess that I recently purchased a "grime" weathering wash, because it's clay-based and I'm curious to see how that works. It now awaits a suitable project.

- Steve

 

[megroot]

Very good writing.
I stick with my oilpaints. I think I need a tube titanium white soon, and thats all i buy again in 20 years.
If I see the stack of paint with acrylic painters....it blows my mind.

Marc

 

[Nap]

Hi Franck

Well said there ...very honestly put as well

I am sure we've all got things in the back of drawers, cabinets ...all vital .....at the time of purchase .....lol

Nap

 

[Ned Ricks]

Hello, Franck-
Thanks for your insights. It is refreshing to hear a reasonable voice say "Don't chase the next shiny object."
Some specialized tools I have encountered may make a certain task easier, but it replaces some other way of doing the same. Among the ones that have been useful enough to stay at the front of the drawer are the handy saws made from razor blades. These are small enough to use on figures and bust, especially for eliminating pour plugs, etc and their teeth are fine enough to create marks only needing minor clean up.

Keep on speaking the truth. I appreciate it, and you for doing so.

N

 

[franck edet]

thank you guys, at first i was afraid that my writings would be misunderstood.

Ned : yes there are tools that are really good too, so it's up to us, modellers, to keep the good ones alive and to avoid the undesirable "shinny" stuff by ignoring them

 

[MrBMB]

I said this this in one of my vids but some of the washes now make me laugh, when if you have the colour paint and thinner already you can make the same wash....even more then the bought wash in the same brand. I have my feel good purchase when I am broke but want to visit my local hobby store just to get out of the house and go for a drive. I will normally pick up a paint or cheap tool for $5 or under. It's sad but my local hobby shop doesn't really sell any figures ( only Tamiya 1/35 ) mostly go there for Tamiya models and others.

My dream was to have the mave cave to fit it all but I don't see many Man Cave Ads in the magazines

 

[Forté]

Oh there is so much of that which does my head in. Especially when it comes to thinning acrylics. So many have bought into the idea that you have to use a medium or distilled water. 30+ years of painting and I still use London tap water (and yes, I have tried some mediums so know a few tricks I can use).

I'm glad that I'm not sponsored but also honoured that people have trusted me to honestly say what I think of their products on the blog I help write.

As a rule now though, I avoid anything that feels like sales pitch and hype.

 

[Forté]

And I just spotted a prime example of what you mean while scrolling through Facebook...

"Best brushes money can buy"...

No mention from the poster that they're sponsored by the brush maker lol.

 

[theBaron]

I agree with you guys about not buying each of the next new products that come down the pike. Experienced painters and modelers have products that they have learned to use, have become familiar with, and that they use to achieve the results they get.

I ask you to put yourself in the shoes of the person entering the hobby, though. I have the same reaction many of you have about products like all of AK Interactive's catalog, Mig's stuff, paint sets with a dozen shades of flesh, field gray, OD, aftermarket detail sets, etc, etc.-I can make my own washes, weathering powders, color shades. I can scratchbuild a cockpit. I grew up on Shep Paine's "Tips on Building Dioramas" in my Monogram kits, so I'm familiar with creative gizmology.

But it occurred to me a while back, thinking about these products, that for a person just starting out, these new products provide a level of consistency that he might not otherwise achieve. True, there is a lot of value in trial-and-error. But if it helps someone gets through the first stages and keep his enthusiasm for the hobby, then it's a net positive.

There is definitely a danger of falling into the trap of dropping whatever you're using for the next new product, or watching the latest YouTube or blog video, to the exclusion of putting the brush to the piece.

But if someone uses these products, as long as he's painting and building, then great! I personally don't use them, but suum quique, as the Prussians used to say.

Just paint!

Prost!
Brad

 

[Forté]

On one hand I can agree with you there. Many of these large paint ranges are aimed at people painting armies who need to minimise on colour mixing due to repeating a scheme over and over. Good basing materials and products can also help with the process and consistent finish.

However; I would hate to come into the hobby and find so many different paint ranges and companies essentially offering the same thing with different labels (I know that's generalising). Especially when so often no one will give you an honest opinion on the difference between products. Which could leave a new hobbyist frustrated and confused.

Take for example the recent Kimera paint set which I hear are incredible and I could likely use them comfortably. Tell a new person to the hobby that they are the best together and they will be confused with what to do with the limited colour range.

I'm a firm believer that there is no "best" option. Just the best for each individual. But it's getting harder to help people find that when companies keep releasing "the best acrylics" or "the best brushes", or even "the only wet palette you could need".

 

[franck edet]

gentlemen, there are excellent points here, first i want to be clear : i'm not bashing products because they are "new", the point is about the price brands are using and their real utility :

Brad, let me use your exemple of beginners, If you tell them that they need this set of brushes, sold for 98 Euros ... 3 brushes, 98 Euros !!! I think that a beginner won't even see a difference in his painting.
to be honest : a Kolinski Sable brush needs a lot of care to stay at its best ... which care a beginner won't be aware of. I'd rather see him put those 98 Euros in buying figures to paint and spend more time at
the bench.

then there is the paints, how can a beginner learn about which color mix with which color to obtain the effect he is after if he is looking at 170 bottles in front of him ?

and, as Forté said : there are 2 kinds of painters ...

some are painting armies and they want to "speed-paint" ... last video on youtube from Angel Giraldez is "how to paint a mini in 39 minutes" ... which is not my hobby
the other ones are painters of figurines, historical or fantasy or sci-fi ... whatever, this side i'm part of, and i don't care if it takes 3 hours of work on a single tiny gem or eye.

my message was really orientated toward the second category of painting.

on another point, I had an idea :

with internet at our fingers today, and with so many painters here caring about our hobby, couldn't we start a project FOR the beginner painter, something with no glory name, but a collaboration between painters
to transmit the beginning, in order for the starter to be happy with his first results ? i did it with a 4.5 years old kid and it's so rewarding. Here on PF we could do some PDFs easily to explain (exemple) how to paint a face in three steps
for a start or, what colors you really need at first, or what kind of brushes etc. etc. in order to avoid the starter the "try/mistake" learning curve ...

what do you think ?

thank you very much guys for your response to this thread, i definitely feel a good vibe here !

 

[Alex]

Very good idea Franck. I am starting the Carthaginian war veteran with dog from Soldiers sculpted by Laruccia and will take many pictures during the process in order to show my way of doing things which might help any beginner, well I hope so !

as for the miracle paints, brushes etc. well I have plenty of paints myself and I like to collect them in order to improve the speed at the workbench. However, most often than not, I still use the same Vallejo set I have bought a decade ago !

now for the brushes, this is another story... I love them ! Can't have enough of them and those Kolinskys are all Kolinskys but they behave so differently from one manufacturer to another. The length of the bristles, the thickness of the belly and its location, the spring, etc... so much variety !

 

[franck edet]

Alex, i so much understand you, our brushes are OUR brushes ! and yes we love them, i got so many old ones and still using them for texturing , basing etc.
my thought is to transmit this experience to new painters !
let's give them a kind of tutorial from A to Z : from a face to a freehand ...
I'm pretty sure that Nap could host some Pdf easily and ask for a very little cost to cover the charges

i'm not asking for any retribution for that, that's clear and i will do my best to help new generations of painters

for my part i know my skills are more about groundwork and general lights so i will work first on those kind of tutorials









;

 

[Forté]

Interesting that you mention Angel Giraldez.

I struggle to watch his videos as they're loaded with advertising and promotion for Vallejo Paints, Artis Opus brushes, and Redgrass wet palettes. All three of which he gets supplied for free.

 

[Alex]

I have nothing against Artis Opus brushes BUT... seriously, when I see people saying this was painted using these brushes and they are now the ultimate you should buy because of that.... I am laughing a little bit, well more than that actually
I guess the Mona Lisa was painted using special secret brushes as well
In terms of brushes, my latest discovery for cheap quality brushes : Roubloff

 

[Alex]

oh and I don't sell Roubloff brushes

 

[kevininpdx]

Sponsorship is the only way a guy like Angel Giraldez can make miniature painting a career. More power to him.

 

[Forté]

Sponsorship is the only way a guy like Angel Giraldez can make miniature painting a career. More power to him.

To a point.