Octopus Overlords

We've had enough threads around here that I know we have some miniature painting/wargaming/PnP roleplayers areound here.

Reaper Miniatures has been one of my favorite miniature companies for years. Great quality, honest prices (I'm glancing meaningfully at you, Games Workshop.) A few months ago they released a new line called Bones. For the lazy, the Bones line uses existing metal miniature sculpts and casts them in durable plastic. I've got a couple, and they are solid, not brittle like the GW plastics, and paint perfectly. They've only got 16 pieces in the line so far, but the big thing is the price - an Ogre that costs $11.49 in metal costs $2.49 through the Bones line. Cave troll, $2.29. A set of six kobolds, $3.49. Like I said, these aren't cheap crap - Reaper is a very well respected company. All the miniatures in this post are Reaper.

Anyway, on to the point of the thread. A few weeks ago, Reaper started a Kickstarter for their Bones line. The idea was to get funding to significantly increase the number of models available in Bones. They asked for $30,000 to bring out 30 new Bones pieces. They have four days to go, and are right at $1,200,000.

The big deal for gamers is the rewards - two of them in particular. For the $15 donation, you get a 'Dungeon Attack' set of Bones miniatures with a dozen giant rats, a dozen kobolds, and a dozen goblins. The same pieces in the currently available mix of metals and plastics would run $38 plus shipping.

The 'wow' part is when you look at the $100 donation level. It was originally the Dungeon Attack plus one of each of the new Bones pieces plus a bonus piece, 66 miniatures in all. For each of their stretch goals, they've been adding a handful to the pledge level. It is currently at more than 200 miniatures (and more are being added every day.) The current value of the selection is $848.84, not counting 21 new sculpts that don't have price values yet. By the time this thing is done, the $100 pledge will probably net close to $1000 worth of miniatures.

Not only that, but with the $100 pledge level you have the option to add additional pieces by upping the pledge by a small amount. We're talking full sized dragons that run $70 for $10.

That will give painters years worth of hobby time and give role players an incredible starting selection. Here's the link.

Here is the current selection for the $100 pledge:



Here are the optional add-ons:



And here is a page showing higher resolution images along with current metal-equivalent prices for each.

...and as I was typing that up, they passed 1.2 million and added another five miniatures and another optional.

I was drooling over that yesterday. There are some sci fi minis in the collection I could definitely use, but for the most part I'd never need most of them or I'd be all over this like white on rice. It's a fantastic deal though!

That may be the most detailed Kickstarter page in the history of Kickstarter. And the most stretch goals. Impressive.

I probably have no use for any of them, but I am in. I don't know why. Well I do, it's because it's such a great deal for stuff I have no use for. I think I may be broken.

It's not just you, I'm debating it too. Mostly because this could keep me happily painting minis for the next 10 years, but I already have plenty of minis from board games that are still waiting to be painted. I could also use these for D&D box games or Descent, but those come with minis already too. Still, damn that's a lot of minis for the price.

This line could be just the thing to get me back into miniature painting. My lack of gaming time means these would probably never see a tabletop, but I have wanted to get back into painting them for display.

1.31 million. Four more added to the $100 pledge.

Wow, check out the one at the top right in that last set. Never seen a skeletal Bodhisattva before! Either that or what appears to be some kind of Transformer (with the tell-tale wings in back)

Love the Undead Giant one...

That is Neb'nesew, a warlord from the Nefsokar faction in Reaper's Warlord tabletop wargame.

His back piece is listed as a standard, and appears to be a scarab with lightning bolts or khopesh blades for legs.

Tidbit nobody is interested in. I live 16.9 miles from Reaper HQ.

Those minis look awesome, and it's an amazing deal. I wish I could in any way justify the purchase to myself. At all.

Chaz wrote:Those minis look awesome, and it's an amazing deal. I wish I could in any way justify the purchase to myself. At all.

Try this: The justification for fun is, "it's fun!"

My backlog of things I own that are fun could just about fill the grand canyon.

Chaz wrote:My backlog of things I own that are fun could just about fill the grand canyon.

Of course. You need to work on filling up Lake Mead. Get busy!

coopasonic wrote:Tidbit nobody is interested in. I live 16.9 miles from Reaper HQ.

I'm more interested in your distance from Squadron HQ.

In their latest update, they mentioned that, after the Kickstarter is complete, you'll be able to trade out your Sophie (their mascot) for $25 worth of optionals, which is fantastic. I don't know the last time I actually needed a succubus on a motorcycle, but some of those optionals are fantastic.

Blackhawk wrote:In their latest update, they mentioned that, after the Kickstarter is complete, you'll be able to trade out your Sophie (their mascot) for $25 worth of optionals, which is fantastic. I don't know the last time I actually needed a succubus on a motorcycle, but some of those optionals are fantastic.

I noticed that too, but it seems a little too good to be true. I know the Sophie minis are metal and everything else is plastic, but I still can't see her being worth Nethyrmaul, or the clockwork dragon and two giants, etc.

Sophie is their mascot. The Sophie miniatures are limited edition, made specifically for cons and sold as collectors' items. If you check her on the Reaper site, many of them sell for $25 - 30.

The Bones pieces as options are currently going for pledges at about half of what they're expected to retail for.

So, limited edition metal Sophie is actually worth about half of a Bones Nethyrmaul.

Just added in:

Last night my son asked if we could get back into D&D this winter. That makes jumping into this Kickstarter a no-brainer. I'm in.

I've never painted a miniature in my life, and I'm considering jumping in. If I didn't think my paint jobs would look like a 3-year old did them, I'd have jumped already.

Zaxxon wrote:I've never painted a miniature in my life, and I'm considering jumping in. If I didn't think my paint jobs would look like a 3-year old did them, I'd have jumped already.

Plenty of opportunities here. Hell I might let my 3 year old paint some just so we can compare.

I backed this with 256 dollars today. Might add a few more to get more lizardmen. I've got over a thousand minis already from the D&D line, but I could use more. It'll also be fun to paint again, and I've always been very pleased with the quality of the Reaper minis. They've got a more gritty, "realistic" approach to fantasy, which appeals to me. They're also generic enough that they can work with anything from D&D to Warhammer.

For anyone who's afraid of painting, it's not nearly as hard as it looks, and you can get some pretty good results doing almost nothing but spraying and dipping your miniatures.

A few hints for new painters:

- These are designed to function as 'pre-primed', and I've read several reviews that tested it with very positive results.

- If you do prime them, prime with acrylics, not enamels. The medium doesn't react well with the solvent in spray enamels.

- Reaper also has four separate paint sets in there as optional add-ons. A dozen colors for $18, which is fantastic pricing.

- If you want to buy paints and tools on the side, I highly recommend http://www.thewarstore.com/" target="_blank . I've ordered from them a couple of times, and their prices and service are great.

I keep getting tempted by this because it's such a great deal. I wonder if I could recoup the cost a few months down the line by selling off some of the minis I don't need?

Hell, I'm tempted, and the most painting of minis I've ever done is port/starboard colors on my Robo Rally figures. I'm more of a scale model enthusiast, and even I look at this stuff and wonder whether I should get them.

Blackhawk wrote:- If you do prime them, prime with acrylics, not enamels. The medium doesn't react well with the solvent in spray enamels.

Doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose of priming? And what do you mean with "it doesn't react well"? Does it make the plastic melt or deform?

Edit: The reason I ask is because a layer of black spray primer is a great way to add depth to a miniature quickly. If I can't do that, then I need to rethink how I'll approach the painting.

I defintely see some that will work for custom heroes in zombicide.

TiLT wrote:

Blackhawk wrote:- If you do prime them, prime with acrylics, not enamels. The medium doesn't react well with the solvent in spray enamels.

Doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose of priming? And what do you mean with "it doesn't react well"? Does it make the plastic melt or deform?

Edit: The reason I ask is because a layer of black spray primer is a great way to add depth to a miniature quickly. If I can't do that, then I need to rethink how I'll approach the painting.

You absolutely can prime them - just use a spray acrylic primer (Krylon, Citadel, whatever - most miniature painters these days use acrylics anyway), not an enamel primer (like Testor's.) I've read a couple of reports that the chemicals in the enamels make the whole thing tacky.

Blackhawk wrote:

TiLT wrote:

Blackhawk wrote:- If you do prime them, prime with acrylics, not enamels. The medium doesn't react well with the solvent in spray enamels.

Doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose of priming? And what do you mean with "it doesn't react well"? Does it make the plastic melt or deform?

Edit: The reason I ask is because a layer of black spray primer is a great way to add depth to a miniature quickly. If I can't do that, then I need to rethink how I'll approach the painting.

You absolutely can prime them - just use a spray acrylic primer (Krylon, Citadel, whatever - most miniature painters these days use acrylics anyway), not an enamel primer (like Testor's.) I've read a couple of reports that the chemicals in the enamels make the whole thing tacky.

But according to what I've read, the Citadel primer is enamel, as are most others.

TiLT wrote:Edit: The reason I ask is because a layer of black spray primer is a great way to add depth to a miniature quickly. If I can't do that, then I need to rethink how I'll approach the painting.

Every time a miniature is primed black, a unicorn dies.

TiLT wrote:

Blackhawk wrote:

TiLT wrote:

Blackhawk wrote:- If you do prime them, prime with acrylics, not enamels. The medium doesn't react well with the solvent in spray enamels.

Doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose of priming? And what do you mean with "it doesn't react well"? Does it make the plastic melt or deform?

Edit: The reason I ask is because a layer of black spray primer is a great way to add depth to a miniature quickly. If I can't do that, then I need to rethink how I'll approach the painting.

You absolutely can prime them - just use a spray acrylic primer (Krylon, Citadel, whatever - most miniature painters these days use acrylics anyway), not an enamel primer (like Testor's.) I've read a couple of reports that the chemicals in the enamels make the whole thing tacky.

But according to what I've read, the Citadel primer is enamel, as are most others.

OK, then, it isn't 'enamel' that was the problem in the review I read (it was the reviewer's conclusion), but rather just Testor's brand enamel, as I've read positive accounts of using Krylon, Citadel, Vallejo, and Reaper's own MSP primer. In any case, they absolutely can be primed (even in black, for crazy people.)

Alright, I'm no expert painter, but what's wrong with using black primer? I know it'll make the model look darker overall, but for me that's mostly the effect I'm going for anyway. I don't like those overly bright paint jobs you often see in Games Workshop stores.

Also, I don't care about those bloody unicorns. They're dead anyway.

Do you remember where that review you're talking about was, by the way? I'd like to read it.

I've been using matte black spray primer from The Army Painter on my board game miniatures. I tried it based on the recommendation of my local FLGS, and so far I've been pretty happy with how it's working. It's a little more difficult to get really light colors (white/yellow) painted, because it takes more than one coat, but the end result looks great. With a light primer I had to make sure that I got every little nook and cranny painted or the white/grey would show up. With black, those areas just look like washed shadows.

Boudreaux wrote:With a light primer I had to make sure that I got every little nook and cranny painted or the white/grey would show up. With black, those areas just look like washed shadows.

That's the entire point! There's no cheating with white primer. I guess I'm just a purist.

I even painted my limited edition Sergeant Centurius over white primer:



[edit] - I guess that's a nerd humblebrag. Apologies. Feel free to shame me.

Oddly enough, all this debate over primers is actually making me MORE interested in getting this.

I used to paint minis a lot in my teens/twenties. The lead ones, not these new-fangled plastic thingies.

What really got me excited about this line is that they've reached a level where polymer casts looks almost as good as the old lead ones, and are a hell of a lot cheaper. That's just awesome. It means I could actually jump back into the hobby relatively inexpensively.

I was always a white primer only guy myself. Like the dark side, black primer is quicker, easier, more seductive.

I can't afford the Vampire level as much as I really, really want 200+ miniatures. So I think for now I'm probably just going to blow $10 on a couple of the existing Bones minis and make a little diorama scene.

Gonna take this guy:

http://www.reapermini.com/Miniatures/Bones/latest/77013" target="_blank

Busting out of a doorway/cave. With this guy:

http://www.reapermini.com/Miniatures/Bones/latest/77008" target="_blank

sort of cowering off to the side.

I've been talking the talk, but I can't walk the walk. Gencon tapped my sorry butt out.