Post by Whiterook on May 3, 2022 10:24:33 GMT -5
Watching members here and the old forum paint their miniatures, and reading some tutorials as I prepare for my next painting project (first time in many years, actually so I need the prep!), the question posited above came to mind, of how good is good when considering the amount of detail needed in your miniatures. What my mind seems to distill it down to is, it depends on the scale.
That of course also depends on subject — vehicles vs infantry.
When you get to get down to 15mm on vehicles for instance, they will often have (depending on manufacturer) an amazing amount of detail, right down to the nuts and bolts on the exterior hull! But when you consider infantry at that same scale, the detail drops in sophistication dramatically; in infantry, you will see fingers clearly, but they aren’t as anatomically correct, and even more so with weapons. What that means is, in practice within the actual gaming experience, people do not notice those small details such as noses, and fingers, and big-ass M1 carbines. Also, 15mm figures are often less than stellar casts and quite frankly not worth fixing to the point they could be used for a really good paintjob. And in most cases, you need tons and tons of them, so spending five hours painting each one simply is just not an option worth investing in, IMHO.
Get down into the 10mm and 6mm ranges, even more so in what I’m throwing out for consideration. At those scales, you can most often, clearly identify the differ between an M1 and an M16 for instance, but those rifles will be more a suggestion than a faithful representation.
So let’s go the other way — 28mm, which is generally the largest scale in typical and widespread miniatures gaming. The aforementioned example of an M1 and M16 US Infantry Rifle will not only be clearly definable, but much more accurate in sculpt depiction; along with eyes, fingers, insignia, and belt buckles! Now, my friends, this is when you’re inner Rembrandt needs to shine! At that scale, it is not only worth the detail effort in painting, but kinda required if you want cred.
So saying all that, remember - I am talking Infantry.
On vehicles, you will generally have (dependent on manufacturer) great detail on 10mm, and decent detail on 6mm. This is when a decision on preferred results becomes personal, versus speed of need. I say that because, I am almost always going to give everything I paint the Master touch, but that’s me. But it does raise the point of consideration.
That of course also depends on subject — vehicles vs infantry.
When you get to get down to 15mm on vehicles for instance, they will often have (depending on manufacturer) an amazing amount of detail, right down to the nuts and bolts on the exterior hull! But when you consider infantry at that same scale, the detail drops in sophistication dramatically; in infantry, you will see fingers clearly, but they aren’t as anatomically correct, and even more so with weapons. What that means is, in practice within the actual gaming experience, people do not notice those small details such as noses, and fingers, and big-ass M1 carbines. Also, 15mm figures are often less than stellar casts and quite frankly not worth fixing to the point they could be used for a really good paintjob. And in most cases, you need tons and tons of them, so spending five hours painting each one simply is just not an option worth investing in, IMHO.
Get down into the 10mm and 6mm ranges, even more so in what I’m throwing out for consideration. At those scales, you can most often, clearly identify the differ between an M1 and an M16 for instance, but those rifles will be more a suggestion than a faithful representation.
So let’s go the other way — 28mm, which is generally the largest scale in typical and widespread miniatures gaming. The aforementioned example of an M1 and M16 US Infantry Rifle will not only be clearly definable, but much more accurate in sculpt depiction; along with eyes, fingers, insignia, and belt buckles! Now, my friends, this is when you’re inner Rembrandt needs to shine! At that scale, it is not only worth the detail effort in painting, but kinda required if you want cred.
So saying all that, remember - I am talking Infantry.
On vehicles, you will generally have (dependent on manufacturer) great detail on 10mm, and decent detail on 6mm. This is when a decision on preferred results becomes personal, versus speed of need. I say that because, I am almost always going to give everything I paint the Master touch, but that’s me. But it does raise the point of consideration.
