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Post by macscrooge on Nov 1, 2019 16:03:25 GMT
The correct answer must surely be “whatever works for you.” This being a hobby it should be fun above all else. I have always (well for the past 44 years...) painted my figures. My painting isn’t great but neither is my eyesight so my toys look pretty good to me!
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Post by twogunbob on Nov 1, 2019 17:01:05 GMT
The painting is what I call my zen rock garden. I listen to music or watch a movie I've seen a hundred times and while the time away. It only becomes an issue when I have a time limit. Like the ACW was due in September so around August it started crunch time and I didn't enjoy the painting as much because I had so many figures to do to get ready for the game. And since September I've painted practically nothing because I burned myself out. I did prime a bunch of 28's last week though so I'm about ready to start up again. I love painting but completely understand that some people don't. It's a hobby and if it brings you great joy and pleasure by Vishnu, don't let anyone be negative and cast shade on what you enjoy. Some people really enjoy the game itself the fights I just like the painting and kibitzing at the table more than anything else. I wuldn't have a problem playing a game done bare figure style provided the company was goodand the refreshments refreshing.
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Post by zuludon on Nov 1, 2019 22:02:19 GMT
I think it's a US vs. British/Commonwealth thing. Like Daryl, I grew up in the US and didn't see my first plastic (read affordable) painted toy soldier until I was twelve. I added the Herald ACW figures I bought in Canada to my unpainted Marx figures and happily played with them in the dirt of my backyard until the paint peeled off and you couldn't tell the difference. After watching the film Zulu my buddy and I launched just about every unpainted figure we owned against his defending Britains Highlanders in sun helmets behind their building block defenses. Those were good times, the joy of which I wish I could recapture as easily as it came the first time. I am looking forward to meeting my first grandson in February. I sure hope he grows up liking to play with toy soldiers because Grandpa is going to have a lot to share with him.
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Post by gonefishing on Nov 2, 2019 14:37:16 GMT
Nick, if you ever feel the need for a second grandson I'm open for adoption! (The lucky devil...)
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Post by pinotnoir01 on Nov 16, 2019 4:27:46 GMT
Have two grandsons 6 and 4. Whenever they come to visit (stay over once a month) the castle and knights are all set up just in case. It is working so far!
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Post by 79thpa on Jun 22, 2020 14:39:06 GMT
I hope no one minds me resurrecting this thread. It is interesting to see people playing with unpainted soldiers. I have exclusively played with painted figures for decades but, over the last couple of years, I have accumulated hundreds of AiP figures for the Sudan and, with all of the painting projects I already have on hand, these troops will probably never fulfill their soldierly duty unless they take to the field in their natural state. I knew a guy who used gesso on the skin and weapons (may the headgear) and painted those, but left the rest of the figures unpainted. This is a pretty big step for me to wrap my head around...
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Post by briancarrick on Jun 23, 2020 16:10:59 GMT
I've just looked back over this thread and it raises a lot more questions than it answers for me. In my simplistic view the world is split into people who wargame with 5mm to 30mm white metal/plastic figures and people who play with toy soldiers. The former always paint their figures, and very impressive they look too, I'm pretty sure I've never seen a wargames table covered in unpainted metal castings. The people who play with toy soldiers can be subdivided into those who want to immerse themselves in a visually spectacular game like the smaller scale wargamers and those seeking to rekindle the nostalgia of childhood games, most of us probably have a foot in both camps. For the nostalgic gamer the painted/unpainted choice is significant because it will reflect the toys they grew up with and this can be very polarised. In the USA the vast majority of plastic toy soldiers came unpainted and often in Playsets, where you got two opposing armies plus lots of accessories, essentially a wargame in a box with everything bar a set of rules. Almost everywhere else in the world toy soldiers came painted and were sold individually or in small boxed sets, at least until 1969 when Airfix launched their boxes of cheap unpainted plastic figures in 1/32nd scale. So where does that leave the 54mm wargamer? Painted figures fighting it out on the tabletop never fail to impress, and when in large numbers the painting quality needs only to be rudimentary. For many of us painting figures is a relaxing and creative aspect of the hobby but even this can become a chore when faced with the need to produce an entire army, or worse still both sides! For those who don't have the time, resource, inclination, whatever to paint, then a table full of unpainted figures is also very impressive, just don't mix the two. The only time I think you can get away with mixing painted and unpainted figures on a table is where the bulk of the armies are unpainted and just the command stands are painted as little vignettes standing out from the crowd. If you go down the unpainted road then AiP are ideal, the range is extensive, the sets are often in several different colours of plastic so you can have distinctive different units and the bases are large enough to give stability while not being intrusive. What doesn't work so well is when you create an army from a variety of different manufacturers, for example in an ACW collection a rag-tag Confederate army in ten different shades of grey and butternut might look okay but a Union line in ten shades of blue might not. If you have an inclination to convert some of the figures to obtain additional poses you will find yourself with Frankenstein bodies made up from more than one shade of plastic with blobs of filler here and there. But all is not lost for the non-painter, if you give your figures a quick coat of a single colour plus perhaps a contrasting colour for the base you can create a uniform unit without having to spend a lot of time and effort on detailed painting of the entire unit, an example of this is here on Scott Lesch's blog ilikethethingsilike.blogspot.com/2013/04/replicants-royal-navy-and-marines.html Anyway, sorry to ramble on but I can't get to any of my toys or books for the next few weeks so I've got nothing much all else to do at the moment.
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Post by spiritofethandune on Jun 23, 2020 17:32:30 GMT
Brian's post, and in particular the link he included, has made me think of games like Battle Cry and Memoir 44. These games use unpainted plastic figures-albeit in different coloured plastic for each army-on beautifully painted game boards with terrain tiles of the same artistic quality. Many, including myself, happily play these games without worrying about painting the plastic figures. Somehow it still looks right. I suppose this is not too different from using unpainted monochrome plastic 54mm figures on 'proper' scenic terrain. I hadn't thought about it like that before. Brian, you've made me think!
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Post by rossmac on Jun 23, 2020 19:06:04 GMT
Brian, best up that to painted metal 40mm figures? I remember my slightly shocked and almost offended reaction in the 70's when a member fielded a 25mm metal Greek wargame army.....spray painted gold! Turns out he was a decent guy anyway and I still game with him. Ross
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Post by zuludon on Jun 23, 2020 22:33:33 GMT
When I brought up the question at my club whether anyone would play games with unpainted 54mm figures, the suggestion was generally met with derision and cries of: Why not just chuck dirt clods or rubber bands at them? And yet, as mentioned by Ross, they happily play Memoir 44, and another group plays Cthulhu games with unpainted plastics (although they are rather eccentric). I can relate to Brian's feeling overwhelmed by the thought of having to paint tens of plastic figures before even putting them onto the table to play. When I began my Jacobite collection, I was tempted to simply pit the green colored Replicant Highlanders against the red Replicant and ACTA Government troops, but once I began painting the Highlanders, that option ended, in my opinion, because you can't mix painted and unpainted figures once you're above the age of ten or eleven. I still have a growing collection of Conquistadors vs. Aztecs that remains unpainted and I may very well leave them that way and color code them the way Scott Lesch does. I know another member of LWR who plays with unpainted Spanish Conquest figures and he seems to have a hell of a good time!
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Post by aducknamedjoe on Jun 24, 2020 1:00:03 GMT
Unpainted lets me actually play games, instead of perpetually "preparing to play games." For me the hobby is the games, and everything else is just an obstacle on the way to the games, and I like to minimize obstacles.
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Post by zuludon on Jun 24, 2020 14:02:10 GMT
Absolutely! Gaming in its purest form. Kudos to you.
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Post by bradley71 on Sept 23, 2020 19:10:52 GMT
I will jump in here. I recently jumped into 54mm with a bag of plastic Indians and Cowboys my six year old son saw and wanted at the grocery store. How could I say no Gentleman! We divided them up and using D6's came up with very simple rules to play on the kitchen table. Well recently we decided that we needed more so we went and spent another whopping 2 dollars on another bag. Now our battles are getting bigger and we are adding different little rules. Well I thought I would surprise him by painting some of them up. So I took ten of them an on my day off I painted my first 54mm figures ever. I kinda followed the Britain Deetail style limiting myself to 6 colors and a wash. They painted up super quickly and after a varnish looked rather good. I was so excited to show him. However instead of being greeted with joy I was shocked to see him horrified that I would ruin his colorful soldiers by painting them. He told me I had plenty of my own men to paint and that to leave his alone! Well I think that pretty much sums up this topic to me haha. I love painting, he hates it. Maybe when he gets older he will learn to like it I dont know. The important thing to me is I get to play something I enjoy with my youngest son. I have gotton some AIP Franco Prussians and plan on getting some Imperial miniatures as well to play everything from Big wars to a Gentlemans war in the future. I will paint mine because I enjoy painting after a long day at work after the kids goto sleep. It relaxes me. But I have zero problem playing with unpainted figures. To each theyre own.
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Post by gonefishing on Sept 23, 2020 22:02:49 GMT
I think you've got the right idea. What could be better than playing with your boy, so who cares about paint? As I said above, and the photos above show abundantly, unpainted games have their own appeal, very special in their own right. It's the nursery, playroom look and hearkening back to childhood and simpler times that gets me - and in some ways I think the sculpts have a chance to shine more, sans paint. If you happen to be on Facebook, be sure to check out the Unpainted Plastic Figure Collectors group; some great inspiration and friendly fellow enthusiasts there!
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Post by spiritofethandune on Sept 24, 2020 8:00:55 GMT
Unpainted lets me actually play games, instead of perpetually "preparing to play games." For me the hobby is the games, and everything else is just an obstacle on the way to the games, and I like to minimize obstacles.
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