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Post by rainsford on Jul 11, 2022 1:28:10 GMT
Hello all,
Last year, by a stroke of luck (I think), I relocated to Hawaii for work. My wife and I both enjoy skirmish games, and I have been working on collecting a bag full of plastic army men, pirates, and others to take with us to the park and the beach to play games with, out in the wonderful climate here. However, I recently grabbed a few to start painting, as a diversion from some other mini painting that was dragging on forever. I stopped to think, at this point halfway through painting up a force of imagi-Nations army men for the Portable Wargame rules I found at the local library book sale, if they would still hold up to outdoor use.
So, my question is, for those of you who game in your gardens or the otherwise great outdoors, do you paint your toy soldiers or leave them in basic colors as-is?
I did a durability test on my painted commander by popping him into my pocket for a long walk and when I got back I could only find one spot where the varnish had failed and I could see a tiny dot of green plastic, but my mind is not made up yet. Especially since the investment lost if they can't be found at the end of a game goes up with the time invested in painting.
I suppose my hobbying is at a standstill today due to analysis paralysis
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Post by aducknamedjoe on Jul 11, 2022 4:54:10 GMT
I do unpainted outside, though I also do unpainted *inside* so I may not be the best role model...
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Post by spiritofethandune on Jul 11, 2022 5:31:43 GMT
I get someone else to paint my figures, for both inside and outside gaming:) I may not be the best role model either...
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Post by tradgardmastre on Jul 11, 2022 6:39:12 GMT
Would a compromise be to paint the flesh, equipment and weapons whilst leaving the plastic as a uniform colour? I have tried that with AIP plastic figures sucessfully. I personally prefer to game with figures painted as opposed to unpainted. It’s all a matter of personal preference.
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Post by tradgardmastre on Jul 11, 2022 6:41:06 GMT
P.s welcome aboard Rainsford, good to have you with us. I very much look forward to hearing of your games and hopefully seeing some pictures too.
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Post by Mike Lewis on Jul 11, 2022 13:12:06 GMT
Welcome!
I use painted outside on the lawn and use painted figures for all my games...
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Post by gonefishing on Jul 11, 2022 14:26:26 GMT
Whilst I love painted figures, and have many of them, there is a special appeal to using unpainted as well. Maybe it's the whiff of childhood they bring, and the many hours spent with my Marx WWII figures (with their ridiculously small tanks!) out in the back garden, I don't know, but the appeal is there. There is also the advantage that once the battle is done all I have to do is toss my warriors in their various bags, fling the bags in their boxes, and that's it - no worrying about proper packing or storage or any of that stuff.
But again, I like them both. It really depends on what you feel most comfortable with!
Oh, and congratulations on your move to the islands. Our family just went on holiday there and had a splendid time. Absolutely beautiful, with very warm and gracious people!
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Post by rossmac on Jul 11, 2022 15:45:02 GMT
When I was a kid, my mom insisted on "proper" painted toy soldiers, like her father had in the 19thC so I had mostly Crescent, Lone Star etc painted plastic 54's with metal ones being very rare! The only Marx sets I had were the 30mm painted ones!! These were eventually passed on to newer generations but some eventually came back and occasionally get some exercise. However, painted metal and plastic figures do go outside. My mom's prejudice was passed on by default since I never had unpainted ones until later years when I started getting Airfix 20's and even then was soon dabbing paint on them. Having said that, whatever works for you is what works. Some of the new plastic manufacturer produce the same adult toy soldiers in different colours of plastic to be used for different armies so there's a lot of people who like'm that way! My 40mm metals do get the occasional outing as well: gameofmonth.blogspot.com/search/label/garden-Ross
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Post by zuludon on Jul 11, 2022 17:30:16 GMT
I would just make sure to give your painted figures plenty of protective coating. Unlike Ross, I grew up with only unpainted figures until a family vacation to Vancouver, British Columbia, when I was 11, introduced me to the painted Herald Civil War toy soldiers. I bought as many as I could afford and proceeded to play with them in the garden when I got home. Within weeks, most of the paint had rubbed off the figures.
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Post by Brian Cameron on Jul 11, 2022 17:58:59 GMT
I'd always go for painted figures - and I paint my own :-)
Just as important as a good coat of varnish is making sure the figures are clean - I wash mine in warm water containing washing soda crystals - and primed well. You can buy spray undercoat meant for cars formulated to give good adhesion to platics. I've used it and it works well. I usually paint with acryloics and then a couple of coats of varnish. Seems to hold up pretty well though mine haven't had extensive use. The paintwork is pretty basic - one colour for each part of the uniform, no shading or anything. Even just painting the flesh and the musket brown makes a difference.
I hope that helps and welcome along.
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Post by rainsford on Jul 11, 2022 23:34:42 GMT
Thanks for all the input folks!
Perhaps my solution will be to save up my pocket change and simply have sets of both on hand! I admit that while I enjoy the look of painted figures from my D&D collection on the other side of the workbench, unpainted figures in basic plastic colors do remind me of my long lost Toy Story “bucket o’ soldiers” and the campaigns between the lands of “Upstairs” and “Downstairs” in my split-level childhood home.
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Post by aducknamedjoe on Jul 12, 2022 3:13:05 GMT
Thanks for all the input folks! Perhaps my solution will be to save up my pocket change and simply have sets of both on hand! I admit that while I enjoy the look of painted figures from my D&D collection on the other side of the workbench, unpainted figures in basic plastic colors do remind me of my long lost Toy Story “bucket o’ soldiers” and the campaigns between the lands of “Upstairs” and “Downstairs” in my split-level childhood home. Those dastardly Downstairians may have the Kitchen, but they'll never have...our freedom!
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Post by tradgardmastre on Jul 12, 2022 7:26:00 GMT
I was thinking about this and in my childhood unpainted were the wee Airfix figures but the big ones, Britains, Heraldand Timpo were painted. Yes I had big Airfix etc unpainted but the big = painted in my mind is definitely a throw back to my youth and the battles across the carpets and around the the furniture…
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Post by rainsford on Jul 13, 2022 8:05:18 GMT
I do have one Britains figure, acquired from a childhood trip to the Civil War battlefield in Lexington, Missouri - where the county courthouse still has a cannonball lodged in one of the stone columns out front. He's a Union infantryman in the musket-loading pose, rescued from a Britains display box full of Confederates that had somehow ended up in a flea-market-type store there. He always ended up being some sort of hero figure leading the "good guy" green army. He's one of my most prized childhood toys, apart from the favorite model trains that are still with me.
He definitely affected my painting aesthetic, as even my dungeon-delving figures get bright green bases!
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Post by manoftinblog on Jul 13, 2022 18:45:39 GMT
Rainsford A good opportunity show us this heroic ACW figure sometime!
I’m sure we all have the equivalent Hero figure from our youthful Games.
I’m really pleased that I kept hold of so much of our small family collection - heroes and veterans all.
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