Hello everyone, new player here. I've just finished to (rather hastily, I should add... perhaps I should re-touch that white highlight, eh?) put together and paint my very first Infinity miniature. Had a lot of fun in the process, but, coming from GW miniatures, I could definitely use some advice! Specifically... Putting the miniatures together: the (not so many) parts won't stick to each other by simply using superglue (unless some specific brand does work better than my trusty Loctite? Let me know!). As I found there are quite some gaps to fill anyway, I opted for epoxy putty (milliput, white) and superglue, which does work quite well but I am not sure is the best way to go. What's your go-to strategy to assemble Infinity miniatures? Priming: a rattlecan of the (in)famous Chaos Black from Citadel/GW did the job but I had to apply two-three coats, which is new to me (with plastic, one is more than enough). Should I be using specific primers instead? Painting: well, as you can see I am not a great painter to begin with. The thing that threw me off a bit, however, was that I went for the canonical base-shade-layer-highlight approach, which (perhaps unsurprisingly) resulted in a very grim & dark look. That did not sit very well with the look I had in my mind, that is, the same "cleaner", bright look I have seen around for Infinity miniatures. I have a feeling this might have to do with using shades... do you use them? And, if you paint GW stuff as well, do you use them in the same way and / or to the same extent? Perhaps the really bright, clean colours of the Infinity universe don't need shading that much? Let me know what you think! Basing: I found it really hard to come up with an "interesting" 25mm base... they are very small! For Warhammer miniatures, it's very rare that you'd bother to spend some serious time on any 25mmm bases (those being, usually, allocated to numerous/cheap troops-like units). As you can see from the pic below, I got myself some MDF "toppers" which I think look decent, but out of curiosity, do you tend to invest a lot into bases? And to what extent are they bright/clean/sci-fi compared to the grim and dark look? I love the fact that I know I won't have to paint 50 of these lads to start playing a game... and, this miniature really was a joy to paint, albeit being tiny (well, in my book these are tiny, I mostly paint big monsters!). Thanks for your help!
In my experience, ACC (cyanacrylate adhesives, aka "superglue") are fine for the regular infantry sized models. Bigger models like TAGs may benefit from an epoxy adhesive (araldite) but I tended to use a little bit of greenstuff (NOT the "liquid" stuff) in the join as well. This isn't really necessary for the regular infantry sized stuff. Can be handy, but it's a case-by case basis. Priming: I use the same hobby primer I've used for ages. An auto-primer that has seen me from GW plastics and metals to FW resins and cb metals. (Even FW recommended an auto-primer for their stuff, over GW's branded paints). You don't need to cake the models in it, though. A couple of very light coats should be sufficient. I use a grey or a white in preference to a black, unless I want a really dark model. As for basing, I tend to do the bare minimums. My "urban" stuff tends to have "roadbase" texturing and painting (for which I use my own texture paste made from powdered pumice, glue and paint). Some of my Haqq have a sandy desert with low scrubby grasses and a chunk of my JSA have "bamboo" or "zen garden" bases (which I think are from Secret Weapon).
A useful recipe. For terrain as well as bases, I'm surmising. This and this Are related. Stop using black primer. Also Citadel® paints are very Grimme Darke™( to my eyes anyways) unlike Vallejo or Reaper, so applying them over a black primer coat is going to result in what you got. It'll be less expensive to switch your primer than to switch all your paints ( You use the Citadel® paints no?) at once. Over time, wean yourself from them. Neither you, nor your wallet, will regret it. Keep your bases simple, so that the focus remains on the mini. Don't forget to add the LoF marks. Poke around in the various threads in this section of the forum to see what everyone gets up to base-wise. This is true, but if you think you will not exceed 50 minis at some point soon enough, well, re-think that.
Three tips that hugely improved my assembly of metal minis. 1) Score the joints with a craft knife, just a few shallow lines will still massively improve surface area for the glue to grab on to. 2) If the glue doesn't set or the joint breaks, clean it. A tissue and maybe some rubbing alcohol will suffice, but old dried glue in the join will weaken the bone. 3) If it still won't stick use a tiny piece of single ply tissue in the joints, it's much more porous than putty and will soak up the glue, forming a sort of mortar. Loctite can be OK, but they have a bunch of different grades a types of cyanoacrylate. My go-to for a while has been the Gorilla Liquid Superglue (with the blue cap). Cyanoacrylate glues also have a shelf life and can go off, this process is accelerated if the bottle is opened, so you might just need new glue. You can also use superglue accelerator or baking soda, but I don't find it necessary with the above steps. There are also people that pin everything which will give a super strong join, but can be time consuming and fiddly.
What helped me is to properly clean the minis with water and soap before assembly. This is to remove fat residue which I think is used in the casting process to allow easier removal from the mold. Maybe that helps?
I agree with just about everything @colbrook and @chromedog said. Metal models don't always fit together quite as nicely as plastics, just due to the way the casting process works. I spend more time cleaning my metal models in order to get good fits on all the joints. I'd recommend a pair of clippers just for metal models that's a little heavier grade than what you probably use for plastics. The material is much harder, so you can end up damaging the blade, and you'll notice that even more when you try to use the same clippers on plastics. I also use a selection of metal files to remove mould lines and clean up any bumps and lumps that are preventing a good fit between parts. If you do end up using greenstuff to fill gaps or stabilize joints, I have a couple of recommendations. First is to mix the putty really well. If there are any visible blue/yellow swirls, then it's not mixed enough, and the final result will be less strong. Second is to use the smallest amount possible. Too much will over-fill the joint and make things not fit right. Third is to remember that greenstuff isn't glue. You want to make sure you've got glue between all points of contact - metal, glue, greenstuff, more glue, and then the other piece of metal. If you have direct metal/greenstuff contact, it won't form a strong bond and will likely fall off at some point.
First of all, welcome. Then, you should already have everything you need in the above answers. I'll just add a couple: glue: if you have trouble with CA you can proceed this way. Put glue on one piece then exhale on the other. Moisture will help CA to set quicker (some use a wet brush to apply some). Also, don't flood the part with AC glue, the thinner the glue layer, the stronger the bond. painting: your first one is not that dark and grim. As mentioned earlier, switching to white or light grey primer will help to get brighter colors. Struggling myself with such an issue I think you should consider to work more with highlight than with shading. Choosing your colors wiser than I do gives better results. On a personal note, I recently tried the overpainting technic described by Dana Howl and I find it really effective. Also, I tend to ban use of metallic paints for Infinity models as I don't really use them properly and using non metallic paint fit better with the clean futuristic aspect of the universe (more ceramic and compound materials than bare metals). basing: as said, dig into the forum and you'll find plenty of option from pre-made/pre-painted bases to simple print glued with various use of faom, plastic, epoxies (greenstuff, brownstuff, milliput...), textured paints, PVA glue mixed with sand, and so on...
Wow - big thanks to you all, this is great info! I'll definitely try out your suggestions re: the assembly. I got myself a few small metal files (which are helping a lot already to clean stuff up...) and I didn't even think about washing metal miniatures up to now - despite being very familiar with resin (which I usually let in soapy water overnight). I'll also give the Gorilla glue a go. I'd be very keen to move away from the (costly!) GW primers, but I literally have no clue about any potential alternatives. Any brand (ideally easily found in the UK via some online retailer) that you'd suggest? I've been looking into the Vallejo "game color" range before, as there are some really bright colors there. I wasn't entirely convinced by the "model color sets" put forward by CB, though, particularly the Shasvastii set which looked a bit too "soft/pastel" to me. Instead of LoF marks I opted for "arcs" (see the pic below). Not 100% happy about the final result, but it'll do for now. Again, thanks for your advice. Great to experience first-hand such an helpful community!
I used to get humbrol spray cans from my local model railways shop or Boyes when I lived in the UK, they're smaller but come in a large variety of colours. There are also a lot of people that swear by Halfords primer, but you've got to be careful not to flood out the details.
Most things have been addressed already. I went the airbrush route for undercoating which doesn't appear to be mentioned, but it's an expense that's probably been ticked off your list since you didn't mention it originally. I moved away from GW cans as I tended to like to coat all the areas I could never get to which resulted in my flooding the detail too often, plus temperature changes gave me inconsistent results of textured/bitty finish. If you're able to source appropriate rattle cans and can achieve nice thin layers, might I suggest doing a little research on zenithal highlighting to help brighten up the top edges of your models. So for example, base it in black, then use a light spray of light grey or white to achieve a top down layer of highlights as you might with an airbrush. When you then go to paint your colours, be sure to thin your paints appropriately and let the undercoating assist your layers glow where there's highlight spray. The other approach I found when attempting to paint brighter colours on black was to undercoat it in thin layers of greys or such, since they appear to coat better over black than straight up white does. There are brush on primers, though I've not tried it yet myself - Vallejo primers can apparently be brushed on.
Car primers are a classic. Go with the non filler kind, obviously, and thin coats. Lucky you for having Halfords, nice, big and cheap (500 ml 7.50 GBP). If you want brush on primer, try UMP's Ultimate (UK mostly?), Mig's One Shot (EU?) or Badger's Synylrez (USA?), all same thing with different labels. Less rubbery and more sticky than Vallejo's.
Well, getting an airbrush is something that it is going to happen at some point, particularly as my wet blending power levels are not especially impressive. But yes, you're quite right, is not going to happen anytime soon. Halfords?! Wowzers, that I did not think of... ok, I'll try, but I'll definitely test it on some leftovers before risking any miniature.
My glue to go is UHU superglue liquid (a german brand, so propably not helpful) which is a bit nasty because of its solvent's fumes but it sticks those metal pieces together like no other glue I tried so far - without any "helping" agents or even cleaning. That's my choice No. 1 as well. So far I never had to aplly more than one layer since I put the miniatures on a stick and thus have access to most of their surfaces. When it comes to painting I still use that same technique as you - maybe with the addition of Base -> Shade -> Base but not in the recesses -> 1 to 3 highlights (as you can see here: https://forum.corvusbelli.com/threads/my-fully-painted-starco-and-some-guys-from-corregidor.37105/). Swiching from the really expensive GW paints to the VGC/VMC lines was a big improvement for me in general. And about the basing, I found out that ploystyrene rods, tubes and sheets are really useful to build any kind of base. A bunch of random small parts help as well.
Pretty much every single point has been addressed extensively (I really must emphasize greatly on the idea of scoring the surfaces to be superglued together since superglue won't stick well to smooth metal, i once saw a Shas mini literally explode into separate pieces in the middle of a match when bumped because the person didn't take this into consideration, and on the other side now i hardly pin things because superglue on scored surfaces tends to be enough for me), but i think this video fits in here when discussing primers: And yes, i've seen many minipainters just use a cheap Halfords can, look that up and test it before applying to a whole army. Oh yeah, sci-fi bases in particular are easy to make from scratch if you want because random bits and pieces will work well, if you want a freaking gazillion ideas for basing look up Eons of Battle on Youtube, Jay is very 40K-oriented but way too many of his ideas can be directly lifted for our use, and all are dirt cheap! Miniac has been doing basing ideas too, his latest video had some, but i couldn't stop thinking that instead of styrene sheets and rods he could have gotten away with using cereal box cardboard, straws, q-tips, toothpicks and wire instead!
I've had joints that just refuse to stick out the box, and once scored they set and bond instantly. It's a legit technique.
Eh, depends on the grit. Nothing lower than 180 grit. Also, emery boards or metal nail files... the ones for human nails. As far as the glue goes, fresh glue. Any cyanoacrylate glue as long as it is 'fresh'. Get the cheap tubes and use that. Old glue is bad glue. Toss that stuff. Once opened it has a piss poor shelf life. Don't frustrate yourself using old glue.
Old glue makes great surface putty (mixed with talc) and bulk filler (applied to bicarbonate), try before discarding. Cheap superglue can be stale even if new, long shipping and not best handling (speaking about last 20g bottle... different shop and brand, not much better than the one it was going to replace), so double check or go with trully sealed ones at least. Watched the video again as I forgot what his conclusions were... he likes Vallejo (and he uses an airbrush)... but he does not seem to use primers for one of the reasons they exist: checking and fixing, thus he does not sand (as in smoothing, not testing) and reprime. He mentions that and there is where car primers and Badger shine compare to rubbery Vallejo. He should test brushed application too, or going full in, "decant" sprays and airbrush that. All old model maker tricks.
Just for the sake of being kind of exhaustive about primer, there is also the little know gesso option. It is a goo-ey primer used for art painting but also any support (wood, ceramic...). I haven't try it yet myself but a friend of mine (a quite good painter I think) is using it with success. Gesso is usually applied by brush. To give some context, I personally prime and varnish my minis with an airbrush as I don't have to suffer weather conditions but the drawback is, when processing only one mini I spend more time cleaning the airbrush than using it. Gesso's format seems to be convenient in this regard as you just take an old brush and slop some on whatever you want.
I've used gesso for decades. It's not for beginners, and it's finicky to use on plastic minis. It can be airbrushed, if thinned properly, but that's not as easy to do as is thinning paints for airbrushing. You'll generally need 2 thin coats to get a good primer base on the mini. Ah, and it can rub off easier than some rattle can primers. I hate rattle cans, so gesso works for me. But I don't recommend it for miniatures.
