Does anyone else's miniatures look very...questionable?

[Tetrisash]

Received the figures and book (which looks fantastic !) today, and for $40, the paint on the miniatures leaves me feeling pretty disappointed, I admit. Do they all look like this?

 

[Big-Ben]

I knew a guy who made D&D figurines out of soap so not really. I mean mini-figs in my experience have never looked truly good. I mean in desperate times I knew a guy who used Monopoly pieces as figurines. You haven't lived until you've beaten a group of people as a thimble.

 

You're not going to get the quality of some of those $500(!) figures for that price.

Edited August 17, 2018 by Big-Ben

[Tetrisash]

I knew a guy who made D&D figurines out of soap so not really. I mean mini-figs in my experience have never looked truly good. I mean in desperate times I knew a guy who used Monopoly pieces as figurines. You haven't lived until you've beaten a group of people as a thimble.

 

You're not going to get the quality of some of those $500(!) figures for that price.

They are REALLY tiny so I knew it'd take really specialized tools and talent, but I also didn't expect the zombie faces haha. I haven't owned any DnD figures before or anything like that, I initially bought these as a birthday present for a now-ex. So my knowledge on their quality in comparison to other figurines like this, how it's done, or anything else like that is really low. 

 

Also it sounds pretty freaking cool making something like this out of soap.

[MickyJim]

Hmm. They don't look any worse than some of the pre-painted D&D minis. Having said that, I did expect a little better, seeing as how they were a backer reward and all.

[MarkTheDP]

I used to play Warhammer so I may be a little biased...

 

But yes, those faces look hilarious.

[Aotrs Commander]

Doesn't look much different to the plastic D&D figures I got from Paizo, from those photos, honestly. I think expecting painting standards to be up to stuff you do yourself is perhaps expecting a bit much from this sort of thing (considering the sort of time involved to do even the merely adequate job I do, let along people that are good at it).

 

*shrug*

 

I'm at the point where I just don't wanna paint 25/28/30/whatever-the-hell-scale mm figures nowadays (and even painting my beloved starships and ground vehicles is more of a chore than not these days), so had I have backed high enoguh to egt them I'd have been okay with it, 'cos it'd have been figures I didn't have to paint.

 

But that's just me.

[Karkarov]

They look like crappy pre painted mini's done in a hurry by factory worker X.  Which is exactly what you get every time you buy a pre painted mini.  People who aren't really into the miniatures hobby vastly underestimate how much work goes into a well painted mini.

Most mini's of that size, even when painted by long term very expert painters who have done it 1k+ times, take around 2-3 hours to do right.

[gkathellar]

They look like crappy pre painted mini's done in a hurry by factory worker X.  Which is exactly what you get every time you buy a pre painted mini.  People who aren't really into the miniatures hobby vastly underestimate how much work goes into a well painted mini.

 

Most mini's of that size, even when painted by long term very expert painters who have done it 1k+ times, take around 2-3 hours to do right.

 

This. So much of this. Pre-colored minis are, almost without exception, going to look bad. The short-lived D&D Miniatures game from back in the mid-to-late aughts was an exception, but afaik that was because their minis were made from pre-colored plastic, not painted (and even those didn't look great). If you want a good paint job, you're going to have to (a) do it yourself, and (b) be pretty good at painting miniatures.

 

Here's a 1d4chan article expanding on the point (this page is safe for work).

 

Doesn't look much different to the plastic D&D figures I got from Paizo, from those photos,

Yes, well, you bought them from Paizo. You knew who you were doing business with.

Edited August 19, 2018 by gkathellar

[Karkarov]

 This. So much of this. Pre-colored minis are, almost without exception, going to look bad. The short-lived D&D Miniatures game from back in the mid-to-late aughts was an exception, but afaik that was because their minis were made from pre-colored plastic, not painted (and even those didn't look great). If you want a good paint job, you're going to have to (a) do it yourself, and (b) be pretty good at painting miniatures.

Well there are people out there who will paint minis on commission, I used to do it a long time ago.  It is very pricey though.

[Hulk'O'Saurus]

Aloth's giving me the boners. 

[Aotrs Commander]

 

Doesn't look much different to the plastic D&D figures I got from Paizo, from those photos,

Yes, well, you bought them from Paizo. You knew who you were doing business with.

 

Eh. Given that they were a) replacements for stuff that was stolen (on the insurance[1]) and b) that I didn't have to paint them, I can't complain at all. (Unspecial figure painting > unpainted figures, at the end of the day!)

 

They look like crappy pre painted mini's done in a hurry by factory worker X.  Which is exactly what you get every time you buy a pre painted mini.  People who aren't really into the miniatures hobby vastly underestimate how much work goes into a well painted mini.

 

Most mini's of that size, even when painted by long term very expert painters who have done it 1k+ times, take around 2-3 hours to do right.

 

And the rest, usually. (Or maybe 2-3 hours sans or counting minimal drying time and if you're doing one at a time, not a batch-load.)

 

 

[1]Stuff was in my backpack that I took roleplaying that they stole when they stole the tellies - including my figures from HeroQuest that I started with and had for twenty years - that stung.

[Verde]

Is Eder using a crowbar?

[rjshae]

I've done much better, but then I was working with 25mm scale figurines. What scale are these guys? It's hard to tell from the images.

[Amentep]

Maybe they hired Brian Van Hoose at his "slop and go" rates?

 

 

To be serious, I agree with those who say those pictures look like the quality you get with pre-painted figs - in fact they look a lot like the BETRAYAL AT THE HOUSE ON THE HILL set of mini-figures from what I've seen of the POEII figs.

[Dr. Hieronymous Alloy]

Mine look pretty much exactly like that and my first thought was "awesome, that's *waaaaay* better than I would have been able to pain them myself." I like painted minis but I lack the hand/eye coordination to paint them.

 

The only downside was that Eder's sword was kinda bent weird and I had to straighten it with my finger but that's also normal for figs.

[PizzaSHARK]

They look like crappy pre painted mini's done in a hurry by factory worker X.  Which is exactly what you get every time you buy a pre painted mini.  People who aren't really into the miniatures hobby vastly underestimate how much work goes into a well painted mini.

 

Most mini's of that size, even when painted by long term very expert painters who have done it 1k+ times, take around 2-3 hours to do right.

 

Yeah.  But you space that time out over several brief painting sessions; you need to allow some time for the paint to dry between coats, unless you're painting enough minis all at once that by time you finish putting the second coat on the last mini, the first mini is ready for its third.

 

I haven't received my physical goods yet; are the minis pre-painted or unpainted?  The pledge says unpainted.  If they're painted, surely some acetone or Simple Green can scrub the paint off, right?  They're pewter according to the pledge, so they should be safe for acetone.

[AndreaColombo]

You could pledge for painted or unpainted minis as both options were available. I got the painted ones for I too cannot paint them, but seeing the pictures is making me regret my choice. Perhaps the unpainted minis would have looked better.

 

Oh well. More money for the game—that much I do not regret.

[PizzaSHARK]

You could pledge for painted or unpainted minis as both options were available. I got the painted ones for I too cannot paint them, but seeing the pictures is making me regret my choice. Perhaps the unpainted minis would have looked better.

 

Oh well. More money for the game—that much I do not regret.

 

It shouldn't be too hard to get the paint off with a solvent and mild abrasive.  If they're plastic or something else that might dissolve in acetone, Simple Green with a magic eraser is what I swear by, just start with light pressure and only press harder if there's bits of stubborn paint you can't get off.  Best results usually involve dunking the mini into a cup of the stuff and letting it soak for an hour or two, then scrubbing, dunking back into the simple green, and repeating until it's clear.  Then rinse everything off with running water and let it dry before priming it for painting.

 

For pewter or most other metal figures, you can just use acetone which will literally melt most hobby paints right off.  You may not even need a sponge or magic eraser, if you give it a few seconds to work you can often just wipe it right off.  Just be aware of the inhalation and fire hazards of acetone

 

Painting minis isn't that difficult, at least not at a basic level.  Reaper makes great little kits with basic paints in an array of colors - their "Master HD" series.  Some of them don't even need to be thinned, although you should probably learn how since not every paint you use will come pre-thinned (simplest way to do it is to just dip the brush in water before you dip it in the paint, then wipe excess off on the lip of the paint container or dab it on a paper towel.)  The pictures make them look like they're pretty standard scale for d20-style miniatures, so you shouldn't need any special brushes or tools like you would for small minis (such as kobolds, halflings, etc) or minis with a lot of very fine details (such as many Games Workshop minis.)  And if you screw up?  Well, just strip the paint off and try again until you're satisfied with the results

Edited August 22, 2018 by PizzaSHARK

[injurai]

Even unpainted the minis look like they came from a cheap mold. Not that I'm complaining, I didn't order these. But I know I wouldn't buy those as individual purchases unless they went a buck a piece.

 

I know the figure industry has some pretty rigorous QA and the result is $100 limited edition runs. I'd like to see Obsidian actually offer something substantive like that.

[PizzaSHARK]

Even unpainted the minis look like they came from a cheap mold. Not that I'm complaining, I didn't order these. But I know I wouldn't buy those as individual purchases unless they went a buck a piece.

 

I know the figure industry has some pretty rigorous QA and the result is $100 limited edition runs. I'd like to see Obsidian actually offer something substantive like that.

 

Dang.  My physical goods haven't arrived yet but I was really stoked on receiving some high quality minis for the $25 :-/

[Karkarov]

Yeah.  But you space that time out over several brief painting sessions; you need to allow some time for the paint to dry between coats, unless you're painting enough minis all at once that by time you finish putting the second coat on the last mini, the first mini is ready for its third.

If you are using actual miniature paint, and doing thin coats like you should, it really doesn't take all that long to dry.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Never thought of eder as the kind of guy to wear lipstick

[Yosharian]

Has anyone made a post about this yet?  Apologies if anyone has already posted this, but please check out this Imgur album:

 

https://imgur.com/a/FpYRoiu

 

The key images are these ones:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These figurines are from the collector's edition that costs 240 euros, equivalent to about 280 dollars.  There are more details on the ProjectEternity subreddit at Reddit.com.

 

I wonder if we can get an official response on this?  Does Obsidian think this is acceptable?

Edited September 18, 2018 by Yosharian

[daven]

OK Eder's face looks hilarious. That is some shoddy paintwork.

[JerekKruger]

As someone who used to be a pretty decent painter of miniatures (collected and played Warhammer for years) I've long ago learnt that "hand painted miniature" doesn't mean much, but yeah, this is particularly bad. It almost looks like the painter was actively trying to do a bad job.