Hobby Corner
Behold – This is my first hobby post! It’s been a busy summer, with exceptionally little time to work on my primary manuscript, and I’ve been looking for ways to ease myself back into writing. So, I thought to myself…Why not write a bit about tabletop hobbying?
The instinctive answer to this rhetorical question is that I don’t consider myself an expert painter or modeler. (Being on Instagram has exposed me to the fact that there are stunningly skilled people out there, providing a heady admixture of inspiration and discouragement.)
That said, I’ve been painting miniatures for a few years now, and I feel as though I’ve gained some skill and knowledge. And I enjoy model-painting enormously. It’s the only visual art I’ve tried where my effort has yielded improvement, and the intense focus is very relaxing for me. So, I’m hoping I can share some ideas, advice, and information that will help other new(ish) painters get into the hobby and have fun with it.
Without further ado. One of the first questions for someone interested in learning to paint is which miniatures to get. I’d like to share a bit about the different brands of miniatures I’ve had the opportunity to work with.
How do they compare in quality and ease of painting? What game systems do they work well for? What percentage of your country’s GDP will you need to spend if you lean into Games Workshop models?
I’ll begin with WizKids and Reaper, since these are the two most prominent options for new hobbyists.
WizKids: Starting with the negative, I’ve sometimes found that WizKids packs more detail onto their models than the material can hold. They tend to advertise with computer images of the minis, rather than photographs of the plastic; I think this is because a lot of the fine details that stand out in the digital models come out muddy in the actual miniatures. Early on, I had some frustrating painting sessions with WizKids products, trying to bring out details that weren’t 3D enough to easily catch with the brush.
That said, this problem is most apparent with their humanoid-sized models, and in my experience is relatively absent in bigger models. I love the design of a lot of their larger monsters, especially in their Pathfinder and Critical Role lines. And, of course, if you want monsters that look like they do in the D&D monster manual, WizKids is licensed by Wizards of the Coast.
Moreover, WizKids’s humanoid-sized models can be very inexpensive. If you’re looking for a horde of goblins, zombies, or skeletons for a gaming session, this isn’t a bad way to go, if you’re comfortable with giving them simple table-quality paintjobs.
The availability of WizKids models is a positive as well. Most local game stores carry a wide selection of them. I also buy WizKids minis from Gnomish Bazaar and Miniature Market.
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| Monsters from WizKids's Criticale Role, Nolzur's, and Pathfinder lines respectively. |
Reaper: Reaper is a little more complicated to evaluate, because they have several lines of miniatures, which vary significantly in quality and price. I’ll discuss their older material, Bones Classic, and then their newer plastics separately. They also carry metal miniatures, but I have minimal experience with those.
One minor inconvenience of Reaper models, compared to WizKids, is that their bases aren’t sized to D&D standards. For example, humanoid models may have bases larger than one inch. Reaper does, though, carry a lot of monsters common to D&D and Pathfinder, as well as some Pathfinder-licensed miniatures.
As a final point of general comparison between Reaper and WizKids, Reaper’s models tend to be more heroically proportioned, while WizKids miniatures are closer to true scale. I personally prefer the heroic scale, because it can be easier to paint, and is easier to see from three feet away on the table. (Heroic proportioning refers to the faces, limbs, and details of figures being upsized to stand out more.)
In terms of availability, some local stores carry Reaper, and some don’t. I usually order Reaper products either from Gnomish Bazaar or directly from Reaper.com.
Bones Classic: This is the original type of plastic used by Reaper. To be fair, since I started with WizKids’s negatives, I’ll also start with the downside of these models. Like the plastic used by WizKids, Bones Classic doesn’t hold a lot of detail. It also tends to bend and warp, resulting in narrow pieces, such as weapons or tails, being misshapen; I’ve heard that you can bend them back into place by simple heating and cooling processes, but I personally haven’t found these methods effective.
In my opinion, the bending problem is a real issue, and I avoid Bones Classic miniatures with components that look likely to warp. The “low resolution” of their material I find to be less problematic, because the sculpts for Bones Classic minis seem to take the material into account, rather than packing on details that won’t hold up to the molding process. They tend to be simpler models that are easily paintable.
For humanoid and medium sized miniatures, Reaper is gradually phasing out some of their Classic plastic models and replacing them with versions using updated materials. I feel that this is somewhat of a pity, since the low price and simple sculpts of Bones Classic miniatures made them excellent to learn on. I would absolutely recommend checking out the Classic models that are still available, especially for early practice pieces, being wary of models with spindly bits.
Reaper still actively uses their Classic material for bigger models, particularly their huge/gargantuan dragons. This works well, because the pieces are sturdy enough to mostly avoid bending, and enormous creatures don’t require minuscule detail. I think that their giant monsters are incredible looking, especially the dragons. The Goremaw and Mud Gullet are also standouts. (I just need to finish painting my Blacksting Wyvern before I get another gigantic monster.)
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| Models in the "Bones Classic" material. |
Newer Plastics: Reaper seems to have experimented in recent years with different evolutions of their plastics, under their Bones Black and Bones USA lines. All of these hold noticeably finer details, and are less prone to bending, compared with Bones Classic or WizKids models. I think the sculpts do a good job of using this added resolution without overstuffing the design. They make very few sculpts I don’t like.
The downside of Bones Black/USA is that they are more expensive than comparable WizKids and Bones Classic minis, with some of the newer printed models approaching Games Workshop pricing. This makes them non-ideal choices for swarms of henchmen on the tabletop. I do like many of the sculpts, though, and would consider them for player models in games like D&D, or warband leaders for skirmish systems like Frostgrave. I’ve also painted a fair number Bones Black/USA monsters, particularly when I don’t need a lot of that monster-type.
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| Humanoid-sized minis in Bones Black or Bones USA |
Overview: Either Bones Classic or WizKids can provide reasonably inexpensive groups of basic monsters like goblins or skeletons. Both brands have some potential drawbacks in quality, though in general I prefer Bones Classic when available.
For humanoid-sized models where the sculpt quality is important, I think that Reaper’s Black/USA lines, while more expensive, are great options. They make awesome player characters. A lot of Reaper’s newer models also run slightly larger, which can help them to stand out on the tabletop.
Both WizKids and Reaper make some very cool monsters, with roughly comparable prices. For these, I feel that it mostly depends on which individual sculpts you like. Reaper can be a good source for weirder, less traditional monsters, as well as alternate versions of classic D&D enemies, while WizKids sells sculpts that closely match the bestiary illustrations for Pathfinder and D&D.
Next up! In my next post, I’ll compare some of the other miniatures brands I’m familiar with: CMON/ASoIaF, Games Workshop, Frostgrave/Oathmark, and Perry.
