Federation Commander

Starfury · Lieutenant Commander Joined: 03 Nov 2006 Posts: 302

I was at Michael's today getting some paint brushes and they have their Folk Art acrylics on sale for .89 each.

I was surprised at the paint brushes too; they had 5 packs of fairly good brushes for $4 and singles for $1.50.

Scoutdad · Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 9:35 pm Post subject:

99% of my paints came from Micheals and are of the Folk Art or CeramCoat brand.
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Commander, Battlegroup Murfreesboro
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Bolo_MK_XL · Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 10:26 pm Post subject:

Get some of my paints at Walmart, the 2oz bottles of Apple Barrel is $.54 ea ---

Starfury · Lieutenant Commander Joined: 03 Nov 2006 Posts: 302

There is a quality issue between paint brands. I haven't tried the folk art or apple barrel yet; but did buy 3 metallics in the Folk art brand today.

I used to like the Polly-s brand but the last few I bought were super thin and covered poorly; same with the Tamiya paint I bought. I was really unhappy with the price ($3.50) and the fact that it didn't cover/stick to the primer.

One thing I do recommend spending some $$ on is some white opaque airbrush paint. It covers any color and leaves a nice white base. I use it before I detail my mini's so the lighter colors stand out better.

DorianGray · Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 6:32 am Post subject:

hm, I always stuck with the Games Workshop Citadel brand.

I play Warhammer 40k and they have always gone true for me. However, they are pricey and I'm thinking you're really paying for that brand name. Are there cheaper and even better brands out there that is just as good quality as games workshop.

hm, on a sidenote about Games Workshop metal miniatures... does anyone think they are vastly better quality than the metal ones ADB sells on their site? I've gotten Klingon Ds with the neck bent out of shape, Freighters with one of their small wings ripped off... in general the metal used by ADB seems to be a lot more bendable and comes with a lot of random metal production scraps attached that you need to clip off.

Well at least ADBs miniatures are not as pricey.

djdood · Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 7:07 am Post subject:

ADB will also replace defective minis if you let them know. GW won't even acknowledge their customers exist (once they have you money).
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Starfury · Lieutenant Commander Joined: 03 Nov 2006 Posts: 302

Scoutdad · Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 5:53 pm Post subject:

The cost of the minis is part ofthe reason I got out of 40K. When I first bought the Rogue Trader book (way back when), you could get a blister pack of 5 marines / orks / eldar / etc for $5.99 or a blister of 2 leader types for $4.99. My first box of Rhinos had 3 full model kits for $17.99.

Now... it's $50 for a single vehicle nad sometimes as much as $20 for a single figure.

But back to the paints:
I have Citadel paints, Vallejo paints, Tamaiya paints, Humbrol paints, Testors Model Master paints, and the el-cheapo, generics (Folk Art, CeramCoat, Apple Barrel). I use the cheap ones almost exclusively. They do require a bit of thinning (especially if you're going to air brush them), but they go on smoothly, they cover well ,and they have an amazing variety of colors and shades within those colors.
They come in Gloss, satin, matte, flourescent, metallic... and they have several additives you can use for special effects... blending gel, extender, pearlescent medium, texture medium, etc.
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Commander, Battlegroup Murfreesboro
Department Head, ACTASF

DorianGray · Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 12:58 am Post subject:

Right,

I was referring to the GW metal miniatures that have been put out of production for many unit types. I hate plastic and find it ridiculous GW is charging so much for plastic pieces that has no weight. That's why I get metal miniatures exclusively off ebay.

I'd forgotten GW is a huge company and probably own their own smelter/molding factory in England to cut costs. Perhaps the reason for their extremely high detail and quality is that along with the sheer amount of minis they sell so they had a chance to streamline their production and quality control.

meh

Savedfromwhat · Commander Joined: 23 Aug 2007 Posts: 657

There is a large difference between Warhammer (A miniatures game) and Star Fleet Battles/Federation Commander (A game you CAN play with miniatures). Most of the time I have one CA on the board representing three anyway, not quite the 60 to 100 figures you might see in a warhammer game. Though we are toying with a one ship per hex rule... we'll see how that goes.

Rick Smith · Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 2:41 am Post subject:

malleman · Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 4:08 am Post subject:

I have been to the GW Factory/Office in Nottingham and it was pretty cool. I got to meet the Perry twins and even took a picture with them. I have never had any problems, but again I don't usually complain much about my minis because I find that half the fun is fixing /converting them. I do agree that they are very overpriced, especially since the currnet exchange is about $1 to 1.4pounds. It may be cheaper to order direct from them. When I first started painting thier minis the rate was about $1 to 2.7pounds and it was easier for me to get what I wanted by ordering from them.

Scoutdad I agree with you, but look at the quality of the minis from the Rogue Trader days and compare them to today's. I think I prefer today's especially the Eldar.

Sorry about going off on a tangent.

Scoutdad · Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 4:45 am Post subject:

I agree, the current quality is much better than the first round... just compare the "beakies" to the newest Marine regulars. And the newwer Eldar are way better than the older ones.

I just don't have that much disposable income... and probably won't as long as I have kids living in my house.
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Commander, Battlegroup Murfreesboro
Department Head, ACTASF

djdood · Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 5:20 am Post subject:

malleman · Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 6:07 am Post subject: