Speed-painted UrbanMechs

[Desert Scribe]

I have seen a lot of magnificently painted miniatures in this forum, with great details and the quality that shows the hours of effort to finish a single figure.

My minis are nothing like that.

I paint to a tabletop standard--as long as it looks decent at arm's length, I'm happy. To that end, I decided to use speed paints on this lance of UrbanMechs. Just one main color for the mech, and black for the weapons. The only non-speed paints were some craft pearlescent white topped with blue tone for the windows. Maybe a half-hour per figure total.

I like the way they came out, and I'm looking forward to seeing them on the game board. Anyone else prefer speed paints for their battlemechs?

[Syzyx]

Lovely looking Urbies!

Though I am wrestling with the notion of 'speed' and Urbie in any context. ;)

[Joel47]

I tried Vallejo Xpress colors a while back (also on my Urbie lance, coincidentally) and I'm not a fan of that type of paint. Contrast/Speed/Xpress paints work well for me on organic (fantasy) minis with fur and scales, and I also like the effect on BT infantry. But the big flat panels on mechs don't play to their strengths. They're OK if I'm in a hurry, but I can do better without too much extra effort.
What I *do* like is using the fact that they're translucent, thinning them down and airbrushing them over a pre-highlighted grey base/primer coat. That does take more than 30 minutes/mini, though, so you might be on to something.

[I am Belch II]

Nice job, liking the speed paints.

[Neo-Tanuki]

I love the paintjob on these little guys, and want to read more backstory about a multi-color all-Urbie unit. :)

[Daryk]

Those look great! :)

[jimdigris]

 

[Desert Scribe]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone!

[ISD]

Nice primary lance of transbins

[avon1985]

Sweet!

[Desert Scribe]

Thanks, everyone! One of my gaming buddies referred to them as "Skittles Mechs," and I think that's the lance's new name!

[Neo-Tanuki]

Thanks, everyone! One of my gaming buddies referred to them as "Skittles Mechs," and I think that's the lance's new name!

Unit Motto: "Taste the Rainbow...OF VENGEANCE!" :D

[Teejay75]

I tried Vallejo Xpress colors a while back (also on my Urbie lance, coincidentally) and I'm not a fan of that type of paint. Contrast/Speed/Xpress paints work well for me on organic (fantasy) minis with fur and scales, and I also like the effect on BT infantry. But the big flat panels on mechs don't play to their strengths. They're OK if I'm in a hurry, but I can do better without too much extra effort.
What I *do* like is using the fact that they're translucent, thinning them down and airbrushing them over a pre-highlighted grey base/primer coat. That does take more than 30 minutes/mini, though, so you might be on to something.

I've ran some of the speed paints through my airbrush as a basecoat and they've worked very well for me so far. It seems like it takes away some of the contrast properties when airbrushed versus applying with a brush. I'm a big fan of it. If I could figure out how to post pictures on here, I'd show you some of my results.

[Joel47]

Yeah, they're not "Contrast" anymore when you airbrush them because they don't flow around, but being translucent lets you use them to build up color nicely.

[Inxentas]

Yes! I also use a technique like that. While I like to occasionally make an extra effort, I think the new Catalyst plastics have a great design, but their definition isn't perfect. Which is an excellent excuse to use simpler techniques, and they are not particularly expensive compared to other manufacturers. Quantity matters, if you want to actually play some different games! I  was always put off by the premise of buying a few expensive mini's and then rolling random 'Mechs on a table (the method that absolutely no-one uses in reality, turns out). But now... with ForcePacks that run between 30-40 euro's I'm absolutely going for bulk. I would rather paint 8 mechs to a tabletop standard then just the one for display purposes.