Lead Doesn't Bleed!

When I first heard about what some of my gaming buddies did as a side business/hobby - 3mm minis for wargaming - I thought to myself: wow, these guys are Ur-Nerds, and wow, this is too cool!! While I'm definitely more of a 3.5 kinda gal (and rapidly loving Cthulhu as well), I've never been so much into boardgames that require a lot of using of rulers and sticks and such. I know, that sounds stupid since others would be like, "And dice are more real? Come on." But whatevs, I like my magic casters and spells! 

For the record, I have been known to get into a game or two of Star Wars Armada so I kinda get the idea of formations and rulers and such. But I'm just not so much about the historical battles. There, confession made! Let's move on :)

Lead Doesn't Bleed - Politically incorrect, Family-Unfriendly War Gaming Blog has introduced me to the fact that there are actually 2mms as well in this gaming universe?!?!? Really?? And he's got some amazing posts of these 3mms for some Ogre game that I'm still trying to figure out. The painting is fantastic, and I'm realizing we need a better camera for our painting project because there is no way any of our phones, no matter how S7 they are, will get this level of detail. Check out the blog post here. But my fave pic from that post is definitely this one, called "Mama Spank" :)




I'm highlighting them also because they link to PicoArmor! Whoohoo!! My Pico-Nerds are super thrilled that I'm finding all of these references and connections for them through my little blogging time I can put in. I think it is great that this hobby is totally blowing up and that younger people and (maybe??!?) more people from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds will make this community even more fun and vibrant over time. Insofar as nice clean fun, this is totally it - and encouraging more young people to think about rules and strategy and good gamesmanship can't be all that much of a waste of time, no?

Analogue Hobbies does PicoArmor's 3mm Napoleonics! Wow....

So as I'm figuring out this world of 3mm and painting, check out these beautiful sets that were created by Analogue Hobbies blogger Curt - he's got a great walkthrough of how he created these sets, and others. Checkout his website - and check out the shout out he gives to PicoArmor!

http://analogue-hobbies.blogspot.com/2015/07/wee-men-in-belgium-blucher-napoleonic.html

How to paint 3mm war minis and other random minis, part 1

So here we go...no real intros, or forethought, actually, to how this is going to look...let alone be comprehensible...but whatever...better a trial run than never doing anything, right?

So below, we see the ultimate Box of Nerdery - everything that is needed to paint minis. 

OK, I lied, I'll set some context and then we'll start on our merry way on how to paint minis and super super minis. 

On a Friday afternoon, our gaming group decided to launch a new Cthulhu game and do some mini painting at the same time, just doubling down on the nerd! 

The Box of Nerdery (BoN) was brought by the Head Engineer Nerd, hosted by the Reverend Nerd, and then me and another member would be considered Peon Nerds (that really doesn't sound right).

The idea for this walkthrough of how to paint 3mm war minis came up at a previous session where much beer and wine had been drunk - clearly, we didn't drink enough to forget that we thought doing a walkthrough of this process would be a "fun" idea. 

Once we go through this whole process, I'll type up a list of supplies and stuff you'll need. Given this is my first time as well, I'm asking a lot of questions and may overshare, but if you're pretty new to this like I am, I hope you'll appreciate the details.

Let's get started. 

As with any mini painting, you're going to need something to stick your tiny little minis onto so you can prime and paint in peace.

Foam vs. Wood. Who knew?

Many people use foam blocks, especially for these 3mm figures, but as you can see, they get pretty beaten up after awhile, so wooden blocks work just fine too. And to note, less weird green "dust" sticking to your figures with the wood blocks!

But I'm getting way ahead of the process here...you won't have the pleasure of working with this drudgery until you've filed, removed "sprues" and washed the whole darn lot of minis which, btw, check out how TINY they are!

I know their supposed to be tanks, but they're SO CUTE! There are 30 in this shot, and I guess that makes up a battalion...of CUTENESS!!

So remember, in this phase, you really need some kind of file (that's the thing in Jack's right hand), and a keen eye to distinguish between the things that should actually be hanging off your tanks and figures, versus the "sprue" which is this tiny little dangly thing that could be mistaken for a tank gun if you aren't careful. 

You want to file everything down, and throw it in a cup that you'll be able to fill with vinegar and hot water. Make sure you have an old toothbrush. Experts (who weren't drunk) say that for 3mm, you just need to use the brush to swish the pieces around. Larger pieces need a better scrubbing. 

Again, if you're just working with 3mm, you really don't need a lot of space, but we ended up adding in some D&D figures that were 28mm, I think?

We added a dracolisk, unicorn and other randomness - washing larger minis requires a bigger tray, but same 1/2 vinegar, 1/2 hot water. Put on a towel and wait for 2 hours, minimum. 

And don't forget, when you are engaged in such delicate work, always ensure there is enough beer, wine and snacks for you and your friends! I should have taken some photos of the great chili that the R made, as well as the cheese board we had going on (because we're closet hipsters like that). 

Anyways, this is the end of part 1. Next part will be on the tedious attaching of each piece onto the nails and the priming.