Mutanimal's Clix Project

[Mutanimal]

I have started acquiring DC Heroclix so that my 5 year old son and I can use them to play Super Mission Force. I have been painting miniatures (usually poorly  ) for 25 or so years but this is my first attempt working with previously painted models. In the interest of getting the Clix to the table as quickly as possible, I'm only rebasing and enhancing the existing paint jobs as opposed to stripping and completely repainting them. So far it is going pretty well though I am struggling with a handful of the models.

My son is a fan of Red Tornado so he was one of the first models to get some attention. I am using metal washers from the hardware store for bases and hot glue to secure the figures. The tornado is painted hot glue that I heated up and twisted. I'm pretty happy with how he came out.



Clayface still needs a little more base work but the paint touch up and rebasing only took a half hour or so and he is much improved over the factory finish.


If anyone has any tips or suggestions I'd love to hear them. Particularly in reference to adding contrast and interest to some of the brighter primary colored costumes.

[fourcolorfigs]

Dynamite work! Most of my Clix are just partial repaints. I find spraying them with matte seal prior to painting helpful.

If you don't have him, grab the Shaggy Man! He's a great figure!

[Mutanimal]

Thank you! The Shaggy Man looks great and has been added to the acquisition list! I went a bit nuts initially and ordered a hundred or so different characters. So far I have a half dozen other characters I realized I missed but I'm holding off on ordering more until I get the first batch rebased and touched up.

Thank you for the tip reference the matte seal. I'm going to give that a shot when I am off work on Monday. I am having a hard time with some of the brightly colored models like Superman. A straight up black or brown wash looks bad even after some highlighting because it just makes the figure look dirty. I don't have a ton of experience with washing with other colors so there is a fair amount of experimenting that I am doing right now to add contrast but not make them look muddy or dirty.

On the right is my first attempt with a black wash that looks... terrible. On the left is what I ended up with after working on blending it all which is less terrible but still not great :-). I need some more practice.

[supervike]

Great start.  Clay face looks wonderful.

My two cents on painting them.... I think with Super Heroes you can get away with using bright colors without too much of a wash.  To add contrast, try going the other way.  Instead of just darkening shaded areas, really emphasize the highlights.  Even just a little will really make them pop out.  Use comic book art as a reference. 

[Cait Sidhe]

Wow the improvement on Clayface is amazing.  I tend to find the paint on clix is such a goopy mess that there's no rescuing most of them, no idea how you managed to make them look so good.

[Mutanimal]

Wow the improvement on Clayface is amazing.  I tend to find the paint on clix is such a goopy mess that there's no rescuing most of them, no idea how you managed to make them look so good.

Thank you, many of them are definitely goopy  The older Clix in particular seem to have less refined sculpts and thick patchy paint jobs. There are a handful of them that I may go ahead and strip because the factory paint is just that bad. I'm hesitant with a few because they have logos or symbols that I'll never be able to replicate by hand that I'd like to preserve.

My two cents on painting them.... I think with Super Heroes you can get away with using bright colors without too much of a wash.  To add contrast, try going the other way.  Instead of just darkening shaded areas, really emphasize the highlights.  Even just a little will really make them pop out.  Use comic book art as a reference.

That is excellent advice that I have been putting into action. This week I have been mixing a super thinned white and painting all of the high spots with it. It is drying mostly transparent and then I'm going over those light spots with a brighter mix of the base color. With the white underneath it is making those areas really pop and the results are improved contrast without the messy dark colored wash. Thank you for the suggestion!

[Mutanimal]

My finished Mongul repaint. I need to find a different spray sealer than the Rustoleum stuff I am using because despite the fact that it is supposed to be a matte finish, it still looks shiny to me.



And Aquaman

[supervike]

Testors Dullcote is a fantastic matte spray.  If you have a Hobby Lobby, they usually carry it.

These last two look fantastic as well.  It's a shame Heroclix does just offer unpainted miniatures to us that like to paint as well, but repainting does seem to work.

[Mutanimal]

Testors Dullcote is a fantastic matte spray.  If you have a Hobby Lobby, they usually carry it.

These last two look fantastic as well.  It's a shame Heroclix does just offer unpainted miniatures to us that like to paint as well, but repainting does seem to work.

Thank you for the Dulcote suggestion! I picked some up yesterday and I'm very happy with the results. I've started going back and respraying some of my other completed models to take the luster off of them.

Since DC is launching a new Mister Miracle title this week, I decided he would be my next model to get some attention. The Clix figure was pretty terrible with a very sloppy paint job, and it was one of the models with the pegged foot used to mount him on a flying base. Since the character was originally raised on Apokolips and eventually escaped, I decided to make a lava base to represent the fire pits of Apokolips. Like Red Tornado's base, I built up layers of hot glue and then used a hobby knife to sculpt it before painting. I am pretty thrilled with how it came out.





Also did a quick repaint of Plastic Man:

[supervike]

I just love Plastic Man....what a goofy bastard he is!!  Fun stuff!

[Mutanimal]

I just love Plastic Man....what a goofy bastard he is!!  Fun stuff!

Thank you! He is pretty fun 

I was recently reading some old Jurgens Justice League and I love Bloodwynd but he is too obscure to get his own Clix mini. I decided to order a Marvel Gladiator figure and do a little home brew so that we could get Bloodwynd to the table. All I really did was cut the crest off of his head and repaint him. Sorry for the crappy collage pic.




I also had a Spider-Woman Clix on hand but wanted a Black Canary so I did a quick acetone dip and repainted her as well. The stockings were done with a micron pen and I gave her a mask like in the Arrow show because I think it looks neat 

[ced1106]

Good job!

Any suggestions on buying HC figures? I'm a sucker for KS miniatures because of FOMO, but I keep seeing these bricks of HC miniatures and am not sure how much money I'd be spending on this game. I figure I could pick some up at a gaming flea market, but let me know if you have other advice.

As for washes, on red, try Army Painter's Red Tone Ink wash. See this tutorial I wrote : https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1807614/painting-tutorial-missy-hume

[Mutanimal]

Thanks for the tip on the washes!

And reference buying Clix, I bought all of mine as singles on Troll & Toad. I specifically wanted DC characters and I made a wish list of the figures I wanted. If you watch it closely, and don't care about getting the cards etc. you can find models on there for pennies. I built my entire DC army of a couple of hundred models very cheaply. After a re-base and repaint, I have a collection of DC supers that I am very fond of!

[Legionnaire]

Thanks for the tip on the washes!

And reference buying Clix, I bought all of mine as singles on Troll & Toad. I specifically wanted DC characters and I made a wish list of the figures I wanted. If you watch it closely, and don't care about getting the cards etc. you can find models on there for pennies. I built my entire DC army of a couple of hundred models very cheaply. After a re-base and repaint, I have a collection of DC supers that I am very fond of!

Thanks for the tip. I'm based in the UK but the P&P from Troll & Toad is very reasonable, have ordered a dozen or so minis from the Marvel line (I'm a DC man myself) as my daughter is more into the X-Men and plan to play SMF with her as soon as the minis arrive .

Very nice re-works of the minis, like Mongul and Bloodwynd. I'm working on a Sand (from JSA) conversion atm, Nick Fury Jr base figure with gasmask head from Anvil industries.

[Mutanimal]

Thank you!

I've still been plugging away at them despite not posting in a bit.

Mr. Freeze:



Ganthet, Doomsday, and Firestorm:



Hellboy and Martian Manhunter:



I have finished re-basing and re-painting 34 models so far and I have currently have Batgirl, Batwoman, Solomon Grundy, and Spectre on the table in various stages.

I have been having a ton of fun with this project. My wife got me one of the Knight Models Wonder Woman on a horse figures for Christmas so I have that one I'm working on assembling right now as well.