Lead Adventure Forum
Other Stuff => General Wargames and Hobby Discussion => Topic started by: whitphoto on March 14, 2020, 05:47:49 PM
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I blogged about my thoughts on stripping painted minis as part of my blog series on my 2020 painting goals.
http://www.addictedtolead.net/2020/03/14/not-one-step-back/ (http://www.addictedtolead.net/2020/03/14/not-one-step-back/)
(https://i2.wp.com/www.addictedtolead.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_6142-1.jpg)
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I strip and repaint figures all the time...but they're normally from eBay. I have stripped a couple of my own figures "most of the way" into the painting process if I don't like it.
There's something cathartic about buying metal minis from the early 90's...in disastrous states and stripping them down, rebasing them, repainting them and giving them a new lease on life; with the added possibility somebody will buy them from me in another 20 years and do the same. While slightly silly, I like to think a miniature "wants" to serve its purpose - so why not give them a long and fulfilling life? This also makes me sad when people collect stuff in boxes for 20-30 years just to have it. All those unused troops!
I don't personally have any miniatures of my own which were painted beyond 6-7 years at this point. No miniatures from my youth, or gaming in college, etc. If I really don't like a painted thing I tend to flog them on eBay for more than I paid and start over with newer/better minis or a better paint scheme.
I do really enjoy prowling eBay for cheap priced minis simply because they're globbed in awful craft paint from 1994 and have cobwebs all over them, etc. I've catalogues an entire 40K army I did over the course or two years, maybe 80% recaptured metals. It definitely adds a huge bit of joy to my hobby projects.
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I strip some of my models, commonly after I try a new technique or color combination that doesn't work as I intended.
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I do strip painted figures and repaint them, for the same reasons others have mentioned.
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I fully understand your points.
Stripping isn't fun.
There's also a lot to be said about being able to see your progress as you've become better at painting.
I just.... don't like the look of some of my early paintjobs any more.
My first army where Eldar. I did a lot of drybrushing. They look dirty.
I don't mind the look of my imperial guard. They are not the best, but they don't need to be clean and having over a 100 of them on the table makes for an impressive view. I do plan on rebasing them at some point.
But I really do still love the look of those eldar mini's and I'm very curious what I could do with them now. And I don't plan on buying an entire new army for 40k. Allthough I have stripped my first squad and not painted them. :?
That might have something to do with the fact that I'm simply crazy about playing 40k at the moment. Once I find a suitable gaming use for them, that might change.
I don't see painting as a necessary evil. I spend far more time modelling than gaming. I do prefer the latter, but it's the versatility of the hobby that I love. Modelling, painting, reading rules and fluff, all accumulating in awesome gamingtables of lovely mini's
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As others have mentioned I strip miniatures if there's an issue with things not working as intended. I also strip the occasional miniature if the spray primer is frosted or otherwise didn't apply properly, though lately I've been priming exclusively with an airbrush primer so this has been a non issue. In general I won't strip models that I think turned out poorly. I can live well enough with unsatisfactory miniatures, and I can always buy more. I started painting in mid 2016, and even though my early miniatures are objectively bad I don't want to strip them wholesale. What I would like to do, however, is revisit those early projects with new miniatures as my taste and skills evolve.