displaying for sale - painted or unpainted?

[Sterling Moose]

I prefer both, black wash to bring out the detail on the casting and a painted version for inspiration.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

The person asking this question would seem to cast in resin, which is slightly a different case to metals, plus this was for attendance at Salute.
In general I like to see black washed (Hasslefree do a very good job on their metals) as it shows off the castings to good (or in some cases bad - not Hasslefree) effect.
Resins are another matter, but either grey primer and black wash or plain with either high contrast lighting or wash.
High quality painted miniatures are nice, they inspire and show what things are on the miniature - the Empress USMC figure with the doll in the helmet band being an extreme case.
At shows, there is a combination of getting to see the miniatures (painted or unpainted) due to crowds and  limited frontage on stands for display. Plus, I am now in the position that I need optical assistance to appreciate the finer details of 28mm figures (I will be the guy with the magnifying glasses).

[ced1106]

I am a fairly good painter if I do say so myself BUT I do wonder if my style of painting is perhaps not suited for advertising.

Well, since you're here (: show us some painted and washed pics!

[Mammoth miniatures]

Well, since you're here (: show us some painted and washed pics!

Here's the most recent of my own paintjobs on my own sculpts - My flesh eating ghoul giant.


The raw unpainted resin - no wash, no primer, just natural green.

My paintjob.


My worry is that I paint in a very textured way that I like the look of, but that perhaps doesn't do a great job of selling a sculpt.

[Daeothar]

It depends on where and how the figures are shown.

On a website, with suitably zoomable pictures, I prefer seeing both; some nicely painted pictures and one or two pics of the aforementioned black wash.

The reason is that the type of miniatures that draw me in (fantasy and scifi) is usually covered in fancyful detail which can be unclear when not well painted. This contrasts with historical miniatures, which tend to be less cluttered and every aspect of the uniform and kit is well known, and plain, simply washed miniatures are just as suited.

When at a show, I prefer painted though, period. Well painted miniatures on display are what sells the minis as far as I'm concerned.

In magazines, I don't care either way, as long as the pictures are sharp enough.

When I say painted, I don't mean painted to a ridiculous Golden Daemon standard; it's much better to have a well defined, crisp paintjob that highlights the miniature's features than one overshadowing them with fancy colourfades, over the top highlighting and elaborate freehanding.

Oh, and bad paintjobs which obscure or omit details, go over 'the lines' or otherwise mess with seeing the miniature underneath well, should most certainly be avoided. We're better off with a simply black wash in those cases.

[ced1106]

> My paintjob

Reminds me of that painting of Saturn eating some guy! (:

Yeah, both pics would work. Now I'm recalling that Reaper mini's unpainted and painted minis were popular. You don't have to paint every mini.

And don't forget if you're up for selling your painted mini's or willing to do commissions!

[Daeothar]

Reminds me of that painting of Saturn eating some guy! (:

You mean the painting by Goya? That's not just some guy he's eating; that git ate his children!