Painted playing pieces

I haven’t started painting my A & A pieces yet, but this post has made me very tempted.  I have been painting 25 mm historical miniatures, one trick that I would like to pass on is the use of home made decal sheets.  I found this to be much easier for doing Greek hoplite shields and Imperial Rome legionary shields instead of trying to paint a tiny straight line with my old eyes and shaky fingers.  The details of the process are below:

1.  Use GIMP or other suitable image manipulation program to make your master image file
2.  Surf the internet for appropriate artwork to use as a base, then change it fit the file size.  WW2 aircraft insignia should be easy to find and then stack up on the image file, you’ll like get 200 or so into the image file.
3.  I used the water transfer sheets from Testors but really didn’t care for the decal software that they included.  GIMP was much better.  The water slide sheets and sealant spray worked great.  You want to get the white background sheets though, not the clear.
4.  Using your inkjet printer, print the decals on the half page sheets.  I usually did two or three test prints before doing the transfer decal sheet, I usually wanted to tweak some of image positions.
5.  I went with three light coats of sealant on the decal sheet and let the coats dry several hours between coats.
6.  All that work paid off when I got to applying the decal to the historical figs, what was an hour or two painting each shield was now a minute or two each.  For painting aircraft insignia versus using decals, you’ll probably be much happier with the straight lines and time savings.

Good luck with painting more game pieces.

Hey Trackmagic, those pewters are really nice. Nice shade for the corsair as well (Ba Ba Blacksheep comes to mind). That mustang <insert me=“” doing=“” the=“” roar=“” of=“” a=“” plane=“” engine=“” as=“” momentarily=“” become=“” childlike=“”>! perfect scale too…

Degrasse - I’m interested in that…  There are things I’d like to have as decals that I can’t find to scale or that aren’t even made.  I’m not overly graphics savvy though, but I’m going to check it out.  I’ve never done my own decals and the thought of it has me all excited.  How small can I make the transfers and still have them not disintegrate? Oh - well I guess I should just check it out myself.  Will do.  You have any pics of those Greeks?  Sounds like you have some experience with a brush in your hand… I think your A&A pieces deserve some paint. Give back to the game that gave you so much… eh eh eh   :wink:

Chag - “nose art is not really necessary you can’t even see them.”  Eh eh eh - know what you’re say’in, but you can!  I seen 'em.  And that’s one of the excellent things about A&A mini painting due to the scale, you can have an “impression” of something, but it doesn’t have to be spot on (I mean c’mon, look at the size of the pieces).  My nose art aren’t little ladies… when you put them under the magnifier its not like a little blonde lady leaps out at ya, they’re just flesh colored squiggles with vague imagery of hair and a bikini.  But impression is there so it works.  That fine detailing is my favorite part of painting a piece - when it is generally done… but I’m looking over it and thinking, “what else could I add to this?  Or is it complete?” Btw, I like those Tigers… the color scheme works for the European setting or the desert (green & the tan).   Oh - and congrats on the newborn! That indeed is a huge project!  Keep the pieces away from the baby … they’ll learn A&A when they’re older. eh eh eh</insert>

Thanks! Glad you like them. I only have the French and Italians and Kriegsmarine left then I have all my pieces done. I have been putting it off because I want to do the italians next and I dont like the OOB pieces so I plan on painting the FMG pieces.

After I get them done I want to make a thread with pictures of all the pieces like you did. Actually your pieces were a pretty big inspiration.

I would pay $1000 Dollars for a fully painted Euro/Pacific game set.

@oztea:

I would pay $1000 Dollars for a fully painted Euro/Pacific game set.

You’re not serious (and you’ve provided no strings).  A couple cans of spray paint is only going to cost you some change. eh eh eh - I know, you are referring to detailing, but I couldn’t resist.

Track - Almost there!  Looking forward to seeing those pics. My pieces were?  That’s so cool - cheers man.  I was inspired to paint mine after seeing Capt. Kiwi’s (his work is posted on here somewhere) and an Air Force fella named Sam Hill (his stuff is on BBG, AA50th).  I’ve been painting minis for … I don’t know, a long, long time - but 15mm was the smallest I’d ever done.  You know, I don’t think I would have went through so much trouble with trying to get unique pieces from other places and painting them for my AA50th set if I’d known that FMG and HBG were going to produce such nice sculpts… but oh well, now I’ll have all sorts of units to use for house rules or just have in a game to represent different types  8-)

Chag - I’m on exactly the same page in regard to the painting techniques. Started writing up some technique posts - haven’t finished them yet because they require some pics (and kinda strapped for time lately).  Though I do use black as a ‘shader’ for parts I really want to emphasize sometimes.  And I have to admit, I forget my own 12’’ viewing distance rule on occasion - its the damn magnifier that my gal gave me for my birthday… (I didn’t have one when I painted my AA50th).  I had to resist the urge to re-paint my 50th when I started to look at them through the lens… but ya don’t play the game with a magnifier… at least, I’d hope not.   Eh eh eh - yeah, the Germans are my favorite to paint as well (the “bad guys” always have the coolest uniforms/“look” eh eh eh).  Though a close second is the Americans, not sure if its my patriotism surfacing or because of my family’s tradition of serving in the military.

I know you guys probably comb the Internet for images before painting as well - but here’s one that I drew upon a lot.  Mainly because it has so many different nation’s units all on one site (as oppose to the vast multitudes of individuals sites/images scattered everywhere with individual searches).

http://ww2drawings.jexiste.fr/index.htm

What always amazes me is the crazy units that never made a significant appearance - always thought it would be interesting to have some kinda of game/version of A&A where just the zany prototypes/ experimental units are used.  “Mishap” rolls or “breakdowns” would be a must eh eh eh  Especially the aircraft - there were some really strange designs - and would love to paint some minis like Germany’s HE-176, VTO Interceptor (rocket interceptor!), Fieseler Fi-103R-IV, Flettner (early helicopters) - that’s just  few of the Germans, there are a whole bunch of strange war machines.

For a set painted as well as All Dice and No Clay did (not sure on the spelling) With roundels painted at their feet.
I would……
Or maybe im just really good at photoshop  :-D

@oztea:

For a set painted as well as All Dice and No Clay did (not sure on the spelling) With roundels painted at their feet.
I would……
Or maybe im just really good at photoshop  :-D

Well you need to contact him pronto! TallPaul (I think? or someone) posted numerous times that he’s painting theirs, so it sounds like he takes commissions. Good luck in getting a painted set Oz, it really does enhance the game with painted minis.  And btw, you might want to look into other avenues of payment, I wouldn’t suggest sending cash through the mail…

Pfftp…

If it were the new CANADIAN $100’s on the table, it might have caught my eye.

@Gargantua:

Pfftp…

If it were the new CANADIAN $100’s on the table, it might have caught my eye.

EH eh eh - I like that your five cent coins have a beaver. And isn’t there a moose on a coin? When I was a kid I thought that was pretty nifty.

Has anyone ever played Axis and Allies with REAL money?

How much currency would you need?

Assume USD :D

Probably $700 would do?

50 Tens
32 Fives
40 Ones

@Gargantua:

Has anyone ever played Axis and Allies with REAL money?

How much currency would you need?

Assume USD :D

Probably $700 would do?

50 Tens
32 Fives
40 Ones

Ask Oztea to break down those hondos he has pictured and use them in his next game, he just scampered off to a cash machine to take a photo of $1000 so it shouldn’t be a problem. ehehehe

Cash machines only give out 500 at a time….in 20s
I keep $1000 of cash in a safe place in case of some sort of unforseen incident…
If the internet crashed and ATMs everwhere exploded, everyone else would have only their useless debit cards while I would lord over my town, a veritable Bill Gates.

@oztea:

Cash machines only give out 500 at a time….in 20s
I keep $1000 of cash in a safe place in case of some sort of unforseen incident…
If the internet crashed and ATMs everwhere exploded, everyone else would have only their useless debit cards while I would lord over my town, a veritable Bill Gates.

Hmm… if the Internet crashed (a global wide EMP?), and the ATMs everywhere exploded… I think there are some serious problems going on, and I think paper money at that point would be as valuable as the paper it was printed on.

Wait… so you’re saying you’re going to use your ‘secret stash’ to buy a painted set?

So where is this ‘safe place’  :evil: ?

In my back yard fallout shelter thats 10 feet below ground with battery backup and two years of food.
Right beside my guns and gold bullion, precious stones and all my other Mad Max gear.

:-D
Just kidding. Its in a shoe box

…well no, I wouldnt use my secret stash for a painted set
I have other money…the Benjamans picture was just to convey how serious I was about the issue.

I dont even think $1000 dollars is unreasonable. Considering that it costs $150 for both the games (Euro+Pacific) new in box, maybe $50 dollars for the Paints, brushes. That leaves shipping, which may be $50, and time paid for the painter. Which with somewhere in the ballpark of 750 pieces from both sets thats a dollar per piece.

@oztea:

In my back yard fallout shelter thats 10 feet below ground with battery backup and two years of food.
Right beside my guns and gold bullion, precious stones and all my other Mad Max gear.

:-D
Just kidding. Its in a shoe box

Dammit - I’ll ignore that you told me its a shoebox… I like the other answer better.  :-D

I’m not sure $1000 would cover it. When I get serious about painting I can paint for 3 hours after work for 3 weeks just to do one faction. Considering there is 11 factions (Counting US and UK as different factions on each map) that is a rough estimate of 495 hours. $750 would be ~$1.66/hour.

Before I started painting I thought $1000 for a set would be fair too, but I was amazed how much time I spent getting as far as I did. I’m not even done yet.

Some people might paint faster or slower depending on their skill or how much detail they are trying to add.

@trackmagic:

I’m not sure $1000 would cover it. When I get serious about painting I can paint for 3 hours after work for 3 weeks just to do one faction. Considering there is 11 factions (Counting US and UK as different factions on each map) that is a rough estimate of 495 hours. $750 would be ~$1.66/hour.

Before I started painting I thought $1000 for a set would be fair too, but I was amazed how much time I spent getting as far as I did. I’m not even done yet.

Some people might paint faster or slower depending on their skill or how much detail they are trying to add.

Precisely what I was say’in early Track.  The numbers just don’t add up…