Miniature Stripping Tutorial

Let’s face it, this is an expensive hobby, so anything that can save money is a bonus, and one way is buying used miniatures. H0wever, often the previous owner’s paint job will not be up to scratch, and painting over caked on paint hides the detail of the miniature.

This is a short guide to removing paint from plastic and metal miniatures (may also work for resin, but take care as it can be delicate).

1. You need a bottle of Fairy Power Spray (it’s sold under different names in different markets).

2. You need some old miniatures. I’ve picked a random selection from different eras. You also need something to put them in while soaking. I find an old jam jar handy.

3. Take the spray top off and pour into the container (jam jar).

4. Drop the miniatures into the power spray and leave for 24 hours.

5. 24 hours later they are ready to remove.

6. Give them a quick scrub with an old toothbrush and rinse with water. The paint should lift off easily. Some miniatures may need a second soak to get it all off.

7. The stripped miniatures. Although there’s some primer remaining on one of the space marines, all the thick paint over it is gone.

Although it’s slightly changed colour, the power spray in the jam jar will be fine for many more stripping jobs.

Paul’s Adventures in Middle Earth

Paul Kelly showed us his Lord of the Rings miniatures, starting with some of the fellowship…

Here’s a close-up of Gandalf:

And his adversary, Saruman the white…

Finally, here’s a shot of some of Saruman’s Orcs:

We’re looking forward to seeing more of Paul’s painting, particularly the Space Marine army he’s currently working on.

Kevin’s Chaos Space Marines

Our member Kevin Ayres has been working on some stunning looking Chaos Marines. The quality of his work is really impressive.

Starting with his Chaos Lord in Terminator armour…

And a berserker:

And a lovely terminator with lightning claws…

Best of all has to be his Forge World Contemptor Dreadnought. He got this before there was a specific chaos version, so he has done a great conversion:

Finally a shot of them all together…

We’re really looking forward to seeing more of Kevin’s army, though his standard of painting takes a little time.

Declan’s Blood Angels

Declan Kelly has led the Drogheda Games Club since its inception, so it’s no surprise he has built up one of the most impressive armies, his blood angels.

A recent addition has been his Vanguard Veterans, mostly constructed from leftover bits found in his extensive bits box.

The standard bearer is particularly noteworthy:

He has built up a large Vanguard squad.

Declan’s bike squad is also beautifully constructed and painted:

Also mostly from the bits box, Declan’s Terminator Chaplain:

Of course any army is only as good as its ability to get into battle, so what better way than by Drop Pod?

Finally, the Venerable Dreadnought is ready to seek out and destroy enemy positions.

James’s Dreadball Team

Your erstwhile blogger has been enjoying Mantic’s futuristic sports game, Dreadball, and some legendary games have taken place in the club.

He has been tinkering with his favourite team, the Forge Fathers, since the game’s launch, and now has completed his team, the Holocaust City Kneebiters:

The players are all attached to their bases magnetically, for easy rearrangement of the team rota. Their orange armour has markings for the specialist positions, and the ball carrying players have a metal insert in their hands to allow the magnetic ball to attach.

The standard players in Dreadball are known as jacks, for “jack-of-all-trades”. Although they can perform all the actions in the game, they don’t get the bonuses specialist players get. The Kneebiters jacks have standard orange armour, with no markings for position. The holographic scoop was made from a piece of perspex blister pack, cut to size and painted with the holographic pattern.

The specialist ball handlers are known as strikers. They get bonuses for actions involving the ball, but wear less armour so are somewhat fragile. Their green shoulder markings indicate they’re the fastest players on the team (though they’re dwarves, so speed isn’t their thing).

The tougher players are called gaurds, and they specialise in getting the opposition out of the way so the strikers can score. And if they happen to injure a few players in the process, all the better. They can’t pick up the ball at all, and don’t get a Dreadball glove as a result. Their red shoulder stripes indicate “danger”.

Occasionally a guard turns out to be handy enough with the ball so he gets upgraded to a keeper. They wear even tougher armour than the guards, and can pick up the ball, though they have a more limited repertoire of things they can do with it. They have yellow and black “hazard” shoulder markings.

Finally, it’s not uncommon for Dreadball players to get knocked down, so there’s a special marker to indicate a “prone” player.

Thomas Paints Lord of the Rings

Thomas Caffrey has been painting the armies of Middle Earth for quite some time, and are likely to be a recurring theme here. Today, we present some of his orcs:

Especially fearsome are his Warg riders.

I would not like to get on the wrong side of this band of orcs, but unfortunately one man of Gondor did…

Liam’s Imperial Guard

Liam Nulty has been putting together a rather impressive winter themed Imperial Guard army. They are nicely painted, but I think it’s the basing that really sets them off and makes them unique.

Here’s his Sentinel:

And his Commissair:

Unfortunately some of the other models we photographed were out of focus, so we’ll have to save those for the next update, but here is a group shot:

I’m really looking forward to more of this army.

Eamonn’s Eldar

Just a couple of units from Eamonn Colgan’s Eldar army today.

First, his Fire Dragons, ready to blast though your toughest armour with their fusion cannons.

His Dire Avengers stand guard, their shuriken catapults no less lethal in their highly trained (and well painted) hands.

We look forward to seeing more of Eamonn’s army soon!

Fearghal’s Chaos Space Marines

Fearghal Gorman has painted some rather nice Chaos Space Marines.

Here are his Chaos Terminators…

And a close-up of his Lord.

Best of all has to be the Helldrake.

And here they are all together.

Jamie’s Orks

Jamie Myles has been part of Drogheda Games Club for about 3 years, and has been a dedicated follower of Orks since splitting a box of Assault on Black Reach with his brother.

Over that time, Jamie’s painting skills have improved considerably, so I’m delighted to start this blog with some of his latest models. He has also become an accomplished player of Warhammer 40K, and has delivered crushing defeats to many of the club’s most experienced players.

First up is an Ork Bommer.

Jamie has gone for a very Orky red, and has loaded plane with as many bombs as he could, as well as a grot gunner for good measure. I really like the Ork boys running along under it too.

Next, we have his Deff Dread, which he’s managed to make really menacing:

Following this is a looted tank, obviously freshly stolen from the Imperium. You can still see where they busted the doors open. I’m sure when they’ve had it a little longer they’ll stick on some Orky symbols and “kustomizations”.

By now you’re saying, “where are the greenskins”, so without further ado, here are a squad of Lootas, which Jamie uses to devastating effect on the battlefield.

While the Lootas unleash pain from a safe distance, Jamie’s Nobz like to get up close and show how nasty they can be, led by a warboss, and accompanied by their pain boy for those all important invulnerability saves.

Finally, here’s a close up of that boss, “sarge” of the nobs and the painboy.