I too got a little confused by the stigma at first. But I've been around the hobby since metal was the norm, so I understand my view is different. There are folks who just find it alien.

Hey Zack, sorry to reopen an old thread, but you made a couple points. I've spent the day kitbashing Space Marines from plastic and resin, I'd never be able to do anything like this with metal. But, Infinity models aren't really for modifying since they're so near perfect as they are. So I suppose the medium fits the subject? And with NMM, I'm just not that good, it's not a technique that interests me just yet. I know the studio painters use it, but I'm not Angel or Sergio, and I quite like TMM anyway, so I'm just going to use my metallic paints.

​@@Mikey__R sorry to reply really late,all good points

Infinity uses a very robust socketing system that means all but the largest, and heaviest minis hold together really well, without any pinning. Just make sure you're using accellerant with CA glue to create a harder cured bond. When we get to those bigger, heavier minis, we're also comfortably into the territory where they WILL easily take pinning. It's one of those problems that it's hard to realise isn't a problem, until you've experienced it first hand.

Given that i've been around Infinity for long enough to have worked with the N2 sculpts, i have picked up some helpful details: * First, glue. While it's possible to pin those thin tiny arms (i have pinned the arms of a Devabot! I think about it today and realize how crazy that is!), it's not necessary. Yes, CA glue can have issues sticking well to metal sometimes, but that's only when you try to glue smooth metal surfaces together. Rough them up (rough sandpaper, or take a pointy instrument and scratch the two surfaces a bit) and the glue will have a much better time, it's like it has something to grab onto, an actual chemist could explain how it works as i don't know. If you don't do it you'll find unglued limbs every time you open your transport box (i once saw a mini literally explode into it's pieces during a game when it was dropped from a light height), so do it, takes only seconds per mini and will save your sanity. The historical players used to metal minis and tanks and whatever call this technique "scoring". For heavier things like TAG and some remote parts then yes, you pin, but for most of the infantry? Not really needed for most of them. * Second, if you don't use the normal slotta bases (you go with resin, toppers, texture rollers or whatever), a good technique to fix the minis to the bases is to cut the little metal tab, but not completely, leaving the bits under the models feet to be turned into pins, here's a tutorial: www.corehammer.com/how-to-tab-pin-infinity-miniatures-to-bases/ *Third, primer and varnish. Some GW spraycans are NOT primer, so use an actual primer. Do it light enough that it serves it's purpose, but avoid going too far to not clog that beautiful detail. Then varnish at the end. That should hold up to (some) abuse. That, and the tips given :)

I find that when applying that method, it produces really desaturated tones, so I tend to avoid it personally. I like good, full coverage on a lot of my stuff and by the time you get there, you've completely covered a zenithal highlight. The one great use I think you can get from a zenithal highlight is if you aren't very good at visualising light, you can apply a zenithal, then take some pics of the mini to give you a reference for something that works well as a lighting scheme. That's really helped me a few times, in the earlier days of getting into volumetric painting.

@@TesseractMinis Yeah, that's true. But I guess I'm more fond of desaturated colors. Call it a habit from working with historical minis where I find desaturated colors a little more realistic looking.

Oh for sure, there's totally a place for that look....and that place is "if you prefer it". Always paint to achieve the look you want, not the look someone else tells you to ❤️

Hiya, that's a great question... And a bit of an abstract one to answer. There's definitely things that contrast paint can do well, and chief amongst those is dense texture. Since infinity minis tend to have a ton of texture, obviously that means contrasts can get some really good results on them, in not a ton of time. The problem comes when you start thinking about long-term results. For example, the basic method of applying contrast over a basecoat can certainly get some results that look nice... but it's never gonna teach you how to communicate lighting information in paint. You're only ever gonna get exactly shadows in the recesses and highlights on the raised parts. Which isn't how light behaves. And so if this is the only way you paint, it's easy to find yourself backed into a corner in terms of your growth as a painter. Now don't get me wrong, there are amazing results you can get by using contrast as the base, and then manually adding highlights over the top... But in real world application, this is no different to traditional painting, and if anything is a bit gimmicky or "for the sake of it". You're using a transparent base layer, and then painting over all of its transparent parts... Not really worth buying a separate product for, imo. My advice would be to focus on ways you can speed up your traditional painting techniques. Consider your process efficiency, how you set up your workspace...and also just bear with yourself a little! If you've only been painting 4 years, you've probably spent most of that focused on getting better, so getting faster might take some dedicated time and practice. Thanks for a really great question, and I hope that all helps! Good luck!

@@TesseractMinis Wow thanks for such a comprehensive answer. What you said seems like great advice. I love painting especially infinity miniatures. I cant wait to get faster and faster while still getting good results.

No worries at all! Your question has inspired a video that I think will be great. I'm sat here with my laptop writing a script as we speak! So it's you who deserves thanks!

@@TesseractMinis Glad to hear that! Looking forward to seeing the vid when it comes out.

Thank you for watching it!

Thanks, Josef! It was reallllly fun doing an ESR on something that small.

Personally I use them for everything. I'd happily recommend others do, too.

Not just that, they work even better on Infinity minis than on their posterboy Primaris, and that is a fact that i never ever get tired of :P

My Shasvastii are all Contrast painted, and they look fairly good on he table, if I do say so myself

I'm a huge Angel Giraldez fan :)

Just superglue and accelerator :)

The main difference with matte, is just that you want to overexpose them and then pull the exposure down in post. Not sure I could stretch that out to a full vid, but I'll have a think if I can come up with some other ideas for a fuller video! Cheers :)

@@TesseractMinis Cheers homes!

To be fair, its currently only for new releases over S2 going forward, the latest Dice Abide Podcast with Bostria covers the start of their inclusion of SioCast and what we as Infinity players can expect.

I felt similarly, when I first looked at it from the periphery, but as someone who's now played it for about a year, I feel differently. The per model quality in terms of sculpting and casting is the best I've ever seen and every miniature in my collection is an individual with no repeats. This makes the nearest fair comparison something like a GW character model - which is less detailed and harder to put together but costs about 2-3 times the average Infinity miniature. Compared to other Skirmish games with poorer quality models, it could certainly look expensive...like I say, did to me too! But when you consider that it's a game where you never need to buy a rulebook unless you just like owning one. A game where every starter box contains actual useable, quality terrain, that you'll keep using and can flatpack down if you ever need to...or even just the quality of sculpting, casting and general production... You may well change your mind too!

The grime comes in the paint jobs! Did you see how I painted my Ariadna SAS? I put it in a community post, a few days ago.

@@TesseractMinis I didn't but shall!