There's a place out there that every mini gamer should get to know: the local arts and crafts store. Now, an arts and crafts store is an entirely different animal from the local hobby shop that most of us are familiar with. Hobby shops have remote control airplanes, model railroad supplies, Games Workshop space marines and an ever-dwindling supply of historical games and miniatures. Arts and Crafts stores have sequins, needle crafts, knitting stuff, cake decorating supplies, ribbons, wreath-making paraphernalia, beads, and plaster holiday ornaments. You know, what we used to call "girl stuff." The kind of store that your dear old grandmother haunts for quilting supplies.
But these are stores -- with names like "Michael's", "Frank's Nursery and Crafts" and M.J. Designs -- that minigamers also should get to know. For hidden amidst the bags of feather crafts and cutesy animal figurines is a treasure trove for modelers. These stores have thousands of items that you never knew existed, but in fact are massively useful.
Even better than the amazing variety of supplies, though, is the price. Whereas a 1/2 ounce bottle of Poly S paint can cost up to $2 in the local hobby store, you can get a 2 ounce bottle of similar paint in the arts and crafts store for as little as 77 cents. (Even better for you older gamers -- most of them offer a senior citizen discount.)
Sadly, it appears that many wargamers have never set foot inside one of these stores. A couple of cases in point: A recent posting on the rec.games.miniatures.historical internet newsgroup was from a guy who had gone into one of these stores and was amazed that he had found a bag of green pompons that could be used for trees. I've known about these things for years -- ever since I had a high school summer job teaching arts and crafts to elementary kids. During a conversation with a gamer at this year's Historicon, I mentioned that I sometimes used acrylic gesso as a primer; he had no idea what I was talking about. Finally, there was the guy (also at Historicon) who was complaining about how much of the expensive modeler's paint he goes through in a month of painting- he didn't know that you can get paint for less than half the price he was paying.
Wake up guys. Women aren't stupid enough to pay the premium prices we do for our hobby. They haunt the crafts stores and so should we. Here's a sample of the massively useful things you'll find there:
Acrylic Craft Paints by Accent Country Colors/Americana/Apple Barrel/Delta Ceramcoat/ Folk Art/Liquitex ($0.77 - $1.49/2 oz jar): Sadly, there are a good many people who haven't yet heard about the wonder paint of the 20th century. Acrylics are a plastic-based paint that are water-soluble, non- toxic, odorless, mix and blend well, dry quickly, and -- after drying -- are colorfast and practically indestructible (in fact, the only thing I know of that will dissolve it is Pine-Sol). They can be thinned with water or a "flow-enhancer," or thickened with specially made "gels" and pastes. You can even add a variety of "textures." (See below).
The 2 oz plastic bottles of "craft" acrylic paint are cheap and come in an amazing variety of colors. The Creamcoat line alone has 229 different colors in satin-finish, flat, gloss, sparkle, and metallic. I've found that, for the most part, these paints are the equal of the most expensive hobbyist acrylic paints. Ok, so they don't come in colors such as "Napoleonic Russian Green," but they do have a shade that matches. Just take your Osprey Book to the store and hold the bottles up to the plates until you find the right color.
Each of the brands seems to be a little bit different in texture, thickness and color. There isn't one best brand. In fact, I use different brands for different colors. For example, I like the Accent Country Colors Soft Black, but not the blacks offered by Delta. You'll have to try a few. Wait for a sale and get a bunch for less than a dollar each (the latest sale at Michael's had them for $0.77 each.) The only colors that I wouldn't recommend are the metallics. I still prefer the Poly-S stuff for this. The other advantage of this type of paint is that you can get them in large bottles. I buy things like brown (Burnt umber) and green in 4 oz bottles for about $1.50. The final word: If you're still messing with some other kind of paint -- switch. If you're already using acrylics, but are buying Poly-S or some other expensive brand -- switch.
Liquitex Texture Gel ($6-$8): This stuff is used to add texture to acrylic paints, or to the surface of something you're putting acrylic paint on. It comes in a variety of textures, including Resin Sand, Black Lava, Natural Sand, Ceramic Stucco, Glass Beads, White Opaque Flakes. I slather them on the foamcore surfaces of my buildings to give them the proper look and then paint over them. The Sand, Lava and Stucco are particularly useful.
Flow-Aid Flow Enhancer ($6): This stuff thins acrylic paints without creating the thinness that adding a lot of water can do. I find that it turns my acrylics into acceptable inks.
Liquitex Acrylic Gess ($6): I mentioned before that I sometimes use this as a primer. Its original use is as a surface preparation. It comes in white, black and occasionally, other colors. When I want to use a white primer for a figure (usually, I use black), I water the stuff down and brush it on. Its a much nicer surface to paint on than white spray primer, because it has just enough texture to hold the paint. It also stains well. In fact, most of the "painting" I do on gessoed figures is more appropriately called staining.
Liquitex Modeling Paste ($6): This apparently is used by artists to build up three-dimensional surfaces. I find it useful in creating buildings and landscapes. It is one of those things you have to experiment with.
Liquitex Structural Paint ($5): This is some new stuff that I haven't yet had the chance to try. The demo pieces at the craft store looked a lot like those little flowers and sea shells and such that cake decorators sculpt out of icing- except they were plastic. There are even a bunch of different tips that you can get to create different effects. One idea I had was to use it to create the look of plowed fields.
Artists Color Drawing Paint from Higgins, or Windsor & Newton ($2-$6): I've used these with Speedball Artists Pens to create the elaborate Japanese lettering on the back banners of my samurai 15s. A friend uses them as washes on his figures.
Mod Podge ($3-$6 depending on the jar size): This is weird stuff. Its a white Elmers-glue-like substance that dries absolutely clear and somewhat flexible. My mom used to use it to stiffen paper for shadowboxes whe was making. Someone else I knew used it to stiffen ribbons on wreaths. I've seen it used as a puzzle preserver. Its also a glue. And a preservative. And a sealer. And a finish for painting or stained wood. It comes in both glossy and matte finishes. I use the glossy version to simulate water on model ponds. I've used the matte version to seal the sand on my styrofoam mountains. I suspect that it would make a good coating on top of those plastic ESCI HO scale soldier that people seem to have so much trouble keeping point on.
Decoart Crackling Kit/Patina Kit/Faux Marble Kit ($2-$5): These are the latest hot things in arts and crafts. Fake distressed wood, fake old metals, and fake marble tabletops. The crackling kit involves painting on a base coat, then applying the "crackling medium." The clear medium contracts as it dries, leaving cracks in its surface. A contrasting coat then is dry brushed on the top. Actually, it looks pretty good- like severely weathered wood with the outer coat of paint peeling off. I haven't tried the other two, but the Faux Marble looks like- well- like you spent a great deal of time hand painting fake marble. Should look good if you're constructing ancient temples or the like. There's also a Plastikote Cracklin Finish spray for about $10.
Krylon Stone Craft Spray ($12): This kit consists of two spray cans. By spraying them on in alternate layers, you can create a pretty nifty fake granite or sandstone on practically any surface. I've seen several different brands for this particular item. I don't know, however, if one has any advantages over the other.
Textile Medium ($5): This is another interesting additive for acrylic paints. Normally, when you paint on fabric, the fibers wick the color out, making the edges smudgy and uneven. Or, the cloth simply absorbs so much of the paint that the colors are muted. This stuff prevents all that, and it has the added benefit of making the paint machine washable. I've used it to paint my game table cloth- and to paint a couple of sweatshirts. (Here's a hint: get a couple of fabric transfer pencils from the craft store. Draw on a piece of paper an outline of whatever it is you want to paint on your shirt. Then trace on the backside with the fabric pencil. Iron the paper on the shirt and voila- the image is transferred to your shirt. You then can paint inside the lines with the textile medium/acrylic paint. Once you've washed it, the red pencil outline dissolves out.)
Celluclay II (5 lbs for $20): This is a cellulose plaster-of-paris-like substance. Arts and crafters use it to pour into molds to make Christmas ornaments. I use it to sculpt terrain- including a really nifts (if I do say so myself) "Skull Island" for 1/1200 ships. It has two special qualities. One, it has very little shrinkage. Two, by varying th amount of water you add to the compound, you can vary the surface texture from really smooth to rought. This stuff also is available im most hobby shops, but tends to be cheaper in arts and crafts stores.
Sculpty/Fimo (price varies wildly with amount): Here's the other wonder plastic of the 20th century. This clay-like stuff stays soft and pliable until you bake it in your home oven. Then it becomes quite hard, with practically no shrinkage. An entire sub-culture has sprung up around this stuff, as people use it to make the most amazing things. There's even an internet newsgroup for it. It comes in colors, but I use white.
Tacky Glue ($0.99-$2.00): This is like a really thick Elmer's, but with a couple of added advantages: One, it's flexible. And two, you can build it up, where Elmer's simply would run, I use it to stick my figures to their metal bases.
Wood pieces in assorted shapes: My local stores carry these things under the name Lara's Crafts. Basically, they're just pieces of wood cut in hundreds of different shapes: animals, basic cubes and spheres, baseball bats, books, barrels, kitchen utensils. You'll often see these painted up at local craft shows- usually with huge, overly cute eyes on the animal shapes. People buy them by the dozens, I skip the animals, but some of the other shapes are useful, since they come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes and are cheap. For example, I stack some of the wood spheres up to use as cannonballs for "out-of-ammo" markers in Fire and Fury. The barrels are loads cheaper than those made by wargamer or model RR supply companies.
Pipe Cleaners: These come in dozens of colors. We cut them into short pieces and use them for casualty markers. The fuzz keeps them from hurting the figures.
Acrylic Pom Poms ($0.49-$6.00, depending on the size and number in bag): These are fuzzy little balls of acrylic yarn in assorted colors and sizes. Crafters glue them together to make animals, snowmen, Santa Clauses and the like. I find that the green and brown ones make useful trees and bushes.
Cake Decorating Supplies (price varies wildly): Seriously, it's worth taking a look a the cake decorating section. There are literally hundreds of different little figures, houses, trees, etc. for people to put on the tops of their cakes. For example: good-looking plastic palm trees, little fences, plastic bushes, and trains. Another useful item: plastic Greek columns used to hold up the layers of wedding cakes are ideal for ancient temples and public buildings. They're fluted and everything.
Christmas Supplies: Christmas crafts apparently are big business. Starting in September, the craft stores will devote large portions to their floor space to Christmas Crafts. Don't' buy anything then. Wait until after Christmas and the clearance sales. Then you can find 15mm sized Victorian Houses for as little as $0.50; small 6mm-15mm-sized pine trees (I bought 50 for $1.00); Fake snow spray; neat (and cheap) 25mm-sized lamp posts, iron fences and houses; wire garland material (cut up, it makes neat abatis); and sleighs (think Napoleon in Russia). The downside of this stuff is that nearly all of it is in Christmas colors and the houses have snow sculpted into them. Nothing that an Exacto Knife and a new paint job can't fix, though.
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© Copyright 1996 Hal Thinglum
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