Getting Started With: Reaper Bones

 

Welcome back to Getting Started With, a series where I talk about how to begin with some of the stuff in the hobby.

This week, I'm going to talk about how to get started with Reaper's plastic Bones line of miniatures. While I only have direct knowledge from my experiences with their first Kickstarter, I'll do what I can.

Step One: Figure Out What You Need Them For

This is kind of important as Bones are good for some things but not for others. If you haven't taken a look at them yet, Bones have integrated bases. Some of these are cool, others aren't, and they're not usually round. If you're going to use them for wargaming, you probably want to look at either cutting the bases off or using poster putty to put them on empty bases.

Now, if you're using them for RPGs, that doesn't matter as much. So long as they stand up, you're good. However, not all of the integrated bases are large enough for the footprint they'll have on a gaming mat. A little bit of cardboard and some glue will fix that.

Personally, I use my Bones for RPGs. Since there's such a wide selection and they're fairly cheap, you can find one for just about any high fantasy character and monsters that would appear in your games. Most of the lower level monsters like Kobolds, Goblins, and Zombies come in packs of at least two miniatures, making building up a horde of them inexpensive and easy.

While I mostly use my Bones for RPGs, I have used them for things like Frostgrave, and they work pretty well for it.

Step Two: Ordering

Since we've got a bit of a problem going on in the world right now (note: this is being written in the early part of 2021), going to a store and picking some up might not be possible. So, if you're looking to pick up a few and see how they work, don't be afraid to add a few to an order, especially if you need a certain amount for free shipping. In case you don't know, Reaper offers free shipping AND a free miniature for orders over $40. Just something to think about.

Step Three: Prepping and Cleaning

Now, you've got your little plastic folks and you're looking them over when you discover that a sword or arm of staff is bent. This is pretty common, due to the nature of the materiel. If you look online, you can find videos showing you how to fix them. I've done it myself and I can tell you it's really simple. I take a metal bowl and fill it with water and ice. Then, I set a small pot of water to boil. Once its boiling, I dip the miniature in the water using a kitchen tool (a slotted spoon will work) and hold it in the water for a few seconds. Usually, the miniature will bent back into shape on its own and I just drop it in the cold water to have it set. If it doesn't bent back on its own, I use a fork to bend it back in the boiling water and then hold it in place after dropping it in the cold water. For the most part, this works and doesn't need to be done again. I do have one or two that got bent badly and it just doesn't stick. This is almost literally one out of a hundred.

The nice thing about doing this is that it cleans the miniatures for you as well as fixes them. If they're not bent, cleaning is easy. I use a tiny spot of dish soap (or hand soap), warm water, and a soft toothbrush. Just run it under the faucet, add a drop of soap, and scrub for a few seconds. You do this to clean off any dirt, grit, and mold release that might be left on the model. If you're brand new to miniatures, you'll need to do this for all of them that you buy. Especially these days.

Step Four: Paint Those Bad Boys. And Girls. And Others.

Unlike most other miniatures on the market (I think only Wizkids and one other company do something like this), these miniatures DO NOT need to be primed. Reaper, of course, makes a line of paint that is designed to be used on Bones but most other paints can be used. If you really don't want to shell out the cash, I'm sure you can use craft store paints. I use a mix of old Reaper paints, new Games Workshop, and old P3 paints and they work just fine. You just have to keep your paints a little thicker than you would normally. And you don't have to worry about details because the Bones materiel doesn't hold them as well as other plastics and metals. At some point in the future, I'll try to do some side by side pictures myself but I'm sure you can find a ton only. The loss of detail between Bones and metals isn't huge, just so you know.

And that's about it. I really do recommend Bones, both normal and the newer Bones Black line, to learn how to paint and deal with miniatures, if you've never done it before. For $3-6 for a single miniature, it's a great price and a quality product.