NextLevel Miniatures - Treasure Mimic

 

More posts about the AK Interactive Playmarkers and once again, another session of ShadowDark at Emerald Tavern in Austin, TX and bringing back home a few more colors - this time I picked up the box set called Full Metal as well as a box called Skin & Flesh Tones along with White and Off-White as individual markers.

But first, let's discuss the mini - so this is the treasure mimic from NextLevel Miniatures. One of a big batch of minis I purchased. They're at a great price point and made in St. Louis. According to their website they're made in thermoplastic resin and don't need to primered. So I'm not priming but using the paint straight off the marker and onto the model. I don't know exactly what "thermoplastic resin" is but it's a bit harder than the original Bones white from Reaper Miniatures but a bit softer than Reaper's Bones Black. The detail is better than Reaper's white but not as crisp as Reaper's black. But for the price, these just can't be beat. This miniature retails for $3.99 but can be purchased from Miniature Market for $3.59. I think I picked it up on a sale price for even better than that. And it's a great miniature for gaming - not for sticking in a display case. After describing treasure in my recent ShadowDark game, the thief practically threw himself in the pile - guess what, out came the mimic mini - munch munch! - rofl!! Everyone loved it.

More fun with red and purple - those appear to be my go-to colors. I used Animal Green on the gums of the monster mimic and the whites on the teeth. Then I used the gold on the gold and was extremely pleased at how well the entire model came together - and it was EASY!! I painted it in spare time of fifteen minutes here and fifteen minutes there - then brought it to game night.

I'm going to keep posting by copying the previous post and seeing if I modify my position over time. Here goes (see my previous posts to review the build-up)...

• It's contagious fun! 
• Easy to use - a brush-like tip - it comes down to a point of about a 1 brush, maybe a 2.
• After 2 models, I'd say this is a great way to introduce newbies to the painting hobby - I'll qualify that with having the "right" model - something that's smooth, easy access, with broad swath of space to color - monsters, a wizard with a robe, a woman in a dress, a knight in armor - a model with lots of tiny details would most likely be frustration.
• Using a marker to color in a model is much easier than using a brush - I'm just finding it easier to do what I've done all my life - pick up a pencil, pen, marker and draw - it's that easy!
• They're very opaque - there's no bleed through so you can't really blend or build up layers - this remains true - so I've used this to my advantage - don't worry about "coloring in the lines" as it's very easy to "clean-up" once the original color is dry - just paint over the mistake with the appropriate color - the opaqueness of the paint wipes away the mistake.
• Dry time on these is very fast - which for the style of painting I think is a good attribute - vs. say Reaper Master Series paints which I believe has some dry retardant in it so it makes the paint easy to blend and layer.
• The paint dries to solid - I haven't noticed any paintbrush streaks once dry - the sheen on it is about at an eggshell - definitely more towards the flat/matte side of the spectrum than the satin but there is a slight sheen - red more so than the purple.
• The push to prime is a bit of a pain - so there's a button on the bottom of the marker that primes the paint into the brush - the paint doesn't come out a true 360 around the brush, it typically squirts out an area and leaks into the brush but also on the desk - I found the best practice was to have a plastic baggy on the desk under me - prime a bit and then soak the brush in the drippings.

More models coming using these PlayMarkers from AK Interactive.