Recycling gw figures

[crazyredpraetorian]

Do you always start with new figures or do you sometimes strip and paint old ones? This occurred to me as I was converting an old SM into a Grey Hunter for my Space Wolves army. This is the first time that I have built an army out of mainly "used figures". I guess it is my budget build. I may do another thread on the subject with costs.

Anyway, what is your experience with "used" models?

[Clothar]

I really like to use used model because it is much cheaper and if nothing else works you can always make some Nurgle stuff out of it:-) But I never repaint/rebuild models of my own, because they are somewhat holy for me:-) I rather buy used stuff on ebay an work with this...

[Tetz]

I have only tried to repaint a plastic piece once and it turned out terrible. I'm sure there's a way to do it right but I sure didn't figure it out. Metal on the other hand, no problem.

[trjames]

I enjoy used models. Particularly I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment that I feel when I take a frankly horrible looking model that I picked up somewhere for, say, a quarter, and turning it into something slightly better than average, making it my own.

There's a feeling of accomplishment there that I don't get from out of the blister models.

I also like to collect the old-school Grey Knight terminators, so that colors it a bit.

[colkillgore]

I keep a bits box labeled second chance marines. Most of them are models I either bought or traded for and were a substandard assembly or paint job. I strip the paint and break apart what I can, without ruining the models more and save the parts. Most of them have ended up as Deathguard special weapon troops but a few have gone to increase unit sizes in my Fleshtearers army and as Deathwatch marines.

I have stripped and repainted several of the models I first painted. I wanted to use them in my current armies and the old paint job was so bad it detracted from the overall army look. I have only done a few this way the rest remain in their original coat and let me know how much my painting skills have progress over the years.

[Teek]

Stripping and repainting is a very valuable tool in the hobby. Models purchased/traded through sites like ebay usually find their way to a pot of purple power before ending up on my table.

I'm actually working on a squad of tankbustas currently, (they will rarely see the table, but I can't resist the fluff) and the majority of the bits I'm using are from a squad I had originally painted over ten years ago. The lads were collecting dust, so they were summarily stripped and chopped back to individual pieces. I look at it as a reincarnation of the unit. That, or I'm just plain superstitious...

[pig of sparta]

I whole heartedly agree with those who said they work on stripped minis. I regularly spot something I painted years ago that I wouldn't mind a second shot at. Just now for example I'm eyeing up my mediocre job on Lucius the Eternal and thinking I could do a lot better now. I do it mainly because money's tight and I love to paint, and to push myself to paint better but can't afford to spend money every month buying new minis so I go and root around in my boxes of minis till I find something I want to give another go.

James

[krispy]

i'm currently repainting my marine chapter, - they were dark angels when i played rogue trader and i had painted them all in mainly chaos black paint which had not been thinned so they looked awful and couldnt be simply painted over, it took me a month or two to get them stripped (they are mostly lead / white metal) but once that was done i had had time to pick a new chapter and get to work on them...

also i feel that the old lead marines have much more character then the new ones so i prefer them, its them that are making up my veteran squads ;)

what im trying to say is that i think its not about saving money for my case - its about pride - i could have just played with them BUT i was not happy with them and now i will be as my painting skills are much better than then (20 year ago)

[chrixter]

Picking up old poorly painted models for next to nothing and then strip&repaint is so much fun! Gives you the chance of fielding that extra army or "weird" troops for a minimal investment. Sure, it may require some extra work comparde with new models and the final result may not be absolute top-notch as fine details in the sculpts may have gone missing - but for bulk troops, "second" army and/or "fun" units - the possibility to field them for a minimal investment in cash makes it a no brainer.

Finally, if I'm to convert I'd rather start with cheap material as it is mentally much easier to "go wild" and experiment if the starting material is cheap old crap rahter than NIB stuff brought at full price.

[Thantoes]

I recycle my units fairly often. Its easy with Fairy Power Spray and it allows me to try new techniques on older models. It has also allowed me to have uniformity across my army as they now all have the same style of paint job / highlighting etc.

Also, as has been mentioned, its fun to breath new life into an old, horrible mini that was picked up off ebay for cheap.

[lomaxxdurang]

90% of my marines were from ebay and were prepainted. I stripped them before I went to Iraq and then when I got back they got painted. I was very careful and very detailed in the stripping and the repaint.
The only downside is that the rhino I got this way looked like it was painted and assembled by a 4 year old with parkinsons and down syndrome. So when I got anal at 3 am one night and decided to cut the model that this ignorant individual poorly assembled apart to put it back together more correctly i sliced open my thumb. So my marines even have my blood with my sweat in them.

[Culial]

I tormented myself long and hard when I first started 40K over what Marine chapter to do.

My Macragge Marines must have been stripped a dozen times!
Decided in the end, and after one last bath in Mr Muscle Kitchen Cleaner (With Lemon scent!) the survivors (read: least Nurgle-looking) now sit on a shadowy corner of the board acting as ablative wounds for a Devastator squad!

[Whitehorn]

I convert every 40k model I own, so old models are part of the deal :)

[Beef Nuggets]

I just went thru my old stuff under my bed at my old home.

I have so much stuff I want to repaint or start painting!

Necromunda Gangers and Nagash even!

[Edge]

Never really tried it before, but I'm currently stripping some guitar weilding noise marines, Necromunda gangers and genestealer hybrids for a re-paint. They've been in my parents attic for over a decade, and I think they need some lovin'.

[zed]

Never throw old figures out, there are always bits that you'll want for other projects. I have a box of marines that I have slowly collected off ebay etc that are poorly built and/or painted. I'm just waiting for the planets to align and I'll clean them up and respray as a blood angels company.

[trenchfoot]

I had an entirely recycled Iron Warriors army a few years ago....with enough bits it possible. Granted, my selection was limited by the extras I had laying around, but it played well enough and didn't cost me a thing...er..beyond the back breaking original cost I payed..

[BrotherAlpharius]

Generally I'm too busy still painting them the first time around as I'm slow and these days I haven't much time. I often go back and partly redo or improve old models but I rarely strip them completely. I am loathe to strip models other people have painted if they're reasonably good, I prefer to keep them as they are. I like the fact that a have little samples of a whole range of painting styles. If I had the moeny I'd love to get a big display room like the one at Warhammer World and gradually build up a collection of miniatures from loads of different painters.

[asmodai650]

I've done this several times now as well! My biggest problem is cleaning off all of the stuff that was on the bases!!!