Why You Should ALWAYS Paint Your Scout Mechs (and How I Did Mine)

[@JasonSkye]

The KZbin algorithm did good work in recommending your video, as you did making it in the first place. It's hard to make painting videos entertaining and you knocked it out of the park with this!

[@anselmoffrisia2930]

Hey, I enjoy your podcast! Keep it up!

[@MechanicalFrog]

Great paint job and entertaining video. Keep up the great work!

[@Blackgriffonphoenixg]

It's our favorite lil croaker!!! Stay awesome and moist!

[@MagnusMoerkoereJohannesen]

_FINALLY_ someone who includes the orange part of the process! You're never going to get a good mini if you skip the orange.

[@ruebenglab4939]

Don’t even know how this popped up for me? But the humour kept me watching. Easy sub.

[@grinningidiot]

Alternate to using toothbrush bristles, old guitar strings work well. If you play guitar or have a friend who plays you essentially get them for free every so often, thin strings work well for antenna and thicker strings make good shielded hoses. But the big thing is the thin ones can still be sturdy enough to press directly into the soft plastic of these models with a pair of needle nose pliers without having to lose your mind with a tiny bit in a pin vice first.

[@Talondel]

Good stuff! That's a really sharp looking scheme for being as simple as it is.

[@SickFigsMinis]

Thanks chief

[@HouseDavieMerc]

Good video. Back in the day one of the guys that wound up in CSO told us he used old guitar strings for antennae. (the small ones) They're not only durable but the pin-prick anybody that wants to just grab it and teaches them a lesson! If you go to a music store you can often just get a few years worth that are thrown in the garbage.

[@rickfastly2671]

What is CSO

[@HouseDavieMerc]

@@rickfastly2671 Camospecs Online. An official site showing the paint schemes of various units in Battletech. They have lots of pro painted mini pics and tips for painting.

[@rickfastly2671]

@@HouseDavieMerc also what games have battle tech mechs, I heard sboug mechanics warrior.

[@Hotshot0225]

new mercenaries box is gonna have a flea in it! same with the pile of shame bit... got a laundry basket full

[@Simon-Jester]

same

[@armondphilmon]

If you get some hot tap water and place mini in there for a while, it makes cutting the mech apart much easier.

[@hunterlord101]

Your editing style and humor are absolutely god tier and im subbing I eagerly await any new content even though it seems like its been months

[@SickFigsMinis]

big thank

[@gideongallant1185]

I love your personality in this video and your showcase and process were great

[@corrinald2971]

This video is delightful. Very entertaining and I love how your mechs turned out!

[@kris220b]

i basically only use 3 brushes for any mini bigger one for basecoating a medium for basically every detail and highlight a tiny one for singular dots on lenses and such

[@SickFigsMinis]

Yeah, this really needs to be stressed for some new people who I see buying like 10 low quality brushes when they could pay the same for 2 good ones. I only use 2 for almost all miniatures, and they're both the same, just one for metallics and one for regular paints as to not cross contaminate particulates.

[@kris220b]

@@SickFigsMinis my main brush is a standard sized army painter brush It has This uncanny abbility to have its tip be remade from just wetting it

[@raccrow]

As someone who started painting minis a few weeks ago, wow does this make me feel inadequate.

[@jdschauss]

Just stay with it. Mine are by no means what you'd call professional quality, but if you were to look at my first ones and look at two years later, you'd be amazed at the difference. You'll be a pro in no time. Try new things, and have fun with it!

[@SickFigsMinis]

I'm making a video right now for the new people like yourself that may have some useful tips especially for battletech. I've painted for two years and probably 100+ models with hundreds of dollars of equipment. Don't ever feel bad for being at a different level than someone else, the only person you can compare yourself to is you, and how good you were yesterday.

[@danmorgan3685]

I think you could have used a sharp pin to create a pilot hole to hold your bristles in place. I use loctite superglue gel which will produce a droplet which will help support the bristle.

[@SickFigsMinis]

I have never used loctite before but this is the second time this week I've heard of it. I'll look into it, thanks chief

[@danmorgan3685]

@@SickFigsMinis What I use is called Loctite Super Glue Gel Control. It's rather thick which has its good and bad points. I actually have several types of glue for various tasks.

[@rompcat7585]

Thanks for the fun and the great vid! Kept me up and was an unexpected pleasure!!!

[@JustiniusBuilds]

Stretched sprue for antenna would work. Also theres super micro gauge wire out there too

[@FluffyTheGryphon]

Oh thank god. More Battletech painters. Subbed!

[@madcat3525]

Great video. Will you be adding decals to your mechs? Looking forward to more videos.

[@SickFigsMinis]

Hi thanks. It's hard to source decals to the scale or theme of Battletech but I have been looking into printing my own on decal sheets, which presents its own challenges. I hope to make a video on that in the coming year.

[@madcat3525]

@ try Aries Games and Miniatures or fortress miniatures and games. Both sale decals for Battletech miniatures.

[@kris220b]

if you want antennas that dont bend or flex use needles, with a good pair of wire cutters, you can snip off both ends, its thin enough to be an antenna, and stiff enough not to bend when your friends poke it needles are also thick enough that you can make a hole sized for it, so easier to glue i also use needles for replacing MGs on mechs like the battlemaster

[@anselmoffrisia2930]

Great, entertaining tutorial. Light mechs need more love, so thanks for that!

[@1killer911]

I mean, scout mechs don't take any less time than assaults in battletech. the scaling means that the smallest and largest mechs are still comparable sizewise.

[@thymekuhn8387]

Ah so good to see someone on youtube putting paint on Battle mechs!

[@starsiegeplayer]

Suggest you try a razor saw for cutting the arms off instead of hobby knife.

[@SickFigsMinis]

Others have told me this as well, I'm probably going to invest in an exacto saw or some equivalent now.

[@WrenTheWreckless]

​@@SickFigsMinis Dipping the joint you want to cut through in hot water will soften it up to slice through with a model blade very easily too.

[@voxsdungeon]

Ah really capturing the abstruse nature of the hobby. Nice :)

[@kris220b]

you can also use watered down woodglue to keep flaky texture paint in place

[@dustandcobwebs]

Please make more videos

[@SickFigsMinis]

aiight bet

[@daniel_f4050]

Back in the days of original BattleTech and metal models I always used to camouflage my Mechs. At what point did that fall out of favor? Ral Partha’s metal models (at least the ones based on Japanese anime) had excellent sharp corners while the Catalyst models seem to be a little… mushy. With the metal it was really easy to do differing width line camo color patterns and then dry brush weathering. As I’ve just ordered my first Mechs in 20+ years we’ll see how it goes with plastic.

[@SickFigsMinis]

Catalyst's designers and sculpters have a way of beveling every single edge on a miniature for one reason or another, if I had to guess it makes molding easier and also gives their models a distinct feel from something like warhammer. As someone who tries to replicate these designs in CAD software I can tell you it's a pain.

[@spraynardkruger9903]

Hey Sick Snipes, do you plan on only doing Battle Tech figs or figs from other titles as well? Thanks and I really enjoy your content.

[@SickFigsMinis]

Probably going to check out some other wargame miniatures such as the big Warhammer franchise's modelling kits soon, as well as potentially some other games.

[@spraynardkruger9903]

@@SickFigsMinis Very cool! Spectre has some pretty interesting stuff too.

[@jostonpowell1346]

I don't even play Battletech but do 40k, gotta sub anyways cause of your humor and edits

[@justinrenfroe2544]

Great video! loved the paint scheme......I need to buy more BattleTech

[@Executioner9000]

humorous and instructive!

[@friendlyneighbourhoodnerd]

No idea how this showed up in my recommended but hey, great painting, funny and engaging. You're making me wanna get into Battletech... the wallet screams.

[@SickFigsMinis]

do it, no balls. I'm working on a guide for people like you who might want to get into battletech for as little as possible.

[@friendlyneighbourhoodnerd]

@@SickFigsMinis oh god no, not another wargaming period/franchise/whatever! the choice paralysis is real - pro tip, do not get into historicals. all jokes aside, can't wait to see it :D I saw it'd been a month since the last upload and I got scared.

[@SickFigsMinis]

@@friendlyneighbourhoodnerd no I've just been doing irl stuff and it's been a mess. You can't stop me from getting into bolt action tho sry

[@Joe_Smo]

So, you hear the voices too? Mine usually says "buy more, must have more, don't need it but still got to have it, you'll use it someday." and my wallet cries "NNNOOOOOOOoooooo!" and my pile of shame is the ultimate winner. Nice job on a very cohesive scheme and paint.

[@sstinger0137]

Dream light mech is definitely a Jenner, aaaaaand I see you've already painted one. Nice.

[@SickFigsMinis]

Yeah, most 35 tonners are a lot better than most people would lend them credence. I would prefer the Panther myself as it has better armor and doesn't struggle with as much heat management issues as the Jenner does. Both unfortunately have to contend with ammunition explosions which I'm not big on, especially for something as small as an SRM 4.

[@Shadygit]

The Decker flash earned a guffaw and a sub

[@gearshiv]

For the antenna on the wasp you just poke a hole with a needle or pen and stick the bristle in

[@kris220b]

nice paintjob on that commando

[@jchan8539]

Toothbrush bristles? Arg makes so much sense.. I did my antennas with paper clips! Toothbrush bristles would have looked better. Thanks for that tip.

[@AlexDenton0451]

I may or may not run a Firestarter with only Flamers. Because yeah it's not BV efficient for damage, but also funny forcing your Marauder to skip it's next turn. Also war crimes. All of them.

[@SickFigsMinis]

alternatively just turn an awesome into an 80 ton walking hunk of sadness

[@christiancook6742]

But what is the locust is my favorite mech? 😅

[@sputnik128]

We use Steel Legion Drab for the 40k base rims, actually. Nice video!

[@Fireproofjeans]

Is there a reason you did the details after the gloss and wash? Honestly curious, I do my detail work before I apply the wash, with my reasoning being that I want the wash to look consistent between base colour and details (haven't used clear coats yet but probably should start) I didn't really consider just... applying the wash again lol. Seems obvious in hindsight

[@SickFigsMinis]

I don't always do the details after a wash, it varies with the scheme. A lot of the time one detail is going to either have a different color that doesn't work with the wash for the base coat, or else i just want it to look clean and fresh, as in this instance. I also find that for many of my models the wash pretty much makes or breaks the scheme, and I don't want to have invested another 2+ hours in detailing when I could find out whether it will likely look good much sooner. Hope this helps, that was an excellent question.

[@RevanBartus]

If you like the video, like the video. Damn, he's up to something.

[@problemdog9876]

You’re hilarious. Subbed.

[@Couchpatator]

Brother, have you considered super glue accelerant. The spray probably causes cancer but gluing those antennae will glue on SO much better.

[@easterbenny]

Probably old news but an oxidizer for gluing the antenna would make it a snap.

[@fremandn]

You haven't found benefit to using primer? I usually paint abs plastic and primer helps tremendously with adhesion and texture

[@EdmondHiggins]

I painted not 1 but 4 scout mechs because of this video. Well... 3 scout mechs and a Panther. Also you have a clipper/nibber, why saw with craft knife?

[@SickFigsMinis]

Good, that means the point of this video is successful and that's all I can ask. Did you paint them comstar like your profile picture? I don't use clippers as this is injection molded PVC which is very durable and prone to flexing much mor like a dense rubber than plastic, something like a clipper would likely mar the model or else take excess material/warp the surface around the target area. Hope this helps.

[@EdmondHiggins]

@@SickFigsMinis I painted them as generic alpine camouflage. I haven't really cut up the CGL plastics, though they do seem soft/dense so that tracks.

[@boneshaman8912]

I honestly wish they would come to us like 40k miniatures. On sprues with different weapons for different variations. I know the lame reason why they come together. I would honestly say the starter box set should come in 1 piece. But even they could be designed as a quick snap together glue later model.

[@SickFigsMinis]

They do sell """premium""" miniatures with interchangeable arms and pose-able accessories however they're like ~12 dollars a figure and tbh I agree, I just want a sprue of guys. The issue is almost certainly sprue casting is one of if not the single most expensive manufacturing methods so with a market as small as Battletech it's not necessarily scalable, that's probably why.

[@Dylster501]

One of these light mechs is not like the others 2:00

[@jacobzumbrennen3205]

Bug mechs for the win!

[@nought3060]

The best Light Mech is Obviously the Jenner. You either live to be the hero, or don't care what people think, since you're dead.

[@alfagamingnl1815]

This video was incredibly fun to watch and quite educational to in terms of painting.

[@kris220b]

> the only heavies you will ever need *proceeds to mention a heavy with big issues on coolant, armor and ammo* that and ACs are just kinda crap on tabletop, battletech by Harebrained Schemes, did balistic weapons way better upped the damage of AC2 trough 20, gave machineguns increased crit chance actually made them worth the tonnage meanwhile in the teableytop an AC5 weighs 8 tons, 9 tons with ammo, but does the same damage as a 1 ton laser and AC2 is 6 tons, 7 tons with ammo, but does the same damage as a 0,5 ton machinegun, 1 ton with ammo yes you gain a lot of range with AC2 and 5, but just use LRM or gauss or PPC then

[@SickFigsMinis]

I didn't say I was here to win chief, I'm hear to look good

[@kris220b]

@@SickFigsMinis the best reason

[@dustinramirez1476]

Yes, I always paint my Atlas.

[@punishedfink]

Tooth brush? Nah man guitar strings. I personally just use twist ties ive stripped and pulled straight. Manly because i have those on hand the most. Also might want to get some smaller drills. I was able to drill into the antenna mounts and put wite there.

[@SafetyBriefer]

You call that a pile of shame? [Laughs in Warhammer 40,000]

[@SickFigsMinis]

I am not proud to say I have the entire Imperium Magazine miniature lineup (roughly 3000 points of necrons and various imperium factions) completely unopened in my room right now, among other things. I like battletech because honestly it's much easier to tackle projects when an army is like 4 guys.

[@ten-xlegacy9432]

Bro the part where you cut towards your finger made me physically cringe backwards in my seat in horror, and then the edit came in and dampened the tension, letting me know that you were also cringing about it XD Be safer dangit! You've got good production quality so far though, I'll have to check out your other stuff

[@entropy11]

4:00 bro just get a razor saw blade PLEASE

[@PatGilliland]

use a razor saw not a blade - much easier Great videos btw

[@SickFigsMinis]

Yeah I've been looking at getting an exacto saw for a minute now. Good looking out.

[@darranhirose8153]

DEKKER NOOO

[@bman-jy3gh]

omg gimme dat LMAO!

[@gambitraven]

Gime tht locust 2x 2 srm streaks

[@micahskirvin]

the voices in my head are copying your monotone voice

[@SickFigsMinis]

that means you're becoming self aware, join the collective

[@ItsBasil]

orang

[@SickFigsMinis]

orang