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Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut






I'm curious about how people feel about buying old painted miniatures, stripping them, and repainting them. This is a personal question; there aren't any right or wrong answers.

Ours is a curious hobby. A lot of us work very hard to craft and paint things that very few people besides ourselves, if any, will fully appreciate. If you want to take up a craft where your effort is almost guaranteed to be ignored or undervalued, I'm hard pressed to think of a better one than miniature painting. There are no museums for this stuff. You could die with over 1,000 extremely well painted, painstakingly collected, and impeccably preserved miniatures in your collection, and the reality is that even if those minis get redistributed within the gaming community, your authorship is likely to be completely forgotten, and a lot of your work, probably most of it, will end up neglected, scratched, and damaged.

When I buy someone's old painted miniature and strip the paint off of it, I'm basically destroying a piece of their personal history, erasing a mark they left on the world. That doesn't stop me from doing it - it's hard to avoid if you're after old, out-of-print metal miniatures - but I have a simple ethics I follow:

1. I'm happiest stripping the paint off of a badly painted miniature. The less care and effort the previous owner invested in the mini, the easier it is for me to strip it and start over.

2. If a miniature is reasonably but not exceptionally well painted, I might consider stripping it if it's scratched up / chipping.

3. If a miniature is very well painted, never mind pro-painted, I can't strip it and usually won't buy it in the first place. (I'm primarily interested in becoming a better painter myself, so having a lot of great paint jobs done by other people, beyond a handful of example pieces to study and learn from, doesn't appeal to me.) The thought of erasing all the previous owner's hard work on and personal history with the mini, especially considering all the work and thought I'm putting in to my own stuff, just saddens me.

How about you?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2023/06/01 13:40:43


Dakkadakka: Bringing wargamers together, one smile at a time.™ 
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka




NE Ohio, USA

There are no ethics involved.

If the current paint job on a mini doesn't suit me for whatever reason, then I'll repaint it.
The reason I rarely buy & repaint well painted stuff who's paint schemes I dislike is purely financial. Those pieces tend to cost more. Why spend more $ when I can get a poorly painted copy for less?
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






Nothing wrong with strip and recycle. Nor is there anything wrong in buying a nicely painted piece and then not fiddling with it - or indeed adding some finishing touches.

   
Made in us
Perfect Shot Dark Angels Predator Pilot





New York

I’ve stripped and repainted my own models. “Damn you dirty unethical dog!” I reproached myself. A beer or two later, and everything was sorted.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Serious answer: unless the paint job has some historical importance (first space marine ever painted by ‘Eavy Metal in fire engine red or something), do what you want with it. I’ve stripped all but 1 painted model I’ve bought second hand. Done touch ups or slight changes on a few more. Most were stripped with extreme prejudice.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2023/06/01 14:34:09


 
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

If they are being sold off, then the original owner is no longer in a position to worry about it. You should not either.


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Made in gb
Preparing the Invasion of Terra






I just tore apart and rebuilt my Black Reach Sergeant (one of the first models I ever got) to turn him into a Heavy Support Iron Hand. It's not even the Sergeant for the unit.
I hold almost nothing sacred about turning older miniatures into useful ones.
   
Made in ca
Damsel of the Lady





drinking tea in the snow

I sold a lot of my miniatures, and my feeling is that I want the people who bought them to repaint them and make them their own.

realism is a lie
 
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut




 Easy E wrote:
If they are being sold off, then the original owner is no longer in a position to worry about it. You should not either.




^^^^ this, if it is not important enough for the current owner to keep its not important enough for me to worry about
   
Made in fi
Buttons Should Be Brass, Not Gold!






Its just stuff

If the piece was really important to someone, why are they selling it? It's not like these miniatures are sculpted by the people who are selling em off second hand. The vast majority of miniature paint jobs I see on ebay for example are nothing more than "colouring book tier" diddles. Do what thou will with them. The "art level" pieces are so insanely priced I doubt anyone buys them just as playing pieces anyway, I'd think those do get just placed in display cabinets or something.. if they even get sold at all (I have no proof they are)

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2023/06/01 15:38:46


 
   
Made in us
Brigadier General






Chicago

No real ethics at play here. Once it's sold, it's yours to do with as you please. If something is truely a phenomenal paint job it's price will usually help ensure it's preservation. In fact, there is a nice upside as folks who are willing to strip and repaint minis keep a significant number of minis from being thrown out.

I have stripped and either repainted or sold several hundred minis over the years at. In almost all cases the paintwork is so weak that I feel stripping it is an improvement.

I'm not entirely without sentiment though. If a miniature is painted well and I decide not to sell it in that state I will sometimes add it to my collection as-is. I'm appreciative not having to paint these figures myself. In my other hobby of Model railroading I've got some nice cars that are custom decaled or modified by unknown hobbyists. I like owing these but the only figures (or model trains) that are not my work that I feel especially protective of are those done by my friends. Those are some of my prize hobby possessions.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2023/06/01 16:52:31


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Made in gb
Malicious Mandrake




What Eilif said. I bought it: it’s mine. Now I HAVE bought a miniature or three that’s a good enough paint job for me to simply use it, bought I doubt if I have retained the seller details so the history is lost anyway.
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





I'm not sure anyone has ever argued against repainting old minis in any capacity. Might be a little rule if someone painted it for you as a gift maybe? Otherwise though?
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





Riverside, CA USA

Usually no, there's no reason to think there's anything ethically wrong with repainting. Only time it would be an issue is if you know the person, then I'd double-check that they were OK selling it knowing it would be repainted.

Bought a fully painted Space Wolf army from a coworker back in 4th ed. Used them as-is a few times and felt really uncomfortable when I got compliments for his paintjobs, so I asked if he was OK with me doing touch ups and repaints so it felt like my army. He could not have cared any less, said they were all mine at that point. I still felt better about asking first. He'd rushed the army to completion for a tournament, so the paint was too thick and there were a LOT mold lines, "a few highlights" turned into stripping most of them completely. They were a completely different army by the time I finished, but he had a huge smile when he realized I was still using his same Wolf Priest on bike conversion underneath the new paint.

Similarly, I had Salamanders throughout 3rd and 4th ed as my main tournament army, painted in a unique green and tan schemerather than the normal green & black. Sold them in 5th ed to a guy that used em for a while and then resold them. Lost my job, left the hobby for a while, changed cities, changed cities back. Popped into a game shop like 8 years later in another part of the state and saw somebody I'd never met before playing with my old Land Speeder Tornado and Predator Annihilator. Same paintjobs, same basing, completely unchanged. Tickled me pink seeing it still being actively used after all that time. Wouldn't have cared if it'd been stripped and repainted, it hadn't been mine for over a decade at that point, but it was fun knowing my old models are still out there laying down firepower somewhere

~Kalamadea (aka ember)
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Made in us
Legendary Master of the Chapter





SoCal

I’ll take the counterpoint. This is nothing less than erasure. Ancient Mesopotamian kings would destroy or deface their rivals’ inscriptions in order to obliterate the memory of their existence; by stripping these miniatures you are condemning the souls of these hobbyists to oblivion.

   
Made in ca
Damsel of the Lady





drinking tea in the snow

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
I’ll take the counterpoint. This is nothing less than erasure. Ancient Mesopotamian kings would destroy or deface their rivals’ inscriptions in order to obliterate the memory of their existence; by stripping these miniatures you are condemning the souls of these hobbyists to oblivion.


Wait, so since I sold off a lot of my miniatures and they've probably been repainted, does hat mean I've lost part of my soul?

Dang.

realism is a lie
 
   
Made in us
Incorporating Wet-Blending






(: Thought you were referring to those old awfully painted WizKids Mage Knight miniatures, some of which have good sculpts underneath them.

No problems repainting, although if I do buy someone else's painted miniature, if its good enough for tabletop, I don't bother.

Oh, and we all knows you only lose part of your soul when you have your photo taken, particularly with a phone.

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Made in us
Brigadier General






Chicago

 amazingturtles wrote:
 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
I’ll take the counterpoint. This is nothing less than erasure. Ancient Mesopotamian kings would destroy or deface their rivals’ inscriptions in order to obliterate the memory of their existence; by stripping these miniatures you are condemning the souls of these hobbyists to oblivion.


Wait, so since I sold off a lot of my miniatures and they've probably been repainted, does hat mean I've lost part of my soul?

Dang.

Yes.

You can even figure how much. If we can assume Mesopotamian beliefs about soul and body weren't quite as dualistic as our popular platonic suppositions, you can determine the percentage of soul lost by comparing the weight of miniatures repainted to your body weight at the time they were painted. There are of course some unknowns but you can probably estimate your remaining soul to within a margin of error of +/-15%.

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My Project Log, mostly revolving around custom "Toybashed" terrain.
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Made in us
Fixture of Dakka




NE Ohio, USA

 Eilif wrote:
 amazingturtles wrote:
 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
I’ll take the counterpoint. This is nothing less than erasure. Ancient Mesopotamian kings would destroy or deface their rivals’ inscriptions in order to obliterate the memory of their existence; by stripping these miniatures you are condemning the souls of these hobbyists to oblivion.


Wait, so since I sold off a lot of my miniatures and they've probably been repainted, does hat mean I've lost part of my soul?

Dang.

Yes.

You can even figure how much. If we can assume Mesopotamian beliefs about soul and body weren't quite as dualistic as our popular platonic suppositions, you can determine the percentage of soul lost by comparing the weight of miniatures repainted to your body weight at the time they were painted. There are of course some unknowns but you can probably estimate your remaining soul to within a margin of error of +/-15%.


1) But I have no way of knowing how many of the painted minis I've sold off over the years have been repainted.
2) Whatever damage to my soul was done by someone repainting any of my stuff? It's surely been countered by the weight I've gained since.... I've likely got more soul today than I did when I last sold anything.
   
Made in au
Owns Whole Set of Skullz Techpriests






Versteckt in den Schatten deines Geistes.

If you're purchasing previous Golden Daemon winning entries for the express purpose of destroying them then there might be an ethical concern there.

But buying a painted model and just stripping it to paint it how you want? I can't see anything wrong with that unless, as part of the sale, you entered into some form of contract that forbade you from doing so.

Industrial Insanity - My Terrain Blog
"GW really needs to understand 'Less is more' when it comes to AoS." - Wha-Mu-077

 
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





Generally I'm looking for bargains when buying used/painted stuff. I've never received anything painted particularly high quality to worry about.

And the stuff that IS that well painted generally goes for way more than I'm willing to pay.

CHAOS! PANIC! DISORDER!
My job here is done. 
   
Made in gb
Been Around the Block





This reminds me of the discussions surrounding Jake and Dinos Chapman in 2001. The two artists bought a complete folio of Goya prints from the 1820s, then painted moustaches and handpuppets onto what some consider the most moving art of the era. The reworked series has been seen variously as an evil and meaningless desecration by vandals, and as the ultimate homage to Goya's masterpiece, a fitting extension of his despair
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut






 Eilif wrote:
 amazingturtles wrote:
 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
I’ll take the counterpoint. This is nothing less than erasure. Ancient Mesopotamian kings would destroy or deface their rivals’ inscriptions in order to obliterate the memory of their existence; by stripping these miniatures you are condemning the souls of these hobbyists to oblivion.


Wait, so since I sold off a lot of my miniatures and they've probably been repainted, does hat mean I've lost part of my soul?

Dang.

Yes.

You can even figure how much. If we can assume Mesopotamian beliefs about soul and body weren't quite as dualistic as our popular platonic suppositions, you can determine the percentage of soul lost by comparing the weight of miniatures repainted to your body weight at the time they were painted. There are of course some unknowns but you can probably estimate your remaining soul to within a margin of error of +/-15%.

The metal Dreadnoughts and Great Unclean One I got off ebay seem like an even better deal now...
   
Made in us
Brigadier General






Chicago

ccs wrote:
 Eilif wrote:
 amazingturtles wrote:
 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
I’ll take the counterpoint. This is nothing less than erasure. Ancient Mesopotamian kings would destroy or deface their rivals’ inscriptions in order to obliterate the memory of their existence; by stripping these miniatures you are condemning the souls of these hobbyists to oblivion.


Wait, so since I sold off a lot of my miniatures and they've probably been repainted, does hat mean I've lost part of my soul?

Dang.

Yes.

You can even figure how much. If we can assume Mesopotamian beliefs about soul and body weren't quite as dualistic as our popular platonic suppositions, you can determine the percentage of soul lost by comparing the weight of miniatures repainted to your body weight at the time they were painted. There are of course some unknowns but you can probably estimate your remaining soul to within a margin of error of +/-15%.


1) But I have no way of knowing how many of the painted minis I've sold off over the years have been repainted.
2) Whatever damage to my soul was done by someone repainting any of my stuff? It's surely been countered by the weight I've gained since.... I've likely got more soul today than I did when I last sold anything.


1) No one said the gods were fair. You should have been more careful with your essential essence.

2) A common misconception. Your soul tie to the miniature is imparted at the moment the last layer of paint dries. This is also why we don't recommend that children paint too many miniatures before they reach the age of accountability. Additionally, theologians are divided over the effect of varnish on the impartation.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 Lord Damocles wrote:
 Eilif wrote:
 amazingturtles wrote:
 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
I’ll take the counterpoint. This is nothing less than erasure. Ancient Mesopotamian kings would destroy or deface their rivals’ inscriptions in order to obliterate the memory of their existence; by stripping these miniatures you are condemning the souls of these hobbyists to oblivion.


Wait, so since I sold off a lot of my miniatures and they've probably been repainted, does hat mean I've lost part of my soul?

Dang.

Yes.

You can even figure how much. If we can assume Mesopotamian beliefs about soul and body weren't quite as dualistic as our popular platonic suppositions, you can determine the percentage of soul lost by comparing the weight of miniatures repainted to your body weight at the time they were painted. There are of course some unknowns but you can probably estimate your remaining soul to within a margin of error of +/-15%.

The metal Dreadnoughts and Great Unclean One I got off ebay seem like an even better deal now...


Metal miniatures are the road to hell as far as soul damage upon repainting. Plastic is a much safer medium. This helps to explain why older hobbyists who have not retained the miniatures of their youth sometimes seem soul-less.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2023/06/02 10:35:40


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http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/651712.page

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Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut



London

Never do it. You have other models to paint. Work on the grey/lead pile first before going back and redoing models.
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

The_Real_Chris wrote:
Never do it. You have other models to paint. Work on the grey/lead pile first before going back and redoing models.



^^^^ This man is wise in the ways of the Pile of Shame.



If you purposely find a Golden Demon model, buy it, and then strip it; you are actually adding to the value of the model. If you want to be certain of adding to the value though, melt it down and recast it into a completely different form. Maybe a phone stand?

Any serious art dealer can tell you this.

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Made in us
Keeper of the Flame





Monticello, IN

...


Ethics?!?!?!


I wouldn't leave minis prepainted unless it was a ready-made faction that I had no intention of expanding, so to avoid color matching.

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 CthuluIsSpy wrote:
Its AoS, it doesn't have to make sense.
 
   
Made in us
Brigadier General






Chicago

The_Real_Chris wrote:
Never do it. You have other models to paint. Work on the grey/lead pile first before going back and redoing models.

I don't think the OP is talking about repainting their own work.

Rather, buying used models they don't already own (presumably to save money) that happen to already have paint on then.

Chicago Skirmish Wargames club. Join us for some friendly, casual gaming in the Windy City.
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My Project Log, mostly revolving around custom "Toybashed" terrain.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/651712.page

Visit the Chicago Valley Railroad!
https://chicagovalleyrailroad.blogspot.com 
   
Made in us
Blackclad Wayfarer





Philadelphia

I've never thought of this. Does this truly gnaw away at people and bother them?


   
Made in pl
Longtime Dakkanaut




I never strip models. I paint over previous layers, mine or former owner's.
   
Made in fi
Locked in the Tower of Amareo





If seller doesn't want you to repaint he can put it as part of terms in sales.

Frankly i doubt seller cares. Unless it's inside same group he won't even see models again

2024 painted/bought: 109/109 
   
 
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