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(Title says it all, but the forum insists that I must put some text here.)

Personally I don't buy painted 2nd hand models really. I've had a few wind up in my collection through various means, but either they sit on display or get repainted.

If the paint scheme or style is different, it throws off the whole vibe for me personally, and more importantly, I like my models to be built and painted to my own personal taste.

I play unique armies with no common paint scheme, but even if I didn't, no I would not play with 2nd hand models pre-painted unless they were gifted to me and fit very well into my army.

If I had the money would I mind owning a full commission army? Maaaaybe? But beyond that no, I strip metals down (my entire Eldar army is from recovered eBay models), and I would never pay extra money for someone else's paintjob. I paint to a decent tabletop standard and quickly.

Now, if a buddy of mine (I have a couple who paint well), knew my scheme and painted up a character for my army? Absolutely. I've done so for some other players just for fun.

If they looked better than my own and were in the same shade of red I wouldnt mind at all using second hand models without stripping them. But it is unlikely I would come across such models so I dont even bother.

If I were playing chaos and didnt have any nurgle and could find them at my standard for cheap it would work. Or maybe undeads in fantasy. Most everything else I wouldnt buy since I want all my power armor to be the same style for my loyalist marines, even more important than actual color.

For souping though I dont mind at all. Got loyal 32 from a friend and I borrow tanks, mortars and assassins from time to time. Would probably buy some second hand guard that were painted if I couldnt borrow so much at my club

I will use second hand stuff thats painted or partially painted. Until it come up in my queue. Then it gets painted to match the rest of my stuff.

None of those options seem to fit... I've used painted, 2nd hand minis in the past, but usually just when I've need some extra models for a game.

Depends on the army. My marine army it wouldn't work because they are all my custom chapter color scheme and I don't want something that would throw it off unless it was something like a white apothecary, red techmarine. blue librarian etc. My Orks however are a collection of a whole bunch of color schemes from before they had clan bonuses and I liked the idea of a mixed clan army. Now I just run them all as a mono clan for no confusion and as such i'd welcome just about any good looking paint job into the army.

Just bought some Samm-hein Eldar to match the 2E collection I already own.

I also have some Leviathan schemed Tyranid minis I bought, only to discover most of the older minis I thought were just primed had been painted as Behemoth. I haven’t used them, but haven’t gotten rid of them, and wouldn’t be opposed to using them with my other minis if I needed to field a force that big.

My option isn't in the poll either. I'll buy second hand minis when appropriate, but only if unpainted, or painted cleanly (no chunky paint jobs). Then I paint over them to match my scheme

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For me painting is so much of hobby i want to paint my models so i strip regardless of quality. Albeit don't get chance to strip models that are noticably better than mine as then seller likely asks money for paint job for which i would be silly to pay.

Were i just in for games then paint conld stay.

I like painting and I really can't be faffed with stripping things so I just don't buy pre painted things. Second hand is fine though. Especially if it's got the Death Jester problem where it's a right pain to assemble.

 insaniak wrote:
None of those options seem to fit... I've used painted, 2nd hand minis in the past, but usually just when I've need some extra models for a game.

Sorry about that, I almost included that option... and ended up including an option that is getting no votes. :/


For my part, I'm in the camp of those who don't buy painted models. I want my army to look cohesive, not only in terms of color scheme but also painting skill. In addition, to me, painting my army is about "taking ownership" of it, by making it uniquely mine. When I lay out my models on the table, I want to be able to say: "This is my baby. All the effort that brought it into being is mine alone, from sprue to table. It may not be the best-painted army in the world, but there is no other exactly like it." Models painted by someone else would never truly feel like mine, and I would feel like an impostor whenever I field them (especially if they're painted by someone better than me).

To each their own, of course.

.

This was a really difficult poll.

Typically, I make a point of not buying second hand models that have good paint jobs on them. I just feel too bad stripping off a good paint job, even if it's not mine.

Mediocre to bad paint jobs? Strip. Clean. Repaint.

You might want to be clear on a few things there OP.

I will HAPPILY buy painted models if they are cheap enough.
I will strip the paint off of every one of them and possibly tear them apart to rebuild.

So you could say, I will not pay for the paintjob.

I still laugh/shudder to the words "pro-painted"....

Yep - I have thousands of models painted by quite a few different people and from ebay.

I'd rather field painted models and I have not the time, inclination or talent to do much of my own - I can do basics but ruing an expensive model is not something I enjoy doing.

Absolutely. I have entire armies painted by others/previously owned.

99% of the time the determination as to wether or not I'll use something painted by others as-is is "Do I like the paint job?"
See, I CAN paint. I just don't like to paint. So if I can skip that step by finding models already finished to my liking, or I can commission the job?

The other 1%? I'm not adverse to helping out the high school/college kids at the local shop. I've got a vast backlog of unpainted stuff. 40k, WHFB, WWII tanks, D&D monsters, historical stuff....
So I'll hire the job out to younger/poorer/more cash starved gamers for a few $s/mini. I'll paint up the 1st model in the squad & they paint the rest to (reasonably) match. A small dent is made in my backlog, they make some extra cash, they typically spend that $ in the shop resulting in more games/gamers.
I've gotten many a squad of goblins/skeletons/basic Imperial Guard troopers/guants/Necron warriors/etc finished this way over the years.
And if I find someone who's better than the others? I'll increase my rate & feed them more/more complex units.
* I'm not farming out things that demand high degrees of skill. Or that are worth very much if they go missing.
** Sometimes, even though it's hard to botch the types of stuff I'm getting painted this way, the painter turns out to be not very good - but honestly trying their best (my buddies daughter for ex). If that turns out to be the case I'll thank the, pay them, not provide them any more minis,& use the models as long as they're around. Later on they'll get stripped & recycled to a future novice.

If I'm just looking to add models cheaply I've no qualms about picking up poorly painted stuff & stripping/re-painting it.

I would buy painted metals on occasion, and strip them if i can get a realy good price. Most commonly because they are OOP as their equivalent is in finecast.

I would repaint them. I find stripping models over rated though. I just paint another layer
Most second hand models are barely painted anyways

Gitdakka wrote:
I would repaint them. I find stripping models over rated though. I just paint another layer
Most second hand models are barely painted anyways

Agreed. Unless the paint is stupidly thick I don't think it's worth the hassle of stripping.

That said, I've stopped buying second hand models. Building is one of my favourite parts of the hobby, and I've realised that although I might save a bit of money I'm cheating myself out of a fun activity! And usually on eBay they not as well assembled as I would like.

Well, I'm willing to buy second-hand minis that are painted, with the caveat that I'm not going to pay more for them if they're already painted because I'm going to strip them and repaint them. I've done this with some of my sisters; I got them horribly painted, and stripped them and repainted them.

I've also received an entire army with many of it's units already painted, when my friend who played space wolves decided he wanted out of the hobby. I haven't repainted them and play with them just fine... because I was the one who originally painted them for a couple of bucks a unit.

Seems like most people are on the same page. The vast majority of painted miniatures which are purchased are going to be stripped, broken down and cannibalized or restored. This is why, unless you paint to a solid Tabletop level, your painted miniatures are not "worth" more to any buyer.

I spent a few years selling cars after college, and it reminds me of people trading in cars with tacky, garbage add-ons, stickers, cheap replacement parts, etc. They'd insist it was "custom" and they'd "improved it", and I always had to explain to them we were going to have to strip off all that garbage and repair/repaint/fix the car to even resell it. If you haven't properly built up/modified the car you're actually reducing its value instead of increasing it.

The same holds for miniatures. If you don't paint to a solid standard, your painted miniatures are less valuable than buying a box of new models. You've actually "added" work the buyer is going to have to do to use them to their satisfaction. I have a hard time explaining that to some of the people whose stuff I sell on eBay for them (I do a lot of commission eBay sales).

As a buyer of models I would agree that 2nd hand models sell best if:

they are unpainted or
they are painted really well.

*Hypothetically* I would use models painted by other people, as my standards are pretty low for game pieces... but I almost always strip and repaint.

My Orks have a variety of paint styles anyway, so the odd figures painted by others do not stand out. Once they are based, it is usually all good. As they are RT vintage, most of them have come second hand, and I'll finish off paint jobs, or strip & re-paint as required.

There’s a nice video recently by LukesAPS about buying used painted armies and treating the paint as a base coat. IE you’re a good painter, and if you buy a low-end tabletop ready army you can treat the assembly and base coating as having been done already, put on some highlights and washes, and then it will be an actually good looking army so you can get to the business of playing but with good looking miniatures.

https://youtu.be/hKSzWMPuWa4

If I buy 2nd user mini's they get stripped regardless.

For example I got the 2nd ed death company from Polish Ebay, they were painted not very well and in yucky enamels, they then got stripped and repainted

The same with the pre-primed squads you sometimes find, they are often primed with a craft spray that is completely the wrong colour which is usually too bright or misted on do the seller knows you aren't cheating them. They know your going to strip them down and possibly disassemble.

Generally I don't buy painted models unless they're OOP metal - I don't even want plastic models that somebody else has assembled, let alone painted. Metals are easy to strip without worrying about damaging the material, and if it's a multi-part model, the glue joins fall apart just as much as the paint does in acetone.

I didn't vote because I see it as my army and I would prefer to build and paint everything myself, and I have already stripped 80+ marines and repainted them. I hate stripping so I'd rather buy new

That being said I would buy a commissioned army if the price was fair and on par or better quality.

No, I'm not buying painted models.
Moreover, I only play painted models nothing else.

 Stux wrote:

Gitdakka wrote:
I would repaint them. I find stripping models over rated though. I just paint another layer
Most second hand models are barely painted anyways

Agreed. Unless the paint is stupidly thick I don't think it's worth the hassle of stripping.

That said, I've stopped buying second hand models. Building is one of my favourite parts of the hobby, and I've realised that although I might save a bit of money I'm cheating myself out of a fun activity! And usually on eBay they not as well assembled as I would like.

Well couple minute soak and bit of scrupping isn't muck of hassle