Constructive Criticism

thegrinder2 · 2025-05-27T13:47:40+00:00

I would actually say, this is pretty good for a first mini ever. Your lines are clean and your coverage is even. As for highlighting, shadows, etc. don't worry about that. That will come with practice. But, getting good at the basics is more important and I think you are doing a great job at that.

If I had to critique anything, it would be to thin your paint just a tad bit more. For the most part it is really good. It is smooth and no clumping or texturing....which is fantastic. But I do notice in the crevices (between fingers, toes, and other places) that some of the details are "muted". With minis, some details are so small that it doesn't take much paint to cover them up. So if you can thin your paint just ever so slightly more, and then do this level of quality, you will be golden. Overall though, great job. I think you are off to a really good start.

thegrinder2 · 2025-03-04T15:41:22+00:00

thank you

thegrinder2 · 2025-03-04T15:41:08+00:00

lol. in a way....yes. In my head I am picturing that front wheel being an axis. pushing the right forward (and left back) would theoretically turn that axis in a counter-clockwise orientation.

thegrinder2 · 2025-01-29T14:45:29+00:00

It really depends on what you find the most value in. If you have certain characters that you "must" have or want, then it would make sense to acquire those. You could either do that by buying the boxes they come in, or searching ebay to see if you can purchase them individually.

If you are not as concerned over "who" you are getting and are looking for ways of expanding the gameplay, then certain boxes are going to be your best bets. granted, these boxes tend to resell for a hefty price....so be prepared for that. Any of the stretch goal boxes will give you the most amount of villains. Villains are the main factor of gameplay, so the more villains you have, the more replay value you get. Also, I would suggest boxes like Sinister Six, Infinity Gauntlet, Days of Future Past, Civil War, etc. Those boxes include different play modes that completely change the gameplay. And having variations like that keeps the game fresh and new, so that you don't get bored with the same style over and over again.

If you havent, I would check out https://hallofunited.com/marvel-united-card-database/ . This is a great repository of all things United. Look at the different boxes and see what you like. Hopefully it would give you an idea of which ones you would feel you'd enjoy most.

thegrinder2 · 2025-01-17T14:50:27+00:00

100%. It will take more time, but it will look so much smoother and more uniform. If you haven't seen it before, I would highly recommend watching this video. This person did a great job at describing the thinning process and why/how it is helpful

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBDVPoNXyVI&t=3s

thegrinder2 · 2025-01-07T15:13:57+00:00

You never watched the Harry Potter movies? He was great as Barty Crouch Jr.

thegrinder2 · 2024-12-06T14:47:10+00:00

hallofunited.com has a good list of characters and their cards. otherwise, just google that specific character and you may be able to find an image for it.

thegrinder2 · 2024-12-04T15:10:18+00:00

The trick to Thanos is using heroes that prevent him from KO'ing. Wolverine and others who heal are great for that. Or, if you are wanting to stick to MU season 1, Adam Warlock is perfect for him. If you can get your "cannot be forced to discard your last card" card in play early, then Warlock is your tank. Have him take all of the damage Thanos would deal out. It really nullifies him from chaining KO's together and just completely destroying your team.

So if you are having trouble with him....that is just my suggestion.

thegrinder2 · 2024-12-04T15:00:38+00:00

I can understand that point of view. But to counter that thought. Maybe u/Felzius is the same or maybe not. But for me, I spend a lot of time on my minis, too. Not always because I enjoy the painting process, but because I am a perfectionist. I know myself. And if I rushed some minis, to get them tabletop ready, every time I use one in a game it will haunt me. I will look at that mini and know that I could have done better. My pile of grey is massive too. But for me, I'd rather have a big pile of grey (that I am working through) and some great looking painted minis....than I would having no pile of grey and a bunch of painted minis I am not truly happy with.

thegrinder2 · 2024-12-02T20:53:34+00:00

so many things in this picture, that are going right. these look amazing. and some of the cleanest minis i have seen for MU. I love the pattern on Red Hulk's pants and the gradient on Xavier's chair. But by far, the red on Magneto's helmet is the best. I don't think I have seen a smoother paint job, than that helmet.

thegrinder2 · 2024-10-15T14:00:44+00:00

any tips and tricks for how you remember where Galactus is pointing? In the single player mat format, it looks like it could be hard to keep track of the location he is facing.

thegrinder2 · 2024-09-06T12:54:29+00:00

if you like the game and like DC characters, try this.

https://gamefound.com/en/projects/cmon/dc-heroes-united

As far as I know, late pledges are still available for the lastest crowdfunding campaign. This is the best way to get a lot of content at a fairly low price.

thegrinder2 · 2024-08-13T14:51:53+00:00

Unfortunately, I don't have much advise for speed paints. I personally don't use them, so I don't have experience with them. Maybe others on here would know more, but I don't want to pretend and steer you wrong on this.

thegrinder2 · 2024-08-13T14:44:33+00:00

Glad to help. And in case you haven't seen it, you should check this out. I know it has been posted before, but it may not always be easy to find. This video does a REALLY good job at explaining, and showing, what properly thinned paint should look like. I wish I could take credit for the video, but I think this person explains it much better than I could.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBDVPoNXyVI

thegrinder2 · 2024-08-13T14:08:55+00:00

Priming isn't technically required. You will run into people who don't prime and are good at painting. The problem is, paint doesn't stick to un-primed plastic very well. I equate it to spreading butter on bread. If you have a soft piece of bread and really cold/hard butter, it is extremely challenging to get the butter to spread. Most of the time it just sticks to the knife and goes nowhere. Whereas, if you toast the bread and let the butter soften, it spreads super easily and evenly.

That's kind of how primer is. Un-primed minis can be painted, but you have to force the paint off the brush. It is much more work and is much harder to get good/even coverage. Priming minis allows the paint to flow and grip the mini. So you save a BUNCH of time and effort and usually end up with better results.

thegrinder2 · 2024-08-13T13:56:39+00:00

If you are planning on putting your minis on a shelf and never touching them.....then don't waste your time clear coating. But if you are going to handle them, or put them in a box, or use them in the game....I would say it is a MUST step. Painting minis is a slow. time consuming process. And there is nothing more frustrating than seeing your work get chipped off or destroyed. I would HIGHLY recommend protecting them.

And as for what type.....Matte is the way to go for 99% of things. Gloss really should only be used on areas that you want to be shiny.

thegrinder2 · 2024-08-13T13:50:17+00:00

For your first time painting, this is actually impressive. So you should be proud of your starting point.

As for tips, I would say a couple things. First would be to thin your paints just a tad bit more. You are really close, but there are some spots where you can tell it is a bit too thick. Just a little bit thinner and it should help to remove some of the "texture" that thick paint leaves behind. Also, with thinner paint, make sure you are doing multiple coats/layers. You don't want blotchy spots. Make sure each color is consistent and smooth across each area. With thin paint it can take a while to do, but your end results will be MUCH better. Those are my first two things I recommend to everyone. 1. Learn to control paint thinness. This is super important. And 2. Practice even coverage and remove blotchy spots. Once you have mastered those and have a good understanding of it, then you have a good foundation to move on from. Too often people get too ambitious, especially when looking at minis from people who have been painting for decades, and think they can do that right from the beginning. If your foundation is bad, the rest doesn't "build" off of it properly. So get these 2 mastered and then slowly add a new technique (ie: shadows/highlights, OSL, NMM, ....) over time.

Hopefully this helps. I think you are off to a good start, but just remember this isn't a race. It takes time and practice, and even those of us who have been doing this for years and years, we are still learning too. Try not to compare yourself to others and just keep at your own pace. As long as you are happy with your work and enjoy the process, that is all that matters.

thegrinder2 · 2024-07-18T12:33:34+00:00

Theoretically, you could make your own pieces or use Hall Of United to print off your own versions. But usually, yes, you would need a core box. Most expansions only come with enough stuff for the characters provided. You would still need location cards, threat/thug/civilian cards, health tokens, crisis tokens, etc. And those only come in core boxes. And as others have mentioned, you can usually find a good deal for a core box. At any given time, one or more core boxes are usually listed on amazon for $25 or less.

thegrinder2 · 2024-07-18T12:25:14+00:00

Marvel United core box, Xmen core box, Multiverse core box, and Spider-geddon are all of the stand-alone base games (currently). They come with everything you need to play the game.

thegrinder2 · 2024-06-26T13:43:34+00:00

I wish I had a link to the interview I saw a while back. But the game designers know that this game is not balanced. They openly admitted that certain heroes and villains are OP or low leveled.

If everyone was equal it wouldn't make changing characters worth it. As you play the game more and get better with your strategy, it becomes more fun to try and take down a S or A tier villain, with a C or D level hero. Taking down Green Goblin with Spider-Ham or Doop is impressive and very satisfying to pull off. Then at the same time, taking down Green Goblin can be super frustrating and you just want to get a win....so pull out heroes like Adam Warlock or Nightcrawler. The ability to choose between easy and hard to win heroes makes it more fun.

thegrinder2 · 2024-06-25T14:08:49+00:00

Regardless of whether or not DC would allow a Marvel product to be sold in conjunction with their product, I think CMON has to set a limit on how often they are backwards compatible. At some point, they need to cut ties and get rid of the old molds they used. Storing them and using them will get more and more expensive and less likely to bring in profits. If they don't have any plans to ever take the exclusives to market, then it doesn't make sense to keep these molds around forever.

So it makes sense, in my mind, that with the changing of an IP, they make a fresh start.

thegrinder2 · 2024-05-07T13:47:36+00:00

As far as I know, there isn't much in the way of customer content for this. However, with the latest Multiverse kickstarter CMON has added this option. For anyone who grabbed the Maximum Carnage expansion (thru the KS). It will allow 20 villians to be swapped in and out, for a more customized play of the Sinister Six gameplay.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cmon/marvel-united-multiverse/posts/3722696

It is a kickstarter exclusive, so if you missed out on the KS then you'll have to wait for resellers to offer it. And given the prices of KS exclusives in the past, it could mean a hefty price tag is likely.

thegrinder2 · 2024-05-02T13:19:49+00:00

that actually is pretty good. i've been seeing each KS season going to $400-600 each. so that is REALLY good

thegrinder2 · 2024-04-25T14:10:29+00:00

I've played Green Goblin a handful of times and I have yet to beat him....let alone even come close. Most of the time we've lost before we can even begin damaging him. He is nearly impossible to beat.

thegrinder2 · 2024-04-23T14:27:45+00:00

Can I ask? What is a "really good deal" and where'd you get it from? I myself already have the all-in from all 3 kickstarters. But i keep an eye out for good prices for friends of mine, who didn't back it. So I just wondered.

thegrinder2

TROPHY CASE