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Renaissance Ink
Sometime ago a package from a somewhat new company called Renaissance Ink arrived on my doorstep. They asked me to review their line of paints, Flocking Gels®, and bases. I was very happy at what they have to offer. Let's start with the best stuff first:
Renaissance Ink Flocking Gels™
In my opinion, the best stuff this company has to offer are their line of flocking gels®. They are acrylic gels with different grades of sand or texture added to them. They have four different grades: Extra fine (Water), Fine (Dirt/Sand), Medium (Rough), and Coarse(Rocky). The Medium and Coarse have the best normal uses for texturing ground work. The Fine doesn't have any texture, but it holds it's shape well. Its suppose to be a smooth dirt texture, but I think it would have a better use for sculpting water or liquids and then painting over the gel. The Extra Fine is thin and cannot be sculpted into shapes, but it dries clear and would work well for making small pools of water.
The drying time is a bit longer than I'm use too, about 2 hours, but once it dries its on permanently. You don't have to worry about the texture coming off when your painting. The picture above is a quick job I did on some bases to show the different grades of texture.
Those of you who visit my page often know that I always recommend Basetex® for groundwork, but since I've tried this stuff, I think I'm going to be switching to Renaissance Ink flocking gels®.
Renaissance Ink Acrylic Paints
Along with the flocking gels, RI also make a line of professional quality acrylic paints. These paints are much thicker than regular hobby paints you might be use to. I find that they are very smooth and finely ground. They do dry a bit glossy, so applying a dullcoat spray when your done will be necessary.
Many of you maybe turned off by the thickness of the paint. It does take some getting use too. Though the thickness does allow for more subtle blending, they may obscure some of the detail on 25mm - 28mm miniatures unless you know what you are doing. They should work well for larger scale models, such as 1/8 or 1/6 scale resin and vinyl models. I do recommend these paints, just not to everyone and not for every project.
The only thing a cannot recommend are their metallic paints. They are very coarse (as most acrylic metallics are) for my tastes. I'll stick with my Polly Scale metallics.
Bases
Renaissance Ink also makes a line of war gaming bases. They have a wide variety available and they are willing to do custom job usually at no additional cost. Their current line of bases are made from either sheet metal, wood, plastic, or masonite.
I really like their thick masonite bases with the beveled edges. Unpainted with a coat of varnish, they should make ideal bases for special characters so they stand out a bit more. You can even get the bases with magnets on the bottom if you like.
The other bases they offer are not as nice, but are still useful. At $4.75 for fifteen 25mm x 25mm bases, you can't beat the price. You can also get sheet metal or sheet magnet so you can cut your own bases. With a choice of wood, plastic, masonite, or metal, and sizes from 20mm square to 80mm square plus hex and round bases, and they can do custom sizes if necessary. What more could you ask for?
Update - 12/4/98 - Two products of Renaissance Ink were left out when this review was originally posted. These were their Sheet Magnet and Paper Steel™.
The sheet magnet is a 8"x11" magnetic sheet a with sticky backing for use as bases or tray liners. It can be cut easily with scissors or a knife.
The paper steel® it the more interesting product. Its two sheets of paper with a core of powdered steel. In other words, its a piece of paper that magnets can stick to! For you guys out there carrying heavy metal toolboxes, listen up! You can now use lighter plastic cases and glue the Paper Steel® to the bottom. Paper Steel® is available exclusively in the US from Renaissance Ink.
If your interested in any of these products, you can write or email Renaissance Ink at:
335 Torrance Avenue
Vestal, New York 13850
Email: JWIRTH4702@aol.com