I've been playing this wonderful game since it was released and will attempt to repaint my second HWK-290 when it arrives from MM. Its been quite a number of years since I've painted a miniature and from the old miniatures I found in storage, I wasn't too bad.

I've been reading various posts and watching youtube clips on how people have removed the paint and I'm a bit apprehensive to read that the mini's have been damaged by some of the methods used.

It got me thinking, would you purchase unpainted ships if FFG made them available?

It would certainly speed up the manufacturing process.

I wouldn't as I sadly no longer have the time to spend on painting the entire fleet, to a standard I'd be happy with.

I wouldn't as I sadly no longer have the time to spend on painting the entire fleet, to a standard I'd be happy with.

Oh I'm not suggesting that I would want to paint a whole fleet, the quality of the current paints is good. But I do want my second HWK-290 to look different and wouldn't mind some of my A-Wings to be green, as I love the Green Squadron Pilot with PTL.

To say I stink at painting would be an understatement of such monumental proportions that anyone who speaks what I've just typed will create a black hole that will destroy the galaxy.

Part of the appeal of this game is that I don't have to paint.

However, I know many in the community like to personalize their models so I think FFG should do both. Painted for those of us who either don't have the time or the skill, and unpainted for those who like to do their own thing.

Paint over the factory paintjob, waaaaay easier.

This is a good question. Would I take the time to paint at the place I am at in life with the demands of owning a house and getting ready for my first kid, having a wife with a disability also my hand is not as steady as it was in the past, I have been bumping ships when I move then, so I would say, no I would not. Is this a great option though, yes very much so. Would it be attractive to have ships a bit cheaper that were unpainted, it might. (9.99) though a question is would a retail store like barns and nobles carry unpainted ships?

I don't think I'd do it - they are easy enough to paint over! Plenty of my friends also arn't painters, and love the outstanding out of the box quality!

My HWK:

Hope this helps!

I honestly don't think there's much of a market for this, coming from someone who's repainted most of his ships already. First off, the actual cost save to FFG is minimal. The base color of the ships is the color of the plastic, so that means for the X wing, they paint two red stripes, 4 red Ls, a cockpit, and a wash. I'm willing to bet that they have a decent template to overlay, otherwise there wouldn't be the same around of repeatability. So you're really talking about a few minutes of chinese labor to paint, and a very small amount of actual materials. This likely doesn't add up to more than $1/ship.

So this would mean that they'd likely to MSRP'd at 13.50 and sell on MM for 9.00. However, now you have twice as much inventory for stores to hold, which means most stores wouldn't actually carry them in stock (I know my FLGS has 4' of shelving already devoted to XWM, and it just keeps eating up more and more space, it's VERY full right now, I have no clue what they're going to do once the transport hits).

Plus, now there's twice the number of SKUs to manage, which costs $$ too. So, basically, there isn't a financial leg to stand on for FFG to do this.

That said, I'd be very hard pressed to decide to buy unpainted models over painted ones. While I enjoy painting them, I've been playing for a year now, and have only gotten around to painting: 4 X wings (2 of which were redone because they sucked... so I only have 2 painted atm) 2 Y wings (one needs to be repainted, and a 3rd is primed for my next paint job) 2 A wings, and 2 B wings. I like the ability to purchase them all painted, and then when I come across some time (which seems to average out to one a month) I can sit down and paint a ship at my leisure.

That said, if FFG wanted to offer a booster pack or something that had 2 of each ship unpainted for a discounted price, I would be interested in that.

I think if they offered it as a print on demand deal they could do it. That way even with small demand they aren't really stuck with a thousand unpainted tie advances or whatever.

I think if they offered it as a print on demand deal they could do it. That way even with small demand they aren't really stuck with a thousand unpainted tie advances or whatever.

Agreed!

I've been playing this wonderful game since it was released and will attempt to repaint my second HWK-290 when it arrives from MM. Its been quite a number of years since I've painted a miniature and from the old miniatures I found in storage, I wasn't too bad.

I've been reading various posts and watching youtube clips on how people have removed the paint and I'm a bit apprehensive to read that the mini's have been damaged by some of the methods used.

It got me thinking, would you purchase unpainted ships if FFG made them available?

It would certainly speed up the manufacturing process.

To really understand if it's worth it to FFG to send out unpainted minis, we would first need to know how much the painting them cost during manufacturing. I suspect there's not a lot of savings there to attract people to the unpainted ones vs the painted ones.

I don't think I'd do it - they are easy enough to paint over! Plenty of my friends also arn't painters, and love the outstanding out of the box quality!

My HWK:

Hope this helps!

Thanks Rhinoviru3, nice repaint but its the brown I want to change on the HWK-290.

I agree with the print on demand. My motivation is not about cost, in fact I think I would buy an unpainted booster at the current price.

I guess I'm still mentally scarred from my youth watching a friend try strip a plastic GW Dark Elf miniature in turps and watching it melt. I would be dismayed if I melted one of these fine mini's.

It got me thinking, would you purchase unpainted ships if FFG made them available?

Nope! Not a chance.

One of the reasons I got into this game is that they are pre-painted. And done well and with good detail.

I don't think I'd do it - they are easy enough to paint over! Plenty of my friends also arn't painters, and love the outstanding out of the box quality!

My HWK:

Hope this helps!

Thanks Rhinoviru3, nice repaint but its the brown I want to change on the HWK-290.

Yeah, I was thinking white. Like the X-Wings, Z-95's and Tantive IV.

EDIT: I meant to replace the brown. Rest of the colours would stay the same.

Paint right over the factory job.

My Hwk:

we would first need to know how much the painting them cost during manufacturing.

On top of that is the cost in a new packaging line. They'd have to put them in some sort of packaging that made it clear that these were unfinished ships and not just factory seconds or something.

Is there a market? I'd say 'yes' but it is contingent on all kinds of things many of which could make it unfeasible.

1. How would these unpainted miniatures be sold?

1.1. How would they be packaged?

1.2. What would be included in the package?

1.3. Would they be carried in stores or would you need to order them straight from FFG?

1.4. How would they be stocked and where would they be stored?

2. Would they be legal? -- Answer: Assuming they are identical to other models they would just be a 'repaint' so legality will depend on if you have the cards.

3. How much will they cost?

The answers to #1 will help determine the answer to #3. Unless they are significantly cheaper, I'll say 10% or more, than the painted models I'm not sure if I can could see getting them. With all of the parts that go into question #1 I could see the unpainted models costing the end user as much as the painted ones; any money saved on painting could quickly be lost in all of the other steps needed to see those models.

Now if I could easily pick up some models, preferably with the base and stand in addition to the model, for half of what I could pick up the standard model for I'd consider them. I really doubt FFG would hit that price point without jacking up the price of the full model which would hurt their primary business.

After years of 40K, Dust Warfare, Malifaux, and the like, a huge appeal of this game is the vastly fewer number of models and not having to paint a single one of them. I would be inclined to believe that the painted minis are a HUGE part of why this game is as successful as it is, so I am not sure the market is much more than a very small niche.

Rhinoviru3, I love that HWK. I painted one of mine in a similar color scheme, but yours is so much better.

Oh, and on topic: I agree with folks saying that there wouldn't be much savings (if any), and painting over them is easy enough as it is. No real need for unpainted models.

I wouldn't want unpainted models. It's way too easy to simply strip or paint over the existing models to warrant unpainted ones.

Interesting to see the number of players here that have said they wouldn't want unpainted models, but have repainted theirs anyway.

I wouldn't mind unpainted as all of my other wargaming gear arrived unpainted, so I'm used to it. And with over 4,000 models in my collection that had to be painted, what's a few more? A cheaper price point would make it attractive to me, as we're paying on average NZ$25 per small ship here (which is about US$21.50).

One option that might work would be basic painted models with different waterslide transfers for different markings. For those that can't paint to save themselves, it's an easy option that allows for customising ships really quickly.

That being said, I still love the fact that you can crack open a pack straight onto the gaming table as I absolutely hate players that play with unpainted models in other games.