Pathfinder Paint Set Preview

The Pathfinder role-playing game and Reaper Miniatures have teamed up to bring out a new set of paint colours based on Golarion, the Pathfinder game setting world. Reaper was kind enough to send me the set, and I wanted to share some information about it to help others decide whether they’d like to add this to their arsenal of paints.

I will be posting some swatches I made of the paint colours in a few days, which will hopefully help you judge the colours a little better than online digital swatches do. (We need to finish up a few home renovations before I have access to my scanner and photo station to be able to scan the swatches.) But in the meantime, here’s a preview of the cases, the colour selection, and what the paints look like in the bottles.

There are 56 new colours in total, divided into two boxed sets of 28 colours each.

This is also one of the first products to be sold in Reaper’s new box set packaging. The new boxes have more of a squared off design than the previous Reaper cases. They appear to be completely plastic, including the hinges, but everything feels thick and sturdy. All of my old style cases are currently packed away because of the home renovations, so unfortunately I don’t have any comparison pictures between the old and new cases.

Check out that cool logo relief on the bottom front of the cases. 

I know you’re probably eager to see more about the paints, but there are a couple of other new elements that affect all Reaper products sold in box set cases that are worth pointing out.

Note the zip tie fastener sealing the handle closed.

When you buy a new-from-the-factory Reaper product in a case, whether you buy it directly from Reaper, or from an online retailer, or from a brick and mortar store, the handle will be fastened closed with a zip tie like the one shown in the picture above. If your boxed product is not closed with a zip tie, particularly if it is in the old style case, it may be from older stock that a seller has on hand. I used to work in a game store, and depending on local gamer tastes and initial stocking levels, products can sit on a shelf a lot longer than you might imagine. While I very much advocate supporting one’s local game store, I now prefer to purchase paints directly from the manufacturer when possible to ensure I’m getting as fresh of a product as possible. If you receive a box without a zip tie fastener, particularly if it is this new style box, it could also be a returned/pre-owned product that should have been sold as such. 

There is a card inside with helpful instructions on what to do if there is an issue with your product.

When you cut off the zip tie, don’t toss it away immediately. First have a look through your product to ensure that everything that should be included is inside. If it isn’t, Reaper will be happy to make it right! There should be a card inside your box set that will tell help you get your issue sorted out. One piece of information you will need as part of that process is the colour of your box’s zip tie. Reaper is happy to resolve issues with non-box sets, too. If you get a blistered mini with two left arms and no right or any other kind of issue, send an email to help@reapermini.com. Do NOT include pictures of the issue. If they need a picture of anything, they’ll let you know.

Enough about boxes, let’s explore the awesome new paint colours! These are all new colours created specifically for this set. There are 56 colours total in the Colors of Golarion paint collection. For those who don’t play Pathfinder, Golarion is the world that the game is set in. The names for the colours are based on nations, deities, and iconic monsters and characters from that world. The colours were selected by Pathfinder creators at Paizo, so they truly reflect Paizo’s vision of their world.

The back of the box and paint swatches for the first half of the Pathfinder paint set.

Set #1 includes pinks, reds, oranges, yellows, greens, and blues, and a couple of neutral colours.

Pathfinder creators selected the hue of the colours, but Reaper’s paint maven Anne Foerster, created and mixed the actual paint formulations for each of those colours. She used the same kinds of ingredients and approach as she did when creating the Reaper Bones Ultra colours, which she has said represents the pinnacle (so far!) of her years of paint creation experience. Both the Bones and Pathfinder paints are designed to cover in just one or two coats, dry matte, and be durable for gaming use. The colours intermix well with each other and other Reaper paints, and should work well with most other acrylic paint brands. (There are a couple of paint lines out there in both the art and hobby worlds with additives that don’t play well with other paints, but the vast majority of acrylic paints successfully intermix with other acrylic paints.)

Of particular note is the new metallic paint formulation in the Bones and Pathfinder sets. New materials have become available since the Master Series Paint line metallics were formulated, and Anne has incorporated these into the Bones and Pathfinder sets for shinier metallics. She’s mixed some pretty cool metal colours with them, too, in both the Bones Ultra and Pathfinder paint lines.

Paint swatches on the back of the box for the second half of the Pathfinder paint set.

Set #2 includes a few more blues and pinks, several purples, skin tones, neutrals (including grey, black, and white), and a number of metallics.

If you don’t need to see swatches to know you’d like to get your hands on this paint, these box sets will be available starting September 3, 2019, with a MSRP of $99.99 for each set. The paints will also be sold individually, though I don’t know if they will go on sale on the same date. Individual bottles have an MSRP of $3.99. Note that this is higher than Reaper’s Master Series or Bones Ultra paints, due to the cost of licensing with Pathfinder. Single bottles of MSP and Bones Ultra paints are MSRP of $3.69. You should be able to ask your local Reaper stockist to order these in for you, or get them direct from Reaper Miniatures online store.

NOTE: I received these products from the manufacturer at no charge to myself. (Unless you count the cost of the sweat of my brush over all these years. ;->) This isn’t exactly a review, though I do primarily use and love Reaper paints, and I am excited to have these new colours to add to my repertoire.