Infinity is a great game, filled with tense moments, difficult decisions and lots of surprises. Kind of like assembling their miniatures. Haha!
Seriously though, no matter what game you play, it's about the figs am I right? We all love seeing painted models, all the new sculpts that come out and whether you paint them or not, you love seeing them kick ass on the tabletop.
So a couple points about Infinity models.
- They are incredibly detailed and dynamically posed.
- Man, are they fun to paint.
- They are few single piece models - most infinity models require assembly AND have lots of little fiddly bits.
- They are all white metal. So you'd better learn how to clean and prep a metal figure.
- On the plus side, there are new releases every month!
Being all white metal is a bit of problem, in my opinion. To do it right, you need to have the skills to clean, prep and assemble a metal model. Then once painted, you need to know how to successfully seal your models so that the paint doesn't chip. This kind of makes Infinity difficult for a beginning modeller to get into. Plastic minis of other games are much better for beginners, but as we'll find when we get into the rules, Infinity in general isn't a game for beginning wargamers.
Below is a box of Haramaki. Let's use it as an example of what I am talking about.
And now this is what they look like assembled. Awesome, right? Space samurai! What's not to like?
And this is what they look like before assembly. See all those fiddly bits...each model has 6 pieces. Craziness!
Now, don't get me wrong. I love the models. LOVE THEM. No other miniature producer offers this kind of style and design. It's one of the few games out that feature true anime-style sci fi...most other games have some strange mix of fantasy and sci-fi, but me, I just want my futuristic mechs and special ops units. So I openly embrace the challenge of assembling all these fiddly bits because I want to see them complete and looking colorful while they plug the enemy with combi-rifle bullets.
Let's look at their scale. They claim to be 28mm figures, like 40k. The difference is, they are proportioned accurately to real life. This means they often end up looking smallish next to 40k figures. Infinity figs have heroic poses but they are not really heroic scale. See the comparison below. 
Both chaps wear power armor and are the elites of their race. The bloke on the left is a Space Marine from GW...the bloke on the right is a Yu Jing Hac Tao, a walking tank that can go invisible. He strikes from the shadows like a ninja but can take hits like a fully armored Samurai. He's a beast. (off track here a bit).
Next up is a shot of my Yu Jing collection. Because it's a skirmish level game, I have a small group to paint and thus I can spend time to paint each model individually. Not only that but they all act independently on the board, so I am not concerned with the entire collection being 100% color coordinated. This allows me some space to learn and grow as a painter as I paint figs for my Yu Jing Special Ops group.
Let's finish with a couple of tips.
- Before assembly, clean your figs of all mold lines using a file and some fine sand paper.
- Do a dry fit.
- Then wash them off with some rubbing alcohol and let them dry.
- Assembly without handling them too much.
- Prime them with real primer (if you're going to use army painter color sprays, still prime first).
- Attach you model to a paint pot to avoid handling the fig too much during painting.
- Paint.
- Once finished, put down a couple thin layers of Testor's DullCoat.
Most importantly, enjoy your painting no matter what game you play!
