Bear Cavalry Paint Review — Sustainable and Amazing

In the hobby world, there are tons of big name producers out there for miniatures, paints, tools, and all of the other ephemera we surround ourselves with. However, because of the nature of wargaming, roleplaying, and the gaming industry in general, there is a strong independent DIY spirit that still flows today despite tariffs, shipping, shelf space, cost of conventions and other economic factors.

Go to any convention and you’ll see folks who sculpt and print their own models, hand craft painting handles, make brushes, develop paints, all trying to get a piece of the pie. And the truly industrious find unique gaps to fill (bad hobbying pun).

In this review for Bear Cavalry paints and their 8 Shell Paint Mag, I want to highlight the independent side of hobbying by also highlighting the model I painted by Victoria Miniatures, and the handle I used by Happy Oni Plinth Co.

Let’s dig in. 

Bear Cavalry Paints

When I first saw Bear Cavalry Paints at Adepticon this year, I grinned at their usage of ammo canisters to sell their paints, but I didn’t have a chance to try their paints. After a few months, we contacted Dan, who talked up the difference of Bear Cavalry and it comes from their deep love of nature and the pacific northwest. They use bottles that are recyclable and biodegradable, with packaging made from recycled paper and mushroom fiber, and paint created with minimal environmental impact. In our review of their Trench Crusade Basing Box, we found out their basing material is made with coffee grounds. Excellent texture and aroma!

Color cartridge

Carry your starter set of Bear Cavalry ammunition around in style! Chuck it in your backpack for your next hobby night with buddies, or just keep it on your desk to remind yourself to attack your Pile of Potential. No throwaway packaging here. Just pure awesomeness.Available in olive green, or custom colors upon reques

Bear Cavalry PaintsBear Cavalry Paints

I was sent the 8 Shell Paint Mag, which contains all of the primaries and a secondary. For those who aren’t into the color wheel, those are Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Violet, Orange, and then Black & White, which control brightness vs. hue.

The packaging is pretty fun. A 3D “Shell Mag” perfectly holds the paint, which can fit conveniently into any bag. I will say that it will only hold their paints, and while I’m normally against these kinds of products, when I get into the quality of the paint, I absolutely love the portability of this set.

The labeling for the paint is top notch. Similar to Army Painter, they list a fun branded name (like Ultimate Cup of Coffee, Green Hell, Neptune’s Fury), but on the back of the bottle they list the actual name of the paint, so Phthalo Blue, Phthalo Green, Jet Black. They also list the color codes of what each paint contains, so for you paint nerds out there, you can really dig in. The bottles themselves are highly unique as well, and as of this review, I had no clogging issues, but if there was a clog, a needle would certainly help unclog the bottle.

Getting into the coverage of the paint, let’s go to our model. I chose one I got at Adepticon a few years ago, by Victoria Miniatures.

Victoria Miniatures

Based in Adelade, Australia, Victoria Lamb, a legend in the hobby industry (first female hobbyist in the world to win the Slayer Sword), sculpts the majority of the models, and for the last 3 years, I have been lucky enough to get a model in my bag from Adepticon. For this project, I chose this Necromunda/Cyberpunk themed ganger, who has an axe in one hand and a cybernetic hand holding a bolter in the other. I find all of Victoria’s models to be fun to paint and assemble. Tons of options, bits, and even artillery and vehicles! 

Victoria Miniatures by Victoria Lamb

Fantasy gaming miniatures for gamers and collectors cast in fine detail resin ready to assemble and paint in the colors of your army regiment

Victoria MiniaturesVictoria Lamb

I challenged myself to only use the paints included in the 8 Shell Mag, which meant I couldn’t lean on flexible triads. I had to mix it all myself. Paint mixing is a fun hobby to be honest. Putting together Violet and Green to achieve Purple, adding Yellow to achieve Brown, and mixing in varying levels of White or Black…there is a peacefulness to building colors yourself, and you start to realize that maybe you don’t need so much  paint in your life.

Coverage of Bear Cavalry paints rivals most of my collection. Yellow, like all yellows, still required some mix-ins in order to achieve good coverage, but their paint flows extremely well in my wet palette. I barely had to use my go-to flow improver, Golden High Flow.

As I worked through the miniature, I thought about the effort that went into the model and the story that would come from it. I imagined this warrior as a gun for hire, constantly in search of replacement armor, gun parts, and her trusty axe, which despite some wear and tear, can always be used to rip into an Orc.

The paint thins down nicely into a wash. I used Orange to make a basic rust wash, which I slathered on the areas of the axe where rust would accumulate. Purple became a wash tone for the backside of the model to add some color depth to the cape and boots. Black became a basic oily wash for the gun, the metallic arm, and under the utility belt.

By using blue and a mixture of yellow/white, I was able to produce cool metal tones for the armor, gun, and arm, but I wanted the axe to stand out, so a basic black and white with minimal yellow made for a warm metallic tone.

I admit my skintone was a little more red than I wanted, but who’s paying attention to skincare in the grim dark future?

While painting this model, I reminded myself to take breaks, and my handle from the Happy Oni Plinth Company kept my hand feeling great.

Happy Oni Plinth Company

Award winning painter Brandon Ryan started and ended a small company this year selling plinths, handles, and eventually a beautiful model depicting a cat, their owner, and some boba tea. Like other folks with 3D printers, Brandon had a vision, and it was handles and plinths that anyone could use. I picked up one of his handles at Adepticon and its round shape is very comfortable to hold. The platform that a model sits on is removable and movable, so it moves along with your hand, making for a pleasant painting experience. I was able to easily maneuver the side of the model I was painting with just my finger and thumb, and since buying this handle, I’ve used it consistently on projects, and it has become my default handle of choice. 

Working through the model, I wanted to keep everything interesting but keep my highlights mainly focused on the front, the “hero” side of the model. Once again, Bear Cavalry paints worked so well, wet blending was effortless, the coverage was better than I expected, and dry time between layers was minimal. 

The consistency of these paints really surprised me. With a lot of paints, you find that some blends are thicker than others, some tones need some extra love, water, etc. With each bottle, I found they all poured the same, loaded up the brush the same, and came off the brush the same. Overall, this has been a fantastic experience, and I believe Bear Cavalry’s paints deserve some high recognition.

Overall

The independent scene has some incredible people and products and deserves to thrive. While we love our big IP and companies that produce it, there is a lot to see and appreciate in the indie scene. Bear Cavalry is a perfect example of this. A company that produces great products and tweaks it in a way that stands out among the others through their bottle design, focus on environmental impact, and the high quality of their paint products.