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money saving tips (exept not getting in the hobby ) what are the best buys outthere

I'm still compiling info for an e-book, I already have lots of info from a couple of forums on many subjects, again, everyone that's helps gets a free copy when I'm done!!

Best money saving tips? Using old sprue to make scenery, trades/online buying of used or new minis and the old detol method for stripping painted minis.

I dont think theres anything else that can save money in warhammer (applies to WHFB as well as 40K) than that.

Both of gloomygrim's suggestions are great another thing (although a bit counter-intuitive) is to get 1 or two really decent paintbrushes. If you get the cheap(ish) GW ones you'll be forking out for replacements every few months.

Ebay is your friend if you have the time to spend looking over it

Never buy a box when you can buy the bitz instead...

Buy second-hand, through such markets as Craigslist, Ebay, and Dakka. It will save you money, you'll have to work a bit to strip stuff, but it's worth it in the end.

Ebay has gotten harder to find deals, however.

i agree but with time looking and only bidding when its going be a great deal they are still there

Also if its a MEQ's then there are always people getting rid of them.

Buy your hobby tools from anywhere but hobby stores. Some examples

Walmart carries flush cutters in their fake floral section, I think I picked up 2 of them for under $10. GW price? $15 each.

Amazon has a really good selection of sculpting tools and diamond files. I picked up a set of 10 files and a set of 20 sculpting tools for a combined price of less than $10, including shipping. GW price? $6.60 for one freaking sculpting tool and $12 for 3 files...

Going to do lots of paint work e.g. terrain? Go to a crafts store, I picked up a 16 fl oz container of brown paint (enough to base my 40K, FoW, AND Napoleonics armies with plenty left over) for $5. I don't even want to think of what it would have cost to use GW or Vallejo paint for the same task. Get your brushes at crafts stores as well, they usually sell some decent detail brushes for $1 a piece.

Another stripping tip for plastics: Using Castrol Super Clean is affordable and the best part is that the stuff can be used over and over again. One jug should be all you ever need to buy.

Obvious but beginners might know: Bitz stores on the internet can save you an arm and a leg if you only need a piece or two for conversion work.

Ebay is a good one, I'd like to add that if you see a model on ebay from a store check and see if they have a non-ebay web store. It's often cheaper to order directly from them then to go through ebay (probably because they don't have to figure in Ebay's cut). In fact, you might want to add a list of reputable webstores to the book.

Proxy stuff you want to try out before you buy it. Why shell out $50+ for a model that you're not sure will work for your army?

purplefood wrote:Never buy a box when you can buy the bitz instead...

Not sure about that one. A lot of box sets have crazy amounts of extra bits that help you skimp in other places. That and buying parts as bitz can often be more expensive than the box if you are not careful. There's a reason there are so many bitz stores... It is profitable.

pretre wrote:

purplefood wrote:Never buy a box when you can buy the bitz instead...

Not sure about that one. A lot of box sets have crazy amounts of extra bits that help you skimp in other places. That and buying parts as bitz can often be more expensive than the box if you are not careful. There's a reason there are so many bitz stores... It is profitable.

Not buying a box but seperatly...
If you're only looking for a few bits from a box just find a site that sells the bitz instead.
Few boxes actually have enough extra bitz to make it worth buying the entire box for.

purplefood wrote:Not buying a box but seperatly...
If you're only looking for a few bits from a box just find a site that sells the bitz instead.
Few boxes actually have enough extra bitz to make it worth buying the entire box for.

I'm not sure what the first sentence means in reference to what we were talking about, but for the second one, well yeah. But I would argue that most plastic sets for GW are chock full of extra bits and bobs that make them well worth getting if you are making a squad of that type.

For example, Loota Box, Flagellants, Nobz, Space Wolf Troops, Ravenwing, etc are all very worth it and if you just buy '5 lootas' from a bitz site, you will miss out on a ton.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
In fact, I would say selling / trading unused bits to other gamers from good sets is a great way to save money.

I have a couple of friends who have picked up ridiculous deals at car-boot sales at the weekend.

So they bought stuff out of the trunk (boot) of some guy's car?

We have those in the US as well. That's called buying stolen goods.

For tanks and some super-heavies, you can buy the individual components off ebay for a fraction of the price of the actual model. I know someone who has 3 Stompas he constructed this way.

I think the US equivilent is a garage or yard sale.

My version was more exciting. I wish we had 40k at yard sales around here.

pretre wrote:

purplefood wrote:Not buying a box but seperatly...
If you're only looking for a few bits from a box just find a site that sells the bitz instead.
Few boxes actually have enough extra bitz to make it worth buying the entire box for.

I'm not sure what the first sentence means in reference to what we were talking about, but for the second one, well yeah. But I would argue that most plastic sets for GW are chock full of extra bits and bobs that make them well worth getting if you are making a squad of that type.

For example, Loota Box, Flagellants, Nobz, Space Wolf Troops, Ravenwing, etc are all very worth it and if you just buy '5 lootas' from a bitz site, you will miss out on a ton.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
In fact, I would say selling / trading unused bits to other gamers from good sets is a great way to save money.

Sorry...
My brain failed on that line...
Few boxes really have enough bits to make it worth buying just for bitz though the ones that do really do...

purplefood wrote:Sorry...
My brain failed on that line...
Few boxes really have enough bits to make it worth buying just for bitz though the ones that do really do...

Ahh... Gotcha.

I'm hoping the recent GK release is a sign of continuing in this direction. From what I've heard, the GK box sets are chock full of bits.

Don't buy from GW, online stores have the exact same stuff cheaper.

Use forums such as this, ebay just be ready to trudge through pages of overpriced 'pro' painted armies, conversions especially for species such as orks in 40k or WHFB (use bits from all armies, they're always looting stuff).

Also, if ever missing any pieces such as arms or a leg then model it to a battle wound or if missing lots then look at bits stores.

Look at ebay bits job lots, there's usually just a large pile of bits for a few quid and you do get some useful stuff in there; this is a cheap way to make an impressive army with many conversions and differences to make it stand out.

Ebay, just got 20 night goblin archers, 20 goblins with spears, 5 wolf riders and a troll for £12 including postage. Now if thats not a good deal i dont know what is.

I have to agree with most people about not buying your tools from hobby stores. Costs way to much and the quility compaired to a cheaper one isnt much. Not buying GW paints, over priced but sadly i dont know any other paints sutable out there.

Plan your army before you start buying and building. I started on blood angles and cherry picked units for painting but there's no synergy to play them. Also, having bought 2 £25 boxes of death guard everyones now saying i should have used flamers, d'oh!

Buy the cheap craft paint for your terrain pieces. It holds up just fine for that purpose. Also, buy a cheap craft brush for painting the majority of said terrain.

As much as I LOVE buying 2nd hand, there's something to be said for buying boxes. You can often dilute the contents to convert several pieces/units.

If you buy 2nd hand, there are many things that can be done to fix an atrocious model.

Don't play a wargame
Shooting heroine might actually be a cheaper hobby than warhammer. Or not.

Aside from that, use craft paints for SCENERY, not models.
Use cheap GS
Don't buy directly from GW, unless it's a store.
Don't use plastic glue on things you intend to sell/make sure you only trade things with super glue, because it saves you tons of effort when you realize you don't want such and such upgrade/ hate the pose/ need bits, etc
Pay the money and use good brushes. This is a money saving tip because it saves you the headache and disappointment of buying crappy brushes

here is a helpful article that can help you cut down on the amount of models you buy, by making the ones you have do more for you!

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Counts_As_Space_Marines_Army_Profiles

pretre wrote:
I'm hoping the recent GK release is a sign of continuing in this direction. From what I've heard, the GK box sets are chock full of bits.

That's been going on for years. The Dark Angels box set back in 2006 was the start of this trend from what I can tell.

Rob GW- I MEAN...
I usually buy second hand models, models from online vendors (usually at a discount price).
Or I just convert them, but I suck at converting

use dicebucket - its 35% off all gw products AND it s 35% off the american price (2nd best, after british). So its even better for Canadian and otheres whose models are even more expensive!!!

DarthLakey wrote:use dicebucket - its 35% off all gw products AND it s 35% off the american price (2nd best, after british). So its even better for Canadian and otheres whose models are even more expensive!!!

Really? I calculated some of the Chaos Daemon and it came up as 20% off? Maybe my math was wrong but idk

Check gun cases for use as army cases. Walmart has a pistol case for 10 bucks that holds a feth-load of troops.