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I got my first box of miniatures (a tau battleforce) today and i was thinking cool, now what. Should i be getting glue, paint, fluffy terrain? I also should mention that i have qute a small budget after buying these guys. At approximately US$132, they are freakin expensive. Also, i was wondering why the GW guys dont put smart missiles in the box. you can only use gun drones??

Glue and paint first, I would've said. At least you can get your models sorted then.

Don't buy GW glue and paint. There is cheaper and better elsewhere.

I wouldn't worry about terrain to start with. There are cheap ways to make cool terrain but assembling and painting your troops has to come first.

Glue from a hardware or hobby store will be much cheaper. Have a look online or in a hobby store for vallejo or reaper paints - cheaper and at least as good. (although I really like the GW foundation paints)

I suggest getting Citidel plastic glue and getting Vallejo Game Color paint. It offers a very wide variety of paint for you to choose from and its much easyer to dilute and mix paint for even more colors. Vallejo is cheaper and, In my opinion, by far better in quality. I'd say get some primer too. I use citidel black primer, but I herd Krylon was good and cheap and Army painter is great to. Vallejo also has brush on primer thats also really good and way cheaper than any spray primer.

I strongly suggest not getting Citadel plastic glue.

It is about the worst quality polystyrene cement on the market.

Revell Professional is good and widely available.


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And cheaper.

The thing about the GW hobby supplies is that whatever the quality (which varies) of the item it is always the most expensive on the market, and never the best.

When you shop at GW you are paying for convenience.

Welcome to the GrimDark and enjoy your miniatures! Some glue should be your first step. After that, some spray primer and paint. Scenery can wait!

Kilkrazy wrote:Don't buy GW glue and paint. There is cheaper and better elsewhere.

You might be able to get cheaper glue, but I dont think there are any other paints on the market that can beat Citadel paints. Other paints always seem to be watery and not able to cover the model properly, I also think Citadel brushes are definatly the best.

I dont think my local shop has any other brand of paint sept GW. Ill have a look next time im there


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Sadly its laber weekend in New Zealand (it a public holoday) so all the shops are closed. I will probly go to a model shop as apposed to a gaming shop to get diffrent glue.

glue and paint, glue and paint, GLUE AND PAINT!!!!

Kilkrazy wrote:I strongly suggest not getting Citadel plastic glue.

It is about the worst quality polystyrene cement on the market.

Revell Professional is good and widely available.

Seconded. While I actually use it right now (I bought it when I got my first models, and figured I'd use it instead of wasting it), it's not very good. I actually had an arm snap off as if it was super glue. Other hobby companies sell plastic cement far cheaper, and far better.

absolutely

I find that the GW paints are pretty good, and (not the cheapest) pretty comparable to other companies. Though I agree the glue is crap. Just go get a tube of Krazy glue, it is the same thing. However, I have found the "thin super glue" from GW works great for the metal models.

No, GW brushes are not the best. And they're expensive to boot. If you want quality brushes and don't care about the expense, check your local art store. Depending on your location on the planet, you'll find different artist-grade brands of brushes.

If you want cheap, try to buy the thinnest Chinese brush you can. I'm still using mine and I use it for very fine details. It's 3 years old now and I bought if for like Php 16 (one dollar is 45 Php. You do that math on how cheap it is).

Congrats on your Tau, OP! Your hobby questions have been pretty well covered, so I'll answer the smart missile one: the smart missiles are a 4th edition afterthought; when the Devilfish model was designed only the Hammerhead could have them, so the missiles are on the Hammerhead sprue.

As you build your collection, consider buying Hammerhead kits even if you just need a devilfish: if you don't glue the cupola hatch into the turret, you can remove it and put it in the hole the turret rotates in, and viola, devilfish! (well, devilfish with no burst cannon anyway... but there are creative ways to correct this.) It's not quite as versatile as the rhino/razorback top-swap but it's something.

I have got some glue now. It was a gift so i wont complain but it was GW plastic glue. I was wondering why there is pulse rifle and a plse carbine in the FW sets that doesent have a ram. They dont fit into any of the left arms eather. Is there some special way to use them?

starsdawn wrote:No, GW brushes are not the best. And they're expensive to boot. If you want quality brushes and don't care about the expense, check your local art store. Depending on your location on the planet, you'll find different artist-grade brands of brushes.

If you want cheap, try to buy the thinnest Chinese brush you can. I'm still using mine and I use it for very fine details. It's 3 years old now and I bought if for like Php 16 (one dollar is 45 Php. You do that math on how cheap it is).

Again, seconded. I don't mind GW's 'standard' brush, but I find I don't use it much. And their 'detail brushes' are awful. The bristles tend to soak up paint and lose their point. I went to a craft store (conveniently right next door to GW), and for a few dollars more, got a size 0000 brush that is just heavenly for detail work. Should probably get a size 0 for some of the smaller, not-so-fine detail work.

I may be the only one to say this (I'm cheap), go to walmart in the crafts isle and pick up some folk art or apple barrel paint its only a buck to 1.50 for a bottle. If it is too thick for you use water to thin it (not much or it won't stick great) or some flow aid. That is what I use still, i do have GW paint and love it but hard to dump 4 bucks a pop for one color. Brushes I get from random places. When you pick one up check the tip they waxed them to give them a point on some brands and after the first use thy flay out like crazy. Use running water when you are down to clean them and add a bit of conditioner to them to keep the oils in the brush and make it last longer. Or you can go to dickblick.com and buy stuff they have great shipping and ship worldwide. Hope this helps

Don't glue your models before you paint them!

Get a codex if you don't already have one so you know what you're doing weapons and units wise. Get some kind of hobby knife so you can scrape off mold lines and clean up your bits, then some kind of primer (since you've already got glue). Do that and you're well on your way.

Krylon Camo Spray goes on thin and gives great coverage. It comes in black, tan, green, dark blue, and maybe something else. It sticks well to plastic and metal works just as well as P3 primer.

HadoukenAvenger wrote:Don't glue your models before you paint them!

Actually, it would be okay to glue them as long as there are no undercuts. For example, I assemble marines with blutak first, then after assessing its final posture, I glue the head and torso to the body (and the base). Depending on the pose I might add the hands, weapons and shoulder pads as well: I assembled them separately and if they don't block the chest or any part of the body, I glue them on the model right away. As with backpacks, I glue them last after all parts have been painted, since they definitely have an undercut under them.

I guess in the case of ork boyz, you can assemble them no problem as long as the arms don't cross the chest or are not too near the head for comfort. It really depends on miniature.

As for the base terrain, you van't get cheaper than sand and white (also called PVA) glue. Remember that buying white glue in bulk will save you a whole lot. And don't buy higher-priced brands either: white glue is white glue and as far as I know, all white glue has the same quality so buying loads of Elmer's glue will not yield you better results than buying something named "mR. Stickee Mckenzie Galoopie Darroobie." Just buy the cheapest available, and in bulk.

And from what I've heard, the tau battleforce is really worth it, since you'll use all of the items inside (given you're the kind of Tau who will be into Kroot).

Not so into kroot, thou my mate is and is willing to buy them off me. Beezley, I dont have a codex but i have almost memerised the Tau one anyway,

well if were looking at the absolutely first things you should do...it would be to buy yourself some plastic clippers or a hobby knife and some superglue and assemble your models. The next step would be priming htem and choosing the color you want ot prime, then you can begin painting

Element206 wrote:well if were looking at the absolutely first things you should do...it would be to buy yourself some plastic clippers or a hobby knife and some superglue and assemble your models. The next step would be priming htem and choosing the color you want ot prime, then you can begin painting

But before you prime them please for gods sake clean the mold lines off the models. Trust me it makes your army look alot better.

PLEASE DO THIS, its like when i did my first 5 csm, marines, they looked like crap until i stripped them and sorted out the mold lines, thn i had to repaint thm, GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Yeah try dry fitting them with bluetac first so you get a idea on pose's then clean the mold lines . then decide what colour you want them to be ?
once you know this then you can decide what colour you want to undercoat them ,normaly black if you want a darker scheme or want easy shadeing inbetween the armour plates . or white if you want a light scheme or.....{and heres where we upset the pureists} an other colour !!!! if your tau are gona be 90% red for example then why not undercoat them red as all you have to do then is block in the other colours then add shadeing :]
go to your local hobby/model train shop and ask what matt/or satin at a push acrylic spray paint they recomend .
also they mite be a good place for your brushes and flock or sand for your base .
as for painting tips
1,thin your paint
2,thin your paint
3.take your time {dont try and rush thru the whole battle force in one sitting}
4.look at the layers on the model eg.on a fire warrior you have cloth armour and detail start with the lowest layer eg the cloth when thats base coated/washed/highlighted/etc on a batch of them {i would do a squad at a time }
then move on to the armour and repeat this will let you concentrate on the detail and keep the painting neater {think of it as colouring in with in the lines.
5.base them its easy and can realy finnish a model
6.paint in sun light as it will show your colours better and help with your blending/highlights {or go to a craft/hardware store and get a craft/daylight buld :] }
7.have fun !
8.post then on here so we can have a gander and give praise and feedback ! lol

have fun..

i find that 3 coulor schemes are fun and provide a nice blast on the tabletop, remember this is also the minimum required for tournaments, atm i have my boys (chaos marines) painted with a 5 colour sheme, it looks pretty good

woo. I have put together the first 6 FW. took a bit longer than i thought it would. Ive not put the arms on to avoid blocking the chest. I also wont be able to get to a store for at least another day, so bear with me.

Im looking at a Skull white colour sceme with snot green line thingys. The cloth will be a light gray (reccomend please).

I am lucky to inherit a really good craft knife from my dad. I have been using a sharp pocket knife till now.

look at them. my camera sucks