Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Ok, I used to paint miniatures when I was a kid, and I'm wanting to get back into it. I was mostly doing single piece minis though (think Heroquest and Battlemasters), and it's been almost a decade since I was into the hobby. Soo, what I need is a detailed list of what supplies I should get, and where to get them. Paints, tools, minis, etc.. I'm wanting to start playing WH40K, I'm going to be starting a DE army, so the sooner I get this answered, the sooner I should be able to take over the world.
On another issue, I definitely want to do some converting, so any advice on what to order for that aspect of it would be nice.
One more- does the brand of paints and brushes actually matter? I want my DE army to be black and a really light blue- something reminiscent of ice. So I need to know what paints I should buy to do an army in those colors.
Thanks yall!

Well you'll need the following:
- A decent set of X-acto knives. You'll need these to trim mold lines, cut things off sprues, jab yourself in the fingers, and so on.
- A set of clippers. Just a small set to clip things off sprue.
- Paintbrushes. Get a set from any given hobby store. GW ones are generally mediocre but not abominable.
- A water cup. Don't buy anything branded, just a butter tub will do!
- Primer. Priming your models is super important! Black Krylon spray primer (primer, NOT just paint! There is a difference!) goes on easy and will give you a good base to paint off of.
- GW colors you'll want:
- Chaos Black. You'll want to paint this over the primer where you missed it and to get a more even finish.
- Adeptus Battlegrey, to highlight the black.
- Ice Blue to paint the light blue you want.
- Regal Blue or Necron Abyss to base the light blue off of. Gotta build up some layers!
- Skull White. It's good to mix with Ice Blue to come up with a highlight color.
- Asurmen Blue wash. Use this to shade your Ice Blue.

Also, I strongly advise a Netflix or Pandora account so you can watch/listen to things while you work!

Seconding everything Brother SRM said, adding a few others.

-A Palette. You do NOT paint from the pot. You can get a 3$ one with little indents for the paint from walmart that works great for acrylics, or you can make a wet palette with some tupperware, a sponge, and some parchment paper (keeps the paint from drying and allows mixing).
-Seconding the clippers, with the added advice to get mini clippers, not just any old wire clippers. They will clip flush with the plastic.
-Files for cleaning your mini's and converting
-Masters Brush Cleaner & Preserver. The #1 problem self taught painters have is they don't know to use a brush cleaner. Masters is 5$ for a tub that will last 2 years. Without brush cleaner the most expensive brushes will die withing months, and many of the cheapest brushes will last years.
-Super glue. NOT plastic glue. Plastic glue melts and welds mini's, which is great if you need that, but make that choice down the road when you have more experience. Super glue is more than strong enough, and much more forgiving.
-GW washes. Devlin mud, badab black, and whatever the green one is. Use them. THey will vastly improve your mini's with very little effort.

For converting
-Sculpting tools, dental tools, and kneadtite (also known as green stuff). Even if you aren't going to do much sculpting, it is hard to convert anything if you cant clean up the seams and fill in the gaps.
-A small hobby drill and bits
-Hobby Saw. You just need one for converting. Accept it.

Down the road when you have more money:
-A dremel is VERY useful for converting
-An airbrush can have an astounding effect on your painting.

Brother SRM wrote:Well you'll need the following:
- A decent set of X-acto knives. You'll need these to trim mold lines, cut things off sprues, jab yourself in the fingers, and so on.
- A set of clippers. Just a small set to clip things off sprue.
- Paintbrushes. Get a set from any given hobby store. GW ones are generally mediocre but not abominable.
- A water cup. Don't buy anything branded, just a butter tub will do!
- Primer. Priming your models is super important! Black Krylon spray primer (primer, NOT just paint! There is a difference!) goes on easy and will give you a good base to paint off of.
- GW colors you'll want:
- Chaos Black. You'll want to paint this over the primer where you missed it and to get a more even finish.
- Adeptus Battlegrey, to highlight the black.
- Ice Blue to paint the light blue you want.
- Regal Blue or Necron Abyss to base the light blue off of. Gotta build up some layers!
- Skull White. It's good to mix with Ice Blue to come up with a highlight color.
- Asurmen Blue wash. Use this to shade your Ice Blue.

Also, I strongly advise a Netflix or Pandora account so you can watch/listen to things while you work!

You forgot the Devlan Mud and Bedab Black

I would also recommend a really good LED Light, I got mine off of amazon, its amazing the detail you miss when your lighting sucks!

Speaking of visibility, a magnifier can be a HUGE help, though I would leave it off until after you have the basics. There are fairly affordable magnifying visors, very expensive magnifying visors, as well as a wide assortment of hobby magnifyers and helping hands.

Thanks all of you.. I'll get to it.

Brother SRM wrote:Well you'll need the following:
- A decent set of X-acto knives. You'll need these to trim mold lines, cut things off sprues, jab yourself in the fingers, and so on.

Id get a scalpel as well, i find they are sharper and better for fine work like mold lines

For Washs you're pretty much best bet getting the Basab Black, Delvin Mud (brown), and Thraka Green.

For the other colors the only advantage GW paints give you is that everyone knows EXACTLY what color your talking about. (At least until they change the line of paints next month) If you hunt around Dakka you can find 300+ posts debating the merits of various paint lines, and a couple of color conversion charts as well.

Also, do a Search in this forum/sub-forum for "Wet Palette" it's not a 'Required' thing, but they'll tell you how it makes life easier, and how to make one on the cheap.

Notice I keep coming back to "read through here?" I strongly advise just reading every interesting post in the forum for 3 weeks before you make a move. You will learn so much in that time that it boggles the mind. You'll also be able to skip most of the worst 'new guy' mistakes by just watching others make them...

WELCOME TO DAKKA! WESOME TO THE HOBBY!

Freakin BATTLEMASTERS! My uncle worked for( and later so did I ) the company that did the PR for BATTLEMASTERS and he gave it to me for Christmas one year. Still have a bunch of the minis. That was the best present I ever got.

Whenever you ask for specific advice on this forum, have a look at the posters gallery it will give you a good idea as to whether or not they know what they are talking about.

If you are wanting to buy a bunch of paints to get you started, look into the Vallejo GC range: They are pretty much analagous to the GW colours, come in handy dropper bottles (great for measuring out mixes), and most online stockists will let you pick a set of your choice whilst still giving a discount

For the person who suggested the dremmel:

http://www.harborfreight.com/80-piece-rotary-tool-kit-97626.html

Im not even sure what a wash IS. Im looking into all of the other stuff though, and thank you very much for the info. A quick question though- are there any books out there on modeling that anyone could suggest, from personal experience?

A wash is thinned down paint or ink to apply to the model. There are tons of books out there - and i would suggest not just sticking to miniature painting ones - model rail roading books often have good tips, as does Fine Scale Modeler Magazine. As for the basics, see if you can find a couple of modeling books by Sheppard Paine - some very good old school techniques in there.

I'm always iffy about 10$ rotary tools, but look up some reviews, it might be a good one. That is the type of tool you need though.

Games Workshop sells several great washes. You can also make your own by mixing 1 part paint (the color), 10-15 parts mixing medium (the thinner), 1-3 parts alcohol (breaks the surface tension.

Even better is making oil based washes, which are just magic, but a hassle and best left until you are comfortable with acrylic painting techniques. You just get some high quality oil paints (black and burnt umber are the staples) and mix them with paint thinner/spirits. It is a big hassle since you have to do it after you have finished with the acrylics, need a seperate set of brushes, and have to clean with spirits/thinner/turpentine. But the effects you get are deeper and more beautiful than anything you can pull off with acrylics, due to the spirits medium they flow into crevices like they have a mind of their own, and their super slow drying time (hours, sometimes days) opens up a lot of powerful techniques like scrubbing.

Weathering powders are another fun high level technique. The best, store bought ones are incredibly fine, but you can make your own on the cheap by grinding pastel chalks on sandpaper.

Which reminds me, books. There are two books that have had a great impact on me.

The first is for beginners, GW's "How to Paint Citadel Miniatures" (or whatever the current version is called) which will cover all your basic acrylic painting techniques. It doesn't cover anything you can't find online, but it puts tons of great tutorials together in one package, which is nice.

The second book, for when you have mastered basic painting is Forgeworlds "Imperial Armor Masterclass Volume I", which has hands down had the greatest impact on my painting. It is written by some award winning painters with a background in historical modelling and covers tons of advanced, non-traditional techniques like sponge chipping, weathering powders, combining oil and acrylic wash techniques, and material suggestions for modifications (medical gauze soaked in glue for camo nets and water filter charcoal for rivets are two of my favorites). I really can't recommend this book enough. Many of these techniques and tips are difficult, if not impossible, to learn via online tutorials.

Some people will tell you you don't need books and can learn everything online, which is true, but some good books will rapidly propel your skill level forward.

For basic tutorials, although his results are somewhat beyond beginner level (he is a pro commission painter after all), i would recommend L.Bursley Right here on dakka.

Here is his dakka profile:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/user/profile/9813.page

Click on '55 topics have been started by L.Bursley' here you will find all his tutorials. Most of which come with a high quality video! *Be warned, they are stragely addictive!*

As for conversions i would recommend starting with the Wych, Warrior, Scourge and Raider kits (the raider is a vehicle but it's accessory sprue has loads of sweet stuff). though the outlay is pretty pricey these kits come with ALOT of spare parts or 'Bitz' as you will see them referred to. These kits are all (imo) 95% interchangable so you can end up with some badass looking UNIQUE Psychopathic Slave hunters all of your own with no modelling putty work needed.

Some things to bear in mind when assembling your models,:

Trim the mould lines/spurs: Though you might not notice the most frequent criticism here on Dakka Dakka is 'trim the mould lines'. They are basically the seams along the sides of most components. On dark eldar models they are usually located on the inside leg and outside arm.

Blue tak models together before you glue them, just so you can get a feel for where the components actually Abutt and work out a cool pose. A little extra tip is to focus on the head and torso when posing models, a slight tilt can be the difference between dumb looking and badass.

Finally here's an example of a converted DE mini combining bitz from the raider accesory sprue, the scourge kit, the warrior kit and the Wych kit. Also this guy took me a Long time to pose, notice the off-centre tilt in the torso and the tilted back head. Also of a couple painting tricks.

themourningstar wrote: Im not even sure what a wash IS.

steelcult wrote:A wash is thinned down paint or ink to apply to the model.

I was goign to say " A wash is a magic bottle of skill" but the above is true as well. If you shop in a place that sells GW paints, the Washes have the black caps.

To get an idea of what they do, go look at http://chatteringhorde.blogspot.com/2010/06/painting-plague-monks-washes.html

The more I look at this the more I wish it were 'complete' but it should work to show the basics. The painter put 2 shades of green on the clothing of a mini. The first picture shows the clothing with a single color. He then used 2 different washes on it. The next 3 pictures are comparisons of what the 2 washes did to that shade of green.