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2 things to know

1) I don't play wh40k yet, may eventually. Main interest is in the modeling/modding/converting/diorama potential.

2) I haven't done any of that either yet.

That being said I want to work on a Necro'dar (Necron + Eldar) army.

First goal is to get a pack of Necron Warriors and a pack of Eldar Guardians.
Use a few of the Necrons to do paint scheme testing/paint technique-ing.
Take a few of the Necrons and a few of the Eldar and mess with different combinations and parts mashing.

Long term goal would be to have a theoretically playable army.

Will any model paint&glue do? Such as from a hobby store or is it pretty essential to use the GW supplies?
Are there cheaper alternatives to the GW models?
Play-ability, since the main point is aesthetic, is less of a focus but, there anythings I could keep in mind to make it easier if later I decide to try to field them?
What are some good paint/modding resources that are pretty quality (other than here)?
What is the general attitude toward custom model armies used for play?
Given enough quality is there any earning potential in contracting paint/design/modeling of armies/terrain?

St.McAndrew wrote:2

That being said I want to work on a Necro'dar (Necron + Eldar) army.

First goal is to get a pack of Necron Warriors and a pack of Eldar Guardians.
Use a few of the Necrons to do paint scheme testing/paint technique-ing.
Take a few of the Necrons and a few of the Eldar and mess with different combinations and parts mashing.

Buy models that you like aesthetically, paint them the way you want.

Long term goal would be to have a theoretically playable army.

In this case realize the way models are equipped has important in game consequences, and so you might want to avoid mismatching too many things from different armies before you've at least taken a good look at the rules and wargear sections of some codexes.

Will any model paint&glue do? Such as from a hobby store or is it pretty essential to use the GW supplies?

There are many companies making great paints. Vallejo and Privateer Press are too I really like. You can use any glue. GW supplies are just regular generics re-branded with a giant markup.

Are there cheaper alternatives to the GW models?

Yes, and this forum is full of links to many of them.

Play-ability, since the main point is aesthetic, is less of a focus but, there anythings I could keep in mind to make it easier if later I decide to try to field them?

What I said earlier about equipping models. As a general rule models from different armies cannot be fielded together. There is an organization chart that explains how many of what type of unit can be fielded as an army. This chart is likely to get a major update in the next few months as there is about to be a new edition of the game.



What is the general attitude toward custom model armies used for play?
The rule of cool. The better you can make something look the more people are willing to accept it. Mainly, people just want models to be clear as to what unit they are representing and how they are equipped. The idea is "What you see is what you get."

Given enough quality is there any earning potential in contracting paint/design/modeling of armies/terrain?

Yeah, but even thinking about that in the stage you are at is kinda wrongheaded. There is earning potential in baseball, but not for most of us. Just assume that painting/modeling/gaming is going to be a huge drain on your wallet rather than a resource.

Are you going to make a necron army with eldar bits added in or a eldar with necron bits added in? for which ever one find out what kind of army list you want equipment ,units ect then try and pick out models that you think would work well together.

For model paints I suggest vallejo they come in larger containers than gw paints and have no problems with sticking to models which you might find if you try buy really cheap paints.

For super glues which you will mainly use for metal and finecast models I suggest loctite super glue its very strong and at a decent price. For plastic glue I suggest army painters plastic glue again its strong and cheap(ish).

You can buy all your equipment online at discounted prices there are a number of threads about these online stores. Try not to buy anything other than models from GW as there are often better alternatives and well GW are a bit of a rip off for modeling supplies.

Hope I helped.

Go to miniwargaming.com or any other discount retailer. MWG has a sale on right now for the rest of today ONLY at 25% off gw product.

NEVER EVER EVER buy GW branded hobby supplies. I will personally visit you and smack you if you did. GW branded supplies cost you double or even triple. $10 for a tub of grass or $10 for half a liter? $8-10 for glue, or $2-5? $20 for a hobby knife and saw set, or $40+ from GW? Do nooooot no t not not not ever buy your supplies from GW. You will love yourself for it. If you can avoid buying GW paints, do so. Vallejo has a MUCH wider color range and the bottles are much better than GW's pots.

A couple things to note: Not everything fits together. Eldar and Necrons are actually different scales. Necrons stand quite tall as compared to eldar, and then the way the pars are built doesn't really offer anything to blend eldar and necrons--who are immortal enemies anyway. On top of that, each army really only paints a different way, or with different techniques. Eldar for instance, shouldn't have metallics, necrons could only really be painted in a metallic or ceremic style... Space marines and Orks on the other hand, are where you can really have fun with your colors and techinques, from clean and pretty to rusted gritty and old all the way through battle-damaged. I suggest picking up the black reach starter set, because it's great value for money. Not as many diorama options available as you might want, but just for starting out, it's more than enough to start developing the skill.

If you want to build a playable army, then i suggest you buy two army starter sets. It's alot to drop at once, but you have until May 31st to make a good deal before GW raises its prices by 5-30%.

If you are looking for discount retailers for GW product, click the adds in the upper right corner of this website, and find the dealer closest to you. Miniwargaming offers a %10 discount year-round, and reward points. There's a few DECENT retailers on ebay, and then there's thewarstore.com as well. Also get in touch with battleroad hobbies, I've had good service from them as well (also a fellow dakkanaut). All of this said, I sincerely suggest you pay retail price from your FLGS. Support your local game store if you intend on playing there.

As to the custom or non-GW models... That depends on how you want to play. If you want to play at your local GW, or at GW hosted tournaments, you have to be using all-GW product (anything non-GW can only be parts and doo-dads, and the majority of the model must still be either your own sculpt, or made from GW parts). There are some manufactueres, like Chapterhouse studios, that GW will kick you out of their store for if they see you using their parts on your models... If you play at your FLGS and with friends, it's up to them. If they're okay with you fielding an IG army bought from Defiance Games, then good on ya!

Lastly, there is ALWAYS an earning potential in terrain and army building services. Check out Blue Table Painting on youtube and their website, Worthy Painting, Epic duck studios..... there's even more on Dakka. The trouble is it takes a while to carve out a name for yourself, and war-gamers are a stingy bunch.

Welcome to the forums, welcome to the hobby and have fun.

We certainly are.....a stingy bunch.....lol.... it's about maximising potential $$$ for product. makes little sense to get little return workable material for a high $$$ price. unless your a mad fanatic converter (there is plenty of proof here on Dakka)

I prefer the term "frugal", myself.

Stingy has much to much of a stigma and negative connotation to it.

chromedog wrote:I prefer the term "frugal", myself.

Stingy has much to much of a stigma and negative connotation to it.

there is a clear difference to being frugal and stingy. If you are frugal, you will evaluate the benefits of a purchase. My FLGS has happily sold me many of GWs upgrade kits because getting some of the other spare parts is just so easy to do. The upgrade kits let you take the spare parts and turn them into finished product, and generally speaking, buying half of a hull (like in the case of the outdated leman russ) and slapping plasticard onto it is a decent way of getting a GW approved tank onto the table at less than $30. I'm frugal, but I've definately gone into stingy mode. Instead of buying GW approved models, I discovered the reaper line of product. I've got plenty of characterful models stuffing my marine, chaos and IG armies that outdo the GW models by several orders. They add more character to the army at a fraction of the cost, but I'm getting to the point where I'm deeming $7 per special character or alternate model is getting too expensive for me. My circumstances haven't changed, but I've just got so much stuff that I have less time to dedicate to the one specific model.

Compare MtG players against TTWG players. By and large MtG players will spend on a regular basis, where once a TTWG player has a finished army or three.... kinda stops buying because it's a lot of space, money, and work. Once an army is built, most people are loath to let it go since it was so expensive, but won't spend to buy another army till the rules flip, and then it's only to update.