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Hi everyone, I've caught the WH40k bug! I first started learning about it earlier this year by playing the PC games space marine, and the whole dawn of war series. I found the whole idea of orks in space hilariously cool, so I started reading more about 40k on wiki's etc. Anyway, I love the mythos behind it all after reading more and more, and I thought the miniatures looked really cool, and I like the. idea of painting even though I am not very good at drawing (stick figures are the extent of my drawing skills).

Anyway I finally made the plunge over the weekend, I ordered the dark vengeance starter set, and the warhammer 40k starter paint set! I don't really like either of the army choices, but when you're a new player, and you want to play with a friend these starter sets are really your only choice without tripling the amount of money you're spending. I want to make sure that when I recieve the sets I am able to do a good job of assembley/painting, so I have a few question.

1) what other tools do I need to do a decent job with my models? So far I've gotten an xacto knife, flush cutters, and some super glue in order to removes sprues/mold lines, and what comes with the paint starter set.

2) What other paints will I need for this set? I'm still trying to get a grasp on all the different types of paints sold by citadel, and what exactly they do.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Hello, and welcome.

I won't flood you with info, so I'll just answer questions asked..

Your tools are fine for the starter set. Superglue will be fine, but poly cement (plastic glue) will give a stronger and more durable bond.

You need precisely as many paints as you want, conceivably you could do whole armies based on just the paints in the starter. Don't be afraid to deviate from the official colour schemes if you want to, its a common trait for beginners to feel you have to paint things a certain colour, don't be afraid to experiment.

You may want to explore non-Citadel paints too, Vallejo are popular, they offer more paint for less cash per pot and have a massive range, far eclipsing what GW offer. Don't get too bogged down in all the different types of paint GW offer, washes, bases and layers are all useful, anything beyond that is just unnecessary IMO.

Most importantly have fun, don't get too hung up on the 'right' way to do things, when you're ready to take things up a notch, you'll find a wealth of talented people here ready and willing to offer advice.

Good luck!

Hey there and welcome to the hobby!

My recommendations are these:

1) Unless you're a professional artist, your first set of models probably is not going to look anywhere as nice as the stuff you'll be making down the line. Like anything, it'll take practice. The most important thing is to get your fundamentals down. You can get a lot of mileage out of knowing how to do a good base coat, drybrushing and washing. They're very easy to master techniques that will get you to a presentable table-top quality but also very fundamental skills that you will use even as you become more advanced in your painting skills. So don't worry too much about having every tool possible. You're arsenal will expand as your needs and skills do, but for now I'd recommend just getting a few brushes and browsing some of the great tutorials on the web.

2) While others preach on other paints, you can't go wrong with GW's line. It may not be the cheapest, but depending on your area it's a lot easier to get a hold of and it takes quite a while to deplete a pot. As far as their paint line goes - Layers are the standard regular paints. Base/foundation paints are awesome. They're higher in pigment concentration so they are thicker but will save you a lot of time if you are trying to paint an area in colors like white, red, yellow, or orange. Using normal paints those colors can often take 6-8 coats to come out really bold. Base paints will let you do it with less coats (apply base coat first, then desired brighter regular paint). Shades/washes are basically watered down paint. This will cause it to cling to recessed areas. It makes for very quick shading in textured areas. Those are the main three types of Citadel paints you should need to get the ball rolling, and you can accomplish a lot with those.

Welcome to dakka. Not much to add to what has alreayd been said really. The only thing that I will add is that Reaper paints, from what I've heard never actually used them due to being seemingly tricky to get over here, are another good alternative to GW. That being said Citadel paints are still very good paints and many people do use them mself included and you cant really go wrong with them.

But defiantly get some polycement as soon as possible. MEK , Methyl ethyl keytone (butanone) is great but any liquid polycement will work just as well. I have never used the gW stuff myself but, I have heard mixed reports on its effectiveness.

Welcome to this fantastic albeit expensive hobby. I hope you see it through.

Thanks for all the help guys, I want to stick to the citadel paints as a beginner, I also ordered two additional paints, Nuln Oil (because I think it makes things look awesome by every picture I've seen), and Cadian Fleshtone. I also want to get a blue, and a yellow in the next week or so. That should give me a decent enough choice of colors without breaking the bank =)

Hi,

Welcome to Dakka

I'll just say as a word of warning from my experiences: don't buy the citadel plastic cement...I'll open my box to find multiple arms, bases, legs, etc. no longer attached.

Hello and welcome to Dakka Dakka!

Hello, and Welcome to DakkaDakka!

welcome to dakkadakka :-)