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To start off, several months ago a friend of mine through the music scene gave me a small ork army. He's known I've been interested in W40K for a while. However, due to financial restrictions I haven't been able to go about painting my orks. Now I finally have some disposable income, but I don't know the first thing about painting. I know that Vallejo make good paints, but I'm flipping thorugh all of their sets and I'm not sure what to buy. I'm only going to be painting orkz to start off with, so I was looking at this set:
http://www.amazon.com/Vallejo-Game-Colors-Paint-Set/dp/B003Y7RBW6

But I'm not sure if such a small selection of colours will limit me. I'm also considering this set:
http://www.amazon.com/Vallejo-Wargames-Special-Set-17ml/dp/B000PCBUG6/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1417474854&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=vallejo+wargames

But I'm afraid my paints will end up drying out because I'll be mostly utilizing greens, reds, yellows, etc. I don't want to toss away a bunch of good paint. I'm also looking for some quality brushes. What do you guys think? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Edit: Now considering buying individual paints. Which Vallejo paints do you recommend for Orkz?

Personally, I like the Model Color line a lot more than the Game Color. To me, they seem a bit more pigment-dense. I'm by no means a pro-painter, so they work better for my uses.

Do you have to buy a set? Why not just pick out a couple greens, reds, yellows, maybe a black, white and metal color as well. That would probably run you close to what that $21 set runs and you get all the paints you know you'll use.

If you do go that route, I'd highly recommend the VMC German Grey...simply a fantastic near-black

Can't advise on which paint set to buy, though if you store your paints properly/well I don't think you should have too much to worry about them drying up any time soon.

Brushes though, I'd highly recommend Winsor & Newton Series 7. They're simply excellent brushes and the best I've come across over a good 15 years of being in the hobby. Many regard them as the best you can buy.

The set seems the most accessible to someone new to the hobby. I wouldn't know what all to buy if I went for exclusive paints. I'll look into the German grey, though.

Mr. Shine, those look nice but damn they're pricey! I'll consider buying them, but I think I'm going to look for a deal on some brushes first.

Sludge wrote:
The set seems the most accessible to someone new to the hobby. I wouldn't know what all to buy if I went for exclusive paints.

Well, if you're following the GW/White Dwarf paint guides or a certain scheme you found online you like using particular paints, you can find the Vallejo equivalents with a little Googling.

For instance, using this GW video on painting Orks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFpqxHFMZXs#t=25, Duncan starts with Waaagh Flesh (green). Using the Dakka Paint Range Compatibility Chart http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Paint_Range_Compatibility_Chart, the closest VMC paint is Black Green. Etc etc, so on and so forth.



I say this simply from my own experience: when I first started the hobby I was strictly GW, and bought a lot of paints I never used. Now, I've branched out a bit, using GW, VGC, and VMC. You'll learn that certain companies make certain colors better than others. I love a lot of the VMC colors, but I've never really liked the reds I've used. I still use GW's Mephiston Red quite a bit, same with their washes.

You'll end up buying more paints the longer you're in the hobby, it's just the nature of the beast. Regardless of the starter set you buy, you'll end up with more paints than you know what to do with, so don't sweat it too much now

They're certainly expensive brushes but, put it this way, the initial outlay will save you having to buy replacement brushes. I've had my two brushes for a good few years and although that's partially because I don't do a consistent large amount of painting that's also testament to their quality because I know that before I bought them I'd go through a couple of brushes a year due to the usually inevitable curling/splitting of the tip etc.

I'd suggest maybe buying one or two, perhaps a size 1 and/or size 0 in Winsor & Newton, and use cheaper brushes for your other sizes as they tend to get more abuse than finer detail brushes. Keeps it affordable but gives you great brush quality where you need it most