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I decided to make this thread because I have a friend who is getting in to the hobby, and asks lots of little questions, the kind of thing that isn't covered in tutorials, so here is a place where you can share little bits of information for the starting player.

A few of my random general tips would be:

When applying a wash, always make sure ALL the paint on the miniature is dry.

Afterwards, make sure the wash is COMPLETELY dry before painting.

When painting a dreadnought, and you don't know what colour that one bit should be: metallic is never the wrong answer.

You don't really need that power weapon on every sergeant.

Never underestimate the power of a vehicles secondary weapons.

Get a good anti-tank unit right at the start.

Melta isn't really all that worth it if it isn't in a pod.

If you can get a thunder hammer, don't get a power fist (It's worth the points).

So, there's my lot, add to it as you see fit.

Hobby knives are meant to be sharp. Never cut sprues etc in the air, put them on some surface you don't mind having some nicks in to avoid nicks in your fingers. Or use a pair of small side cutters instead.

Signed - the man with two marks of stupidity on his hands, one requiring nine stitches.

For painting/modelling:

- Clean mold lines and thin your paints; simple things that go a long way

- Learn the very basics of colour theory before making your own paint scheme, it will help a lot.

- Don't be afraid to show off your work and take criticism, we all started somewhere.

- Don't be put off if a scheme or model doesn't pan out, just take the lesson and learn from it before trying again.

- NEVER throw bits away... Of course, you can take this to excessive levels, like having a few dozen bolters and grenades (at this point, I finally threw some away! ), but when starting out, save everything for future use.



Gaming:

- Make sure you and your opponent are both on the same page before the game starts. It sure beats spending 2 hours being stomped because he was training for a tourney and you are starting out with a fluff list.

- The aim of the game is to win, but the point is to have fun.

- Your opponent's enjoyment should come before anything else.

- Learn from your mistakes, and don't be afraid to lose. It's only a game.

 Paradigm wrote:
- Your opponent's enjoyment should come before anything else.

If this rule was followed by everyone everywhere we'd have such a nice world.

When removing mold lines from metal minis and large plastic ones, I always wear a light leather glove in the hand holding the mini. TOO many cuts with my hobby knife that could have been avoided.

In keeping with all of the knife-related tips: purchase a hobby cutting mat. Every hobby store should have one, and it is worth every penny.

There aren't a lot of metal models left in the line but some other games use them so here's a couple:

When you're done painting the model seal it in a clear coat.

Sometimes the clear coat may "frost". If it does this the solution that usually solves it is a coat of clear gloss (namely the spray kind). After that dries the second coat of matte usually works properly.

If you have issue with models tipping over bases weighted with coins or washers usually work. As a bonus, if you weighted the models with steel washers you can use a tray with magnetic strips to make moving the models around during tournaments easier.

Purchase a small pin vice with a few different sized bits.

DRILL YOUR GUN BARRELS!

When removing mold lines from a model you can turn your knife sideways and scrape the flash off, this helps in not removing too much of the model in the process and you never have to worry about cutting your hands.

On that same note: I've found that files work much better for flash removal. Invest in a nice set of small modeling files, it's great for smoothing larger surfaces that have been nicked/damaged as well as mold line removal. I'm constantly finding new uses for modeling files.

This should go without saying but: Prime your models before you paint them. This has the advantage of giving your normal paints a surface to stick to, which in turn means you don't need as much paint to cover a given surface.

learn to use inks. Even if you do nothing other than block paint miniatures, some ink on the model turns even a piss-poor paint job into a decent/poor tabletop quality paint job.

BASE YOUR MODELS. It really adds a sense of realism and unity to an army to have a nice base.

Second the advice to buy a cutting mat.

Invest in a nice pair of jewelry clippers, they're small, cheap, and perfect for removing plastic models from the sprue and cutting off excess flash. My fingers have finally forgiven me as I haven't had a knife-cutting-finger incident in years (still have plenty of scars though).

when a model has weapon/wargear choices, magnetize! jump packs on assault marines, power weapons on sergeants, sponson weapons on tanks, special weapons, etc. it's not that hard and it can save you a fair bit of coin.

you don't have to paint all the options now, but being able to easily swap war gear later on will put a big smile on your face. perfect for when you want to try out a new list, your codex gets updated, and so on.

Don't leave your paint brushes sitting in water over night
Learn to strip 2nd hand models
There are a lot of good painting tips on YouTube

1. Washes and edge highlights are too easy and improve your models too much to not do.

2. Read and get an understanding of your codex and the units in it. This way you know what to buy.

3. Make a mock list. This will give you something to aim for.

Paint the base and a model seperately - have the model on a cocktail stick during painting and glue it to it's base afterwards.

A brush which doesnt smooth to a point anymore is now a 'drybrushing' brush.

1. Play with people that you genuinely enjoy spending time with. It will make the game much more fun

2. Model a faction that you genuinely like the aesthetic of -- it will make painting and modelling much more fun!