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So it has been a long while since I picked up a brush. All I really have at the moment is some 15mm Flames Of War stuff and sprues from some of these models. I do not have the patience at this time to try and paint these models. So what else can I use to paint on? Sprues are ok but I do not think they can take me much further than laying a decent layer of paint and some blending. Below is a picture of a piece of sprue I painted in a red fade. I did a wash after and kinda ruined the blend. What do you all think? What I am trying to achieve is a higher level of painting including doing nmm. I know I need miniatures to practice on but being unemployed for as long as I have been getting models just to practice on is just not possible. So what else can I use? Anything?

I use plastic spoons for just basic color practice (gotta save those sprues for scratchbuilds/terrain). As far as actual cheap miniatures, go to your local store and look for those cheapo little green army men. Should be able to pick up a big bag for a couple bucks-really the paint you use on them will probably be more expensive. Not the most detailed of figures, but they work for practice and seeing how shading can work on a figure.

That is a good idea thanks Gordon Shumway.

Once you get to the point of making those army men look somewhat good, you are ready to move on to the expensive toys.

If you really need a learn on an actual model, get a spare one and re strip it after you use it. its easy for warhammer since they give you 1 free one to test paint.

You could try getting something like this: 80 models for £22.00 is pretty good.

http://shop.princeaugust.ie/tg2420-1-warzone-mutant-chronicles-bag-of-80-plastic-soldiers/

eBay. Tactical marines (especially those from the Dark Vengeance and other sets) are fairly cheap and give a decent amount of challenge. You can also get cultists x10 for roughly $10 NOS.

Yeah ebay, I got a bulk lot of about 100 LOTR miniatures for $30. Half unpainted, half can be easily stripped with IPA

Technique is technique.. it doesn't matter what you're actually painting on. If you're that concerned, I'd go to the dollar store and pick up an action figure.. give it a bath in simple green, prime it up and start painting.

EDIT: If you're really wanting to just get in and mess around with a whole lot of textures and shapes.. there's a company out there that sells a stick with faces, cloaks, metal, fur, and other stuff.. I'm trying to find it but in all honesty if you're going to go that route, just buy a fantasy miniature that has all of that stuff.. if it's metal you can strip it easy and start over. You can also just buy bits of whatever you want to practice through e-bay.. clean it up proper, glue it to a stick or cork or whatever and paint it up.
You could also get Reaper Bones, the GW 3 model plastic kits (Chaos, Orcs, Imperial Guard, etc), or some clearance models off of Miniature Market or similar. There are so many ways to practice..

All decent ideas guys. I have to try to get the cheapest stuff I can find. Being unemployed this long sucks. At least I have the time to learn how to paint properly.

I will check clearance bins and the like and see what models I can find. I think I need to find different types to try different techniques.

Look up Reaper Bones. Really cheap, pretty good plastic miniatures. They have a huge line.

You are in the US. Walmart has plastic Army Men, Fire Men, Police, S.W.A.T., Cave Men, Ninjas, and Zombies for under $5.

Dollar Stores are even cheaper, but the model quality isn't as good.

In either case, paint up a bag for practice, take some pics, and put them on Ebay for double what you payed for them.

Terrain dude. I try everything out first on terrain. :-)

You could also potentially do a budget commission service - local gaming groups have people that HATE to paint, but would probably gladly hand over a squad or so to be painted for paint cost.

Toy soldiers will work, but you will need to prime them with a plastic specific spray paint (I recommend Krylon camo colors) to get a good painting surface.

However, there are plenty of cheap figs that are properly scaled and have enough detail to actually be worth painting and thus increase the chances that you'll end up with some useable wargaming minis.

I would recommend one of the following options, none of which need be more than a buck a fig and some are much cheaper.
-Prince August Warzone Troopers as mentioned above. Pretty nice figs and when you finish painting them, they make really great IG.
-Old Clix figures. Most established gaming stores will have a bin of figs that you can dig through for a quarter or two each. There are some pretty good sculpts hidden away in those lines
-EM4 Plastics. http://www.em4miniatures.com/acatalog/FANTASY.html
The Orcs, Dwarves and American Civil War figs are 35-50 cents each. There are also multipart Gangers, Trooper, power armored troopers and Mechs for about a buck each.
-If you can swing a one-time payment of about 30 bucks, Perry, Warlord, Wargames factory, Victrix, Gripping beast and may be some others other companies have boxes of plastic historical figs (Medieval, ACW, Napoleonic, Dark Ages and Ancients) The quality varies some, but these are mostly multipart poseable kits. They tend to come in boxes of 30-40 and range from 50-75 cents a fig.
-There are a number of older companies selling metal figs for about a buck each. Old Glory springs to mind as having alot of figs in this range. If you're willing to spend a buck fifty per fig there are dozens of companies. Check out Denizen and Sgt Major Miniatures for starters.

All this to say, there are alot of options for cheap minis to paint. My last suggestion would be to go to a convention or FLGS auction and buy the cheapest lots you can. I once bought 200+ metal figs for $40.

Best of luck!

If you want high quality, but cheap figures on which to practice....

You can pick up the original Tom Meier Fantasy Collectors Series figures from Ral Partha for around $1/each (there are people trying to sell them for ridiculous prices, but there are hundreds of auctions that begin at 25¢ - 50¢ and rarely go over $1.

These figures have some of the best anatomical detail in existence.

MB

BeAfraid wrote:
If you want high quality, but cheap figures on which to practice....

You can pick up the original Tom Meier Fantasy Collectors Series figures from Ral Partha for around $1/each (there are people trying to sell them for ridiculous prices, but there are hundreds of auctions that begin at 25¢ - 50¢ and rarely go over $1.

These figures have some of the best anatomical detail in existence.

MB

Very true! If you can paint a Tom Meier sculpt in 25mm (or true-scale 28 depending on the era) well, heroic 28mm figs will be a breeze. Alot of the older figures (most of my 200 for $40 deal were in this catagory) have more realistic proportions with fine detail that rivals the precision on today's 30mm+ "heroic" lines.

Many (though not all) of the Denizen fantasy and sci-fi figs sculpted by Chub Pearson are this way. They don't look amazing in the catalog with their old-school paintjobs, but in person they have remarkably fine detailing.
http://www.denizenminiatures.co.uk
My "Ventauran" figs are particularly nice And these are sculpts that are 20+years old!