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Made in us
Devastating Dark Reaper





Florida

So I've got a lovely bunch of miniatures on the way and I want to know what's the minimum I need to clean and assemble them? I've seen GW'S fancy overpriced tools and I'm looking for the bare bones I need to get started as my budget is tight
   
Made in au
Veteran Wolf Guard Squad Leader





Minimum list would be:

Straight edge sprue cutters/clippers
An Xacto knife (or equivalent)
Super glue (Any brand really)
Plastic glue (Revel contacta)
Paper clips (for pinning things)

That will let you assemble any plastic or metal model.

 
   
Made in us
Ship's Officer





Dallas, TX

Avoid plastic glue as it melts the joints, especially for a beginner who will mess up assembling; a hand held pin vise with bits for drilling gun barrels and pinning.
   
Made in au
Anti-Armour Swiss Guard






Newcastle, OZ

Most (if not all) of their tools are available elsewhere for less money, so that's not really going to be an issue (GW use the "convenience - it's ALL there in one place" store option and you pay through the nose for it).

My first pin-vice and "sprue clippers" came from an electronics hobbyist store (the small drillbits are for drilling out holes on circuit boards). I think I spent $20 on them (and that's Australian Dollars). You get what you pay for, though.

I'm OVER 50 (and so far over everyone's BS, too).
Old enough to know better, young enough to not give a ****.

That is not dead which can eternal lie ...

... and yet, with strange aeons, even death may die.
 
   
Made in au
Grizzled Space Wolves Great Wolf





What army are you building? If it's all plastic models with no barrels to drill, don't waste your money on a pin vice and drills. Even if you do have a gun-based army if you're just starting out I possibly wouldn't bother drilling barrels to start off with anyway, it's fiddly work and you probably just want to get models on the table to play some games.

Clippers, just get whatever you can for cheap. GW clippers are good but overpriced and frankly no matter what clippers you use, you have to clip a few millimetres away from the model and clean it up with a knife anyway.

Definitely get a decent scalpel handle and a pack of blades from a hobby store. #11 straight edged blades will do almost all you want, but I also use #25 contour blades.
   
Made in us
Incorporating Wet-Blending






To get rid of those d*mn mold lines get some jeweler's files and an engraving pen. At least in the states, you could get them for $5 and $10 from Michael's and Harbor Freight Tools.

Vallejo Plastic Putty (or any modeler's putty) is easy to use for small gaps. You'll want Milliput if you find large gaps.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/10/01 08:57:45


Crimson Scales and Wildspire Miniatures thread on Reaper! : https://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/103935-wildspire-miniatures-thread/ 
   
Made in us
Devastating Dark Reaper





Florida

I'm actually waiting on a copy of Silver Tower, my friends like board games but I've been interested in 40k and Fantasy since I saw a tomb kings poster at 10 and 40k since I got an old rule book at a yard sale about a year later. So right now I'm dipping my toes as it were when come to modeling and painting before I get an actual army started
   
Made in us
The Marine Standing Behind Marneus Calgar





Upstate, New York

Absolute minimum:
- hobby knife
- some glue.

I used a knife to cut bits off the sprue for years. It works. Just be careful, and cut on something solid.

Next step up:
- Some form of snips to get things off the sprue. Flush cutter is the proper tool. (I used an old pair of wire cutters , and cut a little farther away, then trimmed in for years, flush cutters are much nicer)
- Set of small files
- more glue (I use both superglue and plastic glue, depending on the mini, and PVA for basing)
- tweezers (for decals)

Now we’re getting fancy:
- Greenstuff
--Sculpting tools
- Pin vice
- Magnets
- Offset spatula/knife (for spreading basing stuff)

   
Made in us
Incorporating Wet-Blending






 Rahshen wrote:
I'm actually waiting on a copy of Silver Tower, my friends like board games but I've been interested in 40k and Fantasy since I saw a tomb kings poster at 10 and 40k since I got an old rule book at a yard sale about a year later. So right now I'm dipping my toes as it were when come to modeling and painting before I get an actual army started


I would not recommend Silver Tower as a new painter project.

You can start with the Battle for Vedros miniatures set and paint set. Paint set might be sludgy, so ask for help if you're having problems with the paint pots.
http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2016/06/breaking-battle-for-vedros-first-look-at-40ks-new-face.html

Reaper Miniatures also has a Learn to Paint Kit, and a second on the way. Reaper has an October promotion starting on the 3rd.
FRPGames: http://www.frpgames.com/cart.php?m=product_list&c=286
Reaper: http://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStore/learn%20to%20paint%20kit

Zombicide is also a good starting point, and Army Painter has a line of Zombicide paint sets. For the base game, the you will want the Core set and Survivor Set.
Tutorials: https://boardgamegeek.com/user/Sam%20and%20Max

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/10/01 20:44:34


Crimson Scales and Wildspire Miniatures thread on Reaper! : https://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/103935-wildspire-miniatures-thread/ 
   
Made in us
Powerful Phoenix Lord





Here's a post I did a few months back for my blog, addressing just such a question:

http://myminiaturemischief.blogspot.com/2016/06/getting-started-tools.html

Only thing I'll add (my blog is not 40K-based or GW related) = avoid buying anything from GW that you can buy elsewhere. You're throwing money away buying their products which are just branded regurgitated products from other supplies/manufacturers.
   
Made in us
Combat Jumping Ragik






Beyond the Beltway

Do yourself a favor and get the gel form of superglue. An exacto/hobby knife with an assortment of blades. A filler, and almost any 2 part putty for plastics will do. It does not have to be Greenstuff/kneadatite. Everything else is nice to have, but not absolutely needed.

 
   
 
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