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I want to get into the hobby, mostly for the modeling, and maybe do some gaming. I'm looking at vanilla marines, orks or IG, mostly due to the conversion options.

Any advice on what to get when starting? I like scout oriented marines and stormboyz for orks.

Are there any guides/sites of what is needed for proper painting etc.?

GW sell a Getting Started With Warhammer 40,000 magazine, and the Warhammer TV YouTube channel has lots of painting videos. Obviously where gaming is concerned download the Battle Primer and buy the codexes for the factions you want to play.

It may seem like an odd thing to say on a forum, but I'd suggest one of the best things you can do with this hobby is not spend too much time on the internet. The internet can be a great resource for hobby stuff, and there are some incredibly helpful people out there, but it can also pull focus away from the elements of the hobby you enjoy, and there's quite a lot of negativity out there. Try and focus on the elements of the hobby you enjoy, rather than the way the internet is telling you you ought to be enjoying it.

Deathwing's suggestions above are all sound, too.

Other than that, I'd say the best thing you can do, starting out, is to pick the models you like the best, and get cracking. Be patient as well – it takes most people a fair bit of practice before they start getting results they're satisfied with. Good luck!

For the modeling potential,
orks is bestest!

Wait for a Summer dream box,
orks and plastic sisters of battle!

Buy that.

In the meantime, eBay is your friend.
And battlewagons are pretty cool too.

The basics of painting are to take a prepared model (assembled, mould lines removed) and prime it. Then paint the base coat. Then shade. Then highlight. Thin your paints with a bit of water and do two (or more, i guess) thin coats rather than one thick one.

All the main hobby paint brands are pretty equal in terms of quality. Army Painter is growing like crazy and is from somewhere in Europe, so it's pretty easy for people in that part of the world to get their hands on. I like Army Painter, Vallejo and Reaper, but ordering from America has gotten worse in terms of customs and wait times.

Don't be scared off by all the crazy names paints have. If you look at the colour rather than concentrate on the name, you'll get close enough and will learn to be name/brand independent.

Warhammer TV has loads of great starter videos on youtube. Watch enough of the tip of the days and the longer painting videos and you'll soon notice it's very often the same smaller range of techniques done over and over.

Youtube has amazing content for miniature painting overall.

If I may, why aren't Chaos Space Marines one of the armies up for consideration? CSM and Orks are the two armies with the greatest options for modeling and conversion in the entire game: my new World Eaters army is almost fully converted.

 mrhappyface wrote:
If I may, why aren't Chaos Space Marines one of the armies up for consideration? CSM and Orks are the two armies with the greatest options for modeling and conversion in the entire game: my new World Eaters army is almost fully converted.

If CSM are an option then consider one of the boxed games: First Strike, Know no Fear or Dark Imperium. That way you'll get rules, painting guides and SM and CSM miniatures to start you off.

Experience is really the best teacher - I'd buy a small box of something and jump in. My wife and I just started out, and it's been a lot of fun to start small and buy new things as we need them.

Nifty things to have:
- Sprue cutters, the thinner the blades, the better.
- Plastic glue AND superglue. I typically use plastic glue to get the model together, superglue to put it on the base - or for resin/Finecast models.
- A good hobby/X-Acto knife.
- A set of files, in different sizes and shapes. Helps to get the last bits of sprue off a piece, or to remove flashing.
- A set of (very) small brushes.