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Also make an effort to get into your chosen armys fluff, I started with orks because they were included in Blackreach. Truth be told I wanted to play Chaos but Orks were cheaper. But then I got into the fluff and started having my army come to life. Now I cant even paint my Chaos guys I got from DV because all I want to do is grow the WAAAGHH!!

Buy AoBR, magnetize my Hive Tyrant, don't buy Warriors, don't buy random codices right before new ones come out, stop buying warriors, 50 gargoyles at once was way more than you needed, why are you still buying warriors dang it, and use a wash.

12 year old me wasn't too hobby-smart...

I regret selling the first army I collected (had about 1500pts Lizardmen, sold it and bought an N64... I had to manage my own money as a kid, it would have taken me months to get the N64 through chores and stuff, so I sold the Lizardmen).

Wasting so much time trying to decide which armies I'd collect and getting squads from heaps of armies instead of just focusing on a couple.

Buying an airbrush.

Learning to not bother with adventurous conversions unless it's something like my general. I used to convert damned near everything and I paid for it by never having a completed army.

Wasting too much time on the hobby in general.

Thanks again to everyone for all the help. I especially appreciated this piece (emphasis mine):

hotsauceman1 wrote:Or more realistically, Buy a carrying case and learn not to inhale the glue

It sounds like I have some reading ahead of me - about magnetizing and cases, in particular; followed by mold line removal techniques and maybe finding out about true scaling, which sounds interesting.

I think I'll be happy with my army of choice. I picked up a second hand rule book of an older edition a while back and read the fluff (and everything else). There were other armies that sounded interesting (tyranids and necrons), but they were a distant second to Chaos Marines/Daemons. I think the dark side, plus the mutating aspect of the warp, appeals to me.

Thanks,
Neep

I regret buying used models (assembled but not painted) on ebay to start. Just starting out they looked fine. It wasn't until later I noticed models I put together were much better than ones off ebay. Awkwardly placed arms, guns, heads, etc everywhere and I couldn't take them apart because they were put together with the permanent cement, not super glue. Be very cautious when purchasing things off the sprue. If its selling for cheap there's a reason.

This is also why I recommend super glue over cement. The downside is that they break easier. Its an easy fix but a hassle. The upside is that they break easier when you decide you want to change something.

neep wrote:
* buying/not buying certain equipment - certain brushes, something to hold miniatures while working on them, etc.

This is the biggie for me. Most "hobby" paint brushes are crap. Go to an art supply/crafting store and buy really good red sable or synthentic sable brushes in a variety of sizes. They will do the job much MUCH better. The key, though, is to take good care of them. Don't get paint into the base of the bristles (which causes them to separate more and ruin the tip), do not leave them bristles down in any kind of container or they bristles will bend. Even more important: have a separate set of brushes for metallic paints and for non-metallic paints. Ever with through washing metallic flakes can still pollute your non-metallics from shared brush usage. Much better to use separate brushes for each. Of course you will have to mark them to differentiate them. All of my metallics brushes have a band of silver duct-tape around the handle to make sure I only use them for metallics.

With Vallejo, GW and the Foundry paint systems out there were are spoiled for solid lines of paints to use for our minis that are water based and easily cleaned up after. In the past the most comprehensive paint lines were in solvent based paints. Stay away from those if you can as they involve too many crazy chemicals and the like for clean up and are toxic just on their own. Far better to work with resources that easily clean up with plain old soap and water.

With a good set of brushes and good paints you are well on your way to getting your army painted up to a decent standard. Just need to add some practice and you are good to go.

Skriker

My advice to a newcomer:

1. consider only assembling models partially, painting, then finishing assembly
2. Don't use gw/citadel brushes
3. thin your paints, then thin them some more
4. don't buy 20 kits at a time. buy a couple, assemble/paint, then buy a few more.

 tommse wrote:
3. You start painting? Get "Nuln Oil". It´s like insta-skill and will improve your first painting steps in a heartbeat.

This. Nuln Oil will make your (bad) paintjob look a lot better.

My biggest tip is trying to finish one project before moving on to the next...

It is funny, but the one thing I don't recommend is "finishing one project before starting the next". My collection would in no way be the size that it is if I waited until I finished one thing before buying the next thing. For my time for army building comes in spurts, so I'll collect kits and boxes for a couple years and then suddenly will get 2 full armies built in the span of 3 months or so because I have all the models I needed for them just waiting to be built. The thing you have to do is not worry/mull over how much stuff you still have to build or it will drive you insane. At one point I had so many kits stored up in my closet I figured I had a lifetime of hobby building to do, and it turns out it was less than 7 months worth as I found as I was recovering from a severe illness and started working on things as I became more functional. In 7 months I cleared out the entirty of my building backlog and started selling off completed armies to buy new boxes of stuff. I think I built up close to 8 or so complete armies during my recovery time. Once fully well and working again the kit collection continued. Been getting extra time of late to work on army building and since my decision to stop buying GW models now, I am working on my second to last army project. My current ork army is about a 3rd of the way built. After that I have about 3-4k worth of Dark Eldar models to work on and I will not have anything left to build for my GW hobby.

If you want a small collection then certainly finish one project before starting the next. If you want a large collection, want to build dozens of armies in your hobby lifetime, and after so many years of building and selling off armies still have 11 armies in your possession then just go for broke and buy things when you want to.

Skriker

I would have taken more pictures. I still have all my old models, but I would love a picture of myself at 12 years old hunched over an Advanced Heroquest board, haha.

Otherwise not much else. I'm just happy to have discovered hobby wargaming early in my life.

 bosky wrote:
I would have taken more pictures. I still have all my old models, but I would love a picture of myself at 12 years old hunched over an Advanced Heroquest board, haha.

Do you really want that evidence around where other people can find it?? Hahahahahahahaha!

Skriker

 Skriker wrote:

 bosky wrote:
I would have taken more pictures. I still have all my old models, but I would love a picture of myself at 12 years old hunched over an Advanced Heroquest board, haha.

Do you really want that evidence around where other people can find it?? Hahahahahahahaha!

Skriker

Haha good point. The few pictures I DO have from that time...woa...what bad style. Mushroom cut hairstyle and long baggy shirts.

I seriously wish I would have bought more 2nd edition figures. Or been into the game enough back then to have bought the original boxed game so i don;t have to piece things together nowadays to play in that edition!.

My only regret was storing my very first Army over at a buddies. I lost a 3000 point + Space Marines force due to a sewer blowing up. I was almost upto a full Battle company with all sorts of extras. Make sure you store your models in a SAFE location.