Noob Painter, No Money

>>50774188
If you thin and do lots of coats with apple barrel is is a possibility. Using a brand like Reaper, Vallejo, Miniatre, Citadel, is ideal of course. You really should buy decent washes though (I use Secret Weapon's personally) Having nice brushes is, well nice. You should look at even cheap kolinsky sable hair round brushes on ebay.

On thing that should really take no money is properly basing your figures. Just put some PVA glue on the base (Elmer's is fine) and pour sand onto the thing. Then paint the sand the color of rock or whatever, wash, then drybrush.

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>>50774188
I'm still relatively new at painting, and I've been using Apple Barrel to paint Lost Patrol. Obviously they aren't going to win any competitions, but they sure look cool while you play the game.

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>>50774412
And like >>50774247 said, get some real washes. I use Agrax Earthshade and Nuln Oil from Citadel. And basing is super duper easy and cheap. Vase filler is great for bases.

>>50774412
>>50774445
How do you get such flawless paint jobs though? How do you get them to look clean?
How many coats is enough?
How much thinning should I be doing?
Should I thin with just water?
do you mix paints at all or just buy hues?
How do I do good skin paints?

Thanks for all your help, by the way

>>50774716

Your paint should be thinned only with water and be the consistency of cold whole milk. Lighter colors will need multiple coats.

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>>50774716
As a somewhat new painter myself, I ascribe to a simple checklist.
-primer all over, not thinned
-base coat (the dominant color of the final product), 2 layers, thinned
-decal colors, 1 to 2 layers depending on how much is showing through, thinned
-shader/wash all over, not thinned
End result should look decent

>>50774716
Paints for skin color will depend on what type of skin color you want, just look around and find one that works for you.

>>50774839
Wow, that is beautiful work.

-What is primer? should I be Priming with spray paint or buying some kind of special primer?
-Decal? aka details?
-so I shouldn't just be using a simple black wash?

>>50774861
>What primer
Krylon primer works fine.

>Decals
You won't need them for your figures, but if you want iconography having decals pasted onto things is nice

>So I shouldn't just be using a simple black wash?
Black is great for a lot of things, but skin and some brighter colors will really appreciate other colors

>>50774716
>How do you get such flawless paint jobs though? How do you get them to look clean?
Patience. Just don't rush. Go back and touch up mistakes.
>How many coats is enough?
Depends on the color of paint. I just keep layering until I have a solid color.
>How much thinning should I be doing?
I put a small drop of paint on my pallet, then dip my brush in water and mix it. It should have the consistency of milk.
>Should I thin with just water?
Yep. I use the water I clean my brush in.
>do you mix paints at all or just buy hues?
I have the main colors I use, and all the primaries. I mix the rest. If you're not painting a lot of the same mini, mixing is fine.
>How do I do good skin paints?
The color I use is called Sunkissed Peach, mixed with a tiny bit of Nutmeg Brown. Then I wash with Agrax Earthshade, then highlight with thin Sunkissed Peach.

Patience is the most important, I think. If you make a mistake, you can use a clean, wet brush to remove the paint you just put on, then a dry one to soak it up.

>>50774906
Awesome, thank you. Any ideas on whether priming with spray paint is any good? every mini I have so far is already primed that way and I'm wondering if they're even worth keeping now.

>>50774934
Don't use spray paint. The paint just won't stick as well. Don't use primer+paint either, that stuff is too thick for minis. And you can strip the paint off your figures by leaving it in liquid green or any degreaser really over night so don't throw anything away.

>>50774934
As long as the details aren't clogged up beyond recognition you can use them as a starting point.

Also, by Decal I meant to say detail work. This means any bits on the mini that aren't Base color.

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Different anon here. Do I need to use varnish or not? I haven't been using it so far with my Reaper and Vallejo paints and I haven't noticed any negative effects yet. I'm afraid that using varnish will destroy everything I have accomplished.

Is it better to make your own washes in appropriate colors or should I just stick to pre-made ones in a limited number of shades?