buying miniature paints

>>52731341
I would recommend any Vallejo paint set, and Winser Newton brushes. If WN's are too expensive for you I'd say go army painter. You can get primer from a hobby store and it will work just fine.

Aside from that get some sanding sticks, an exacto knife, and some plastic clippers you'll be golden.

>>52731341
Go to your local hardware store and buy a can of rustoleum brand primer. Which color you want depends on what you want to paint; black will give a darker look and make it easy to cover up mistakes and ignore patches, white will pop and be bright and eye catching, grey is the middle ground. If yellow is prominent in your motif, absolutely prime in white.

After that, Vallejo brand paints are your best friend*. If you're doing a historical thing, Warlord Games sells preselected paint sets for various historical countries by time period.

*Exception: While Games Workshop's Citadel paint line is usually unremarkable, the "Technical" range are amazing and you should definitely use them because they're great easy ways to accomplish what you need.

>>52731581
>>52731612
So, primer, Vallejo and some basic precision tools, awesome. Good to know, thanks!
So what price-range am I looking at for a starter setup?

I've also discovered the /wip/ thread and the painting tutorials, that should be a great help. And if memes have thought me anything, I should thin my paints.

>>52731341
Thicken your paints.
The globbier they are the more likely they are to dry in place and not run off.

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>>52731827
Sure will do buddy, I can trust you.

>>52731684
Price range, you're going to want 3, maybe 4 brushes. I usually use a size 00, 0, and 1, that'll probably run you 30-50 burgerbucks and you'll be looking at about that again for a set of a dozen paints or so. You can grab a can of primer from wal-mart for like, 2$. Your local hobby shop should have a knife and some clippers for somewhere around 15$ together.

>>52733009
So what, about a 95 dollars to start? Damn.

>>52733114
Good brushes aren't cheap, but they can last a lifetime if you take care of them. You can get by on cheap brushes, just expect to replace them.

>>52731341
Not an op but ive got a similar problem except I have no idea what colors to buy.

So far im almost done painting zombicide BP using 6 base, noname brand colors (I wanted to see if im into it) but mixing base colors to get, for example brown, is pain in the ass.

Ive checked predefined sets but all of them look like made for a specific unit of a specific game..
Russian infantry set, space marines set, blood orcs set, green goblins set.... I just want 10-15 paints to be to paint heroes (probably I will jump to malifaux after painting zombicide)
What to do? Should I chose separate paints and try to get every type?
Vallejo, citadels and armypainter are available here.

>>52733009
Jesus christ, fuck you for scaring off new hobbyists.

OP, you probably suck at painting, don't waste money on expensive stuff yet. You can buy a nice 8 pack of assorted gold taklon fine detail brushes at Walmart for $5. Paints, buy citadel or AC Moore has decent acrylics (golden brand) for like $1 each. Primer, get rustoleum 2x for $3/can. a small set of dykes cost $2 at harbor freight, a knife about the same, maybe $5 for an x-acto brand knife.

total you're looking at $50 tops to get set up.

>>52737236
Vallejo has a couple of good small(ish) sets (I'm thinking specifically about the Model "medieval colors" and Game intro sets). In general, just buy what you need for what you're doing - don't be afraid to mix & match, all acrylics are generally compatible with each other.
>>52739703
>$1 craft acrylics
That's so risky. Yeah, sometimes they're OK - sometimes they really suck though.

Get shades. Nuln Oil and Agrax Earthshade are goddamned wonderful.

>>52731341
K. My experiences with paint brands:

>old GW / Coat d'Arms
Good, but you're not gonna get those new. In the case of the latter if you're ordering them you already know what you want.

>new GW (Base/Layer/Shade-type naming)
Doable quality (I still prefer other brands) but overpriced as fuck. Also, shitty pots that'll dry out on you (inb4 "pots are innocent you all just don't close them right")

>Vallejo
The "good middle ground" standard. You have Game Color, Model Color, Air, and Liquid Gold/Metal. CG is the basic gaming-type, MC is beautiful but delicate until varnished and has a military-oriented palette, Air is pre-thinned for airbrushing but has awesome metallics, Liquid Whatevers are beautiful metallics but some of them are alcohol-based and fickle. No matter what, you want a bottle of Vallejo Glaze Medium, this shit's amazing.

>Reaper
Very pretty, smooth, but more delicate than Vallejo (rubs off easier until varnished) and tends to reactivate when washed so needs a bit longer to actually dry. Bottle tips tend to clog because of some shit built designed to prevent clogging. I still love them but can be hard to get depending on region. Many paints are arranged in triads (base color + shadow + highlight), so if you want e.g. skin color you just buy a triad and you're set.

>P3 / Privateer Press
Coat d'Arms under another name. Very good classic brand other than metallics which are absolutely shit for some reason.

>Army Painter
Would be Vallejo-level if many paints I got didn't require more thinning over comparable brands. I swear by their washes, though.

>craft paints
Don't. Possible to use for minis but since you don't know what you're doing you'll just waste money.

contd ->

I would highly suggest the army painter mega set 2 which gives you 42 paints of various colors for less than $2 each. Games workshop paints are over $4 each. This also comes with brushes. https://www.amazon.com/Army-Painter-Miniature-Painting-Paint/dp/B00HC9YNZU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492380509&sr=8-1&keywords=army+painter+mega+paint+set

>>52733114
Don't start with expensive brushes, you'll ruin them.

>>52731341
Contd from >>52740249 :

Tools:
>brushes
You want decent quality but nothing spectacular. You're learning basics, you're gonna fuck up now and then, not worth buying a priceless brush from the ninth tail of an albino kitsune found at the end of the world just to accidentally use it for drybrushing. I use Kolibri, they're decent but cheap enough that I can keep spares and chuck them when needed (like I'm on a deadline and don't wanna waste time with proper brush cleaning).
Size - you want size 2, they're big enough to paint a 30mm sized mini and small enough to paint eyes and similar details. Be aware that there are different brush size scales, I'm talking about "retouching brush"(?) if you get offered a giant size 2 it's another scale.

>glue
PVA glue - for sand, MDF, and general basing/terrain work
CA glue aka superglue - for metal, resin, and weird types of plastic that don't accept plastic glue. Be aware that CA glue goes bad with time (when opened but not used up) and will make weaker joints, might not matter if you paint on your shelf but does for heavy gaming use.
>plastic glue - for hard-plastic like GW or Wyrd minis or scale models. It's actually a type of solvent that will melt your model slightly and weld it, giving a very strong joint. I use Revell Contacta Professional with thin needle (also, keep a thin wire handy for when the needle clogs).
>two-part epoxy glue - for hardcore joints in large resin/metal minis. You won't need it for now.

Other tools:
>modeling knife
Get one with replaceable blades, change them once in a while to keep sharp.

>files
For metal/resin models.

>pin vise
Not needed for now. Also, good bits are much more important than good vise.

>modeling putty / "greenstuff"
Later on or if you have holes to fill and are positive you haven't fucked up the fitting. Pretty much every mini supplies company will have greenstuff, ProCreate is also good, there are weird variations relevant mainly for sculptors.

contd

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>>52731341
contd from:
>>52740249
>>52740492

Advice for newbie:
- many things I posted above are optional.
- wash your minis before priming (warm water, soap, scrub with soft toothbrush). Minis are covered with release agent that may weaken paint or glue if not removed. This goes x10 for resin models.

- If you want easy mode assembly, start with hard plastic models. There will be time to learn others later.

- Thin your paints. Fuck the "skimmed milk" advice, just try different ratios, find out when it starts running into details like a wash, you want it a tiny bit less runny than that. Yes it'll have bad coverage, just let it dry and give it a second layer, you'll have a much smoother coat in 2-3 thin layers.

- seriously, get some Glaze Medium. It's amazing when you start highlighting or mixing paints.

- no, the fact that your half-done mini looks like shit is not a valid reason to strip it. Washes are talent in a can and washing/highlighting will improve a shitty-looking basecoat a ton.

- use a different brush for drybrushing. This is NOT optional, if you drybrush with a good brush even once it'll get ruined for detail work.

- a medicine pill bottle or similar object will be a great handhold if you attach it with blu-tac or two-sided tape to the underside of the base. This way you won't rub off paint by handling the mini directly.

- it's not that important that your paintjob is great. What's more important that it's better than what you did before (not the previous model, but a month/year/whatever ago; also save some old fuckups so you can compare later and see how much better you are). You'll improve with time, experience, and learning tricks, and I found that even self-proclaimed colossal fuckups can do a decent job. And even the greats started from the basics, pic related.

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>>52731341
Grab some Reaper minis online, from their online store or somewhere that has 'em cheap like Miniature Market. While you wait for your order, head to your local hobby shop and get a variety pack of shitty brushes and the shitty paint to compliment them. A decent knife and clippers are a good investment, but if you're really cheap you can use nail clippers for now, don't cheap out on the knife tho.
Thin your paints with water before you start and take it easy. Everyone starts out shitty so don't get in too deep before you realize you hate it or don't have the patience. Lurk the w.i.p thread and check out the Duncan vids too.
Agrax Earthshade and Nuln Oil are worth checking out too, that shit is skill in a bottle.