The everything miniatures wargaming thread

[Darth Wagtaros]

What do I need to start painting minis?

[crazy canuck]

I think having a lot of patience is key

[Syt]

I was looking into model building and miniatures a few years ago. Looking at tutorials etc. it seemed clear that patience is required, and also to set low expectations at the start. Even with guides it will likely take some time till your skill catches up to your ambition - the way there can be frustrating.

I painted 1/72 miniatures a few times in my late teens/early 20s (WW1 and Napoleonics), but had no idea what I was doing, and the results were accordingly. 

[The Brain]

What do I need to start painting minis?

A yearning for nerdery.

The material requirements are quite simple though. If I were starting out today I would get

1. Some minis.
2. A paint set, exact size depending om my budget, and exact type depending on what kind of minis I plan to paint. There are several good manufacturers, but I'd go for Vallejo which is my personal favorite, they are available from most hobby shops. At least 16 paints, but my experience is that you quickly want more when you start painting, so likely a 40 paint set. If not part of the set I'd get some matt varnish too. Some sets include a brush.
3. 2-3 brushes. Not so much for different sizes really (though I'd likely pick slightly different sizes), but more for different uses. There are many sets available from different manufacturers. Me personally I would stick to some cheap brushes to start with.

Depending on your picks I think you should be able to get started for a bit over $100. Less if you go bare bones options.

[The Brain]

Oh yeah, and not being discouraged by your first attempt. When I restarted the hobby as an adult my first mini looked like crap, the second was much better but still pretty bad, and the third was totally OK and I'd use him on the table today without feeling ashamed (shut up).

[Jacob]

You need:

- one or more miniatures (which you may need to clean up a bit or glue together, depending, so also an exacto-knife and the appropriate glue if required).

- some sort of primer (I prefer white and spraypaint, but you can get brush-on as well and different styles of painting use diffent primer).

- one or more brushes. I prefer having a handful, but you can get away with one. Sizing varies by manufacturer, but something in the 0 to 2 range. I have tinier brushes but I rarely use them, details are best done with the tip of reasonably sized brushes rather than tiny tiny ones. Cheapish "artist" grade water-colour or acrylic brushes from an art supply store are fine, you don't need "miniature" specific ones IMO. If you're going to try dry brushing get something cheap because it'll wreck the brush over time. The main thing to look for is that the brush comes to a nice point.

- a container for water. An old yoghurt container or jam jar is fine.

- a bit of table space.

- good lighting. Daylight is ideal, but lamps with daylight bulbs can do the trick too.

- depending on what paints you use, you may want to use a palette as well. I tend to use random lids from jam-jars or yoghurt containers rather than anything fancier.

- patience and ability to focus. I've found I do my best miniature painting when I'm also doing something else - in a boring meeting or procrastinating something I really don't want to do

- some paint. I've accumulated a variety of paint from different manufacturers over time... Citadel, Vallejo, Army Painter, and P3. Some folks have strong opinions, but in my view they're mostly the same with a few exceptions. Which colours to get depends on what you're painting. Some people paint with artist acrylics from the art store and that seemingly works fine too.

Those are the basic requirements, IMO.

[The Brain]

Some more LOTR stuff. Big troll, barrow wight, pack donkey, and werewolf. All by Reaper.

[Jacob]

Nice!

Are they the Reaper Bones line?

[The Brain]

Yes, they are all Bones. Some Bones Black and some regular.

[The Brain]

Some orcs, from Wargames Atlantic (their Goblin Warband, 5 guys to a sprue, 6 identical sprues in a box). I think they look good as LOTR orcs.

I thought about which skin color to give them, and decided against a flat grey, since the models aren't big on color and need something at least. I settled on the feldgrau I mixed together for my WW1 Germans, which I think works.

There are no shield transfers for these AFAIK, and since my freehand skills are quite unmad I stuck to KISS to the nth degree...

[Jacob]

They look good, and yeah they work well for LotR Orcs. The bases are nice too. Good work

[The Brain]

Damn you're quick. Thanks!

[Jacob]

Damn you're quick. Thanks!

Posting on languish: sometimes

Painting miniatures: not so much

[The Brain]

Some Rangers of the North. The two on the left are Crusader Miniatures, and the two on the right Rangers of Shadow Deep. The last two will also work as two famous leaders of Men.

I didn't use my normal brush when varnishing, and the guy on the left (the first one I did) and to some extent the second guy too, got some opaque varnish effect, I guess from trapped bubbles because it got too foamy. Ah well, lesson learned. They're still OK for use, and it didn't affect the last two models which is good.

[The Brain]

Dwarves, from Crusader. The ones holding shields came with scutum-like shields. While pretty cool, they didn't feel LOTR-y enough for me, so the plain shield is from Victrix Vikings, and the fancy shield is from Wargames Atlantic Dark Age Irish.