Starting from scratch
Just a quick warning before we begin this article is designed to be a comprehensive guide for people starting to paint in the hobby. So you may think… it’s a bit too long but it’s designed for new people to cover everything.
“It's easy for you to say.”
One thing that people who start at the bottom of a totem pole say, something like that. To a degree they are right. For me they are 100% right, if I had to start again tomorrow I would have a huge head start on you whoever you are, because this is what I could do.
“Hey man I lost all my stuff could I get a few things off you?”
MOST, most people don’t start alone in the hobby. So, unless you started off alone this advice doesn’t apply to you but for most everyone else it does. You can do the exact same thing. Or you can start out using their stuff at their place.
“Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher.” — Japanese proverb.
Usually in these articles have another ‘person’ talk at me, with a general level of belligerence and at this time they would say something like: your not helping I just want to know what I have to buy.
Here is the thing guys…
This is the best advice in my opinion, I think that even before you read the rest of this article. If you have a friend or even a store you can paint at. You should before you should buy paints brushes and all of that, you should actually paint. Paint a few models, paint a few things. Because this is not a hobby you can easily get into for two reasons. Number 1: This is a physical artform, unlike most of our current life it requires muscle memory, it requires the development of a physical skill set. Brush control, model shifting, breath control, and so on, no one can teach you this but you, because they will be specific to you, your eyes, your pattern of breathing and so on. Number 2, is the cost.
The cost of painting can be a lot more than people think. Or a lot more than people do deep thinking on. The getting started set from Games-Workshop is as of the writing of this article and with this link being active is $77 Australian Dollars (AUD). That is a stupid amount of money to get started. But they are known as the grand daddy poobar of being rip merchants. The Army Painter has another starter set which costs about $57 Australian dollars (AUD). A lot better but yeah still a pretty expensive intro. So listen to me here.
Before you start painting, paint with your friend!
Okay if you have heard me on that, whole spend time with your friend, have a teacher teach you part, then you probably won’t need this next bit of advice. But maybe you are alone and you need to skip to here and you don’t have anyone else.
Brushes
First thing, you want to look outside the hobby store for painting supplies, I do. I do get hobby paints but the first thing you want is brushes.
You want a small, medium and large brush. In terms of paintbrushes, they would be 0, 1 and 2 size brushes.
Now every area is different, I suggest staying away from the online market because of one thing. This is a physical hobby, I think just being able to physically see the brushes you can get helps a lot. But I would get these
“Israel Sable Rekab brushes”
I have found them to be very affordable at those sizes and they are sable brushes, the more you get into miniature painting the more you will find people rave about sable brushes but if you learn on them it will be easier for you. You will find at the art stores they are very affordable because they are based off the size of the brush instead the ‘reputation’ of the brand.
Paints
Much like the comment about brushes, it’s about what is near to you, what is local to you, now I could talk about pigment density and other non-sense which wouldn’t be that helpful for you. so this is what you need.
“1 Red 1 Blue 1 Yellow 1 Black 1 White 1 Skin 1 a shade lighter”
Red, Yellow and Blue are the primary colours and with white and black you should be able to mix just about any colour you want with that. Now of course it all depends on what you are painting. For example, let’s say you’re painting a lot of armoured guys you're going to want some metallic paints. As for skin, it doesn’t matter if you’re painting African, Indian, Asian (actually I take that back there are not a lot good Asian skin tones out there in hobby paints), or European skin. All that matters is that you pick one and you have a ‘base’ and a ‘mid-tone’.
A bit of advice the two most common paint products out there, they are ‘The Army Painter’ and ‘Citadel Paints’ aka Games-Workshop stuff. I am not a fan of the Army Painter paints but what its whites and blacks you can rely on. Citadel/Games-Workshop are notorious for having garbage blacks and whites. Also, they have different types of paints, bases and layers and all sorts. You want bases to start with because they have high pigment density, they are easy to get on and you can thin them a lot. For them, the list is as follows.
“Mephiston Red, Macragge Blue, Averland Sunset, Corvus Black and Corax White”
And the two skin colours of your choice. But if nothing else please do not blame me for the most stupid names in the world that they have decided on those names, not me. That is not my fault not even remotely. In fact, I often bemoan it.
Tools and Assories
No, no, no tools, not tool you know what never mind.
There are a few things you are going to need to start which are glue, clippers and knives for assembling and cleaning models. All of this can be gotten under one brand which is known for quality and cheapness, if your starting out I highly recommend.
They are well known for a reason. Now the biggest tip I can give you for hobby knives is this, they are all pretty much the same and they all use the same replacement blades. Get two of them. With one, have relatively blunt for cleaning models of bits of junk like mould lines and such. The other knife should be for cutting and you should replace the blade often to keep it sharp.
Paper towel
I literally have no ability to get a bigger image than this and it’s that important, paper towel is one of the most important products you MUST have in your hobby arsenal. You will keep it next to you when you paint to wick off excess paint, you will use it with dry brushing, and you will use it to dry the wet pallet before you begin. The amount of uses for your paper towel is so great I cannot understate how necessary this product is.
AND ITS PAPER TOWEL not dunny roll aka toilet paper there is a massive difference and you will pay the price if you try to use the alternative.
Wet Pallet
Or Wet Pallette if you're feeling French and fancy. I recommend this Sistema Tupperware container, some common kitchen cloth and some baking tray paper, I like the Sistema Tupperware because you use the lid and then you can use the top of the container to act as your lid. As for how to build it this guy has the quickest no nonsense tutorial even though I am not a big fan of his.
This other guy who I love goes through all of the potential problems you can have using one. I highly recommend his video even though it is a bit long comparatively.
Specific Hobby Gear
What do I mean about specific hobby gear? Well I mean that it is exclusive for this hobby the final few tools and paints I am going to talk about are drybrushes and washes.
Drybrushes
Drybrushing may sound counter-intuitive and basically, it is for most people new to the hobby. It’s simple you get your brush and you rub it back and forth on a paper towel to get most of the paint off and then you apply the dried paint to the model and it hits the raised surfaces. I am going to link a video so you know how to do it first and then give some examples of things you should get .
Listen to me carefully. If you are a beginning painter. This YouTuber is the only YouTuber you should watch! I don’t know him personally or have any affiliation with him but I am telling you as an experienced painter he gives you all of the info no nonsense style.
“Hobby Drybrush”
Your standard hobby drybrush will be horsehair or a hog hair drybrush and it will be quite stiff. This is good, it allows you to see how a quick and dirty drybrush can be applied and helps you understand the concept instantly. I still use drybrushing to this day. Primarily I use it for two things basing and cheat sheets. If you drybrush over a model you can see what areas are raised and where to highlight them. As a rough guide.
I like the citadel small and medium drybrush but that is my bias showing through I know I am biased and I want you to know that, so any chisel edged brush should be fine.
“Makeup Brushes”
You may honestly be fine with JUST this set and use the chisel head in this.
“Jessup 15 set zinfandel t284”
I am serious write that down, not on your mobile phone, get pen and paper and write it down. Pen not pencil, this is a product you will come back to again and again if you start painting seriously. Forget Artist Opious and their overpriced brushes Jessup is the real deal and there are millions of women who get this stuff all the time so they will never die.
I get mine off eBay for about 20 dollars and I have not once regretted getting them even writing this I am thinking about buying another set.
“Jessup 15 set zinfandel t284”
I have purchased maybe three of these sets because the unfortunate truth of drybrushing is… it kills brushes, even if you take care of them…
Makeup brushes give a smoother less harsh effect than that of hobby drybrushes but hobby drybrushes have their place to get you started. When you’re drybrushing think of them as the base when drybrushing with makeup brushes as layering.
Washes
Washes are one of the beginner-friendly tools that I will recommend but I will say as soon as you feel you no longer have to use these DON’T. These are essentially hobby training wheels and they will help in some ways but hinder in a lot of others there are basically three from Citadel I will recommend and one I will strongly recommend from Army Painter.
But if you are starting out I will only recommend you get one.
Nuln Oil is known for two things being one the best ‘washes’ though it calls itself a shade and for SPILLING EVERYWHERE! I am not kidding it’s known for that and many people think that it is designed that way on purpose. So when you get this do one of two things. Put some blue tact/poster tac on the bottom of the bottle so that doesn’t happen or transfer it to a dropper bottle which is probably too advanced for you when you start out.
The reason I recommend this over my strong recommendation of the Army Painters’ strong tone is that strong tone is a lot less a multi-purpose tool. Strong tone can be used on almost every single model you can put it literally all over the model and then layer back up and it will look decent. However, Nuln Oil will allow you do more precise things, which is what you should be looking at with this, such as recess shading, which strong tone won’t be as sharp with.
My four recommendations are.
“Citadels Nuln Oil, Agrax Earthshade and Seraphim Sepia As well as The Army Painters’ Strong Tone”
Priming
Now listen to me closely. I cannot recommend this enough. *IF* you know someone who has an airbrush drop them 20 dollars and ask them to zenithal prime your models for you, rather than getting a spray can. Once you are certain you are going to be in the hobby long term get an airbrush and compressor and do it yourself which will cost about 100 for EVERYTHING you need for just priming your models. Please trust me having an airbrush for just priming your models will save you more hassles in the long run.
If you do not have a friend. Get two spray cans one black and one white and follow the rough guide here. You do not need to have a grey if you are starting from scratch, don’t do yourself in by buying too much.
Conclusion
If you are getting the bare essentials I suggest when starting out, you should be looking at a price tag of between $50 Australian dollars (AUD) and $100. That shouldn’t be too much to start out in a hobby but here is something else I want you to consider.
Do you love painting or do you just want your models painted?
This is a serious question. I am not suggesting you avoid opening up other avenues but I want you to think carefully, about this. Here is my question. How much are you getting painted a squad, a team, a small army? Or is this a big project? Something that will take some time? Is this a hobby for you?
The reason I ask is this is… Commissioning painters like myself are always an option. If you only have one thing you want done, and you don’t know how to paint… Just get a commission painter, it will be cheaper and you will be happier. And that’s not just my bias talking I have an upcoming article on burnout and I want you to know if you’re just painting to play the game that is a recipe for burnout.
I am looking to get into the hobby
Great, fantastic, wonderful. Painting opens up a wondrous world and I want more people painting but I want them to be sure. Because unlike other people I am not going to lie to you, it can get expensive, very expensive. This hobby has a lot of rabbit holes. So for the moment focus on the basics. Get your basic tools the things I listed above.
“A small, medium and large brush/0, 1 and 2 size brushes.”
“1 Red 1 Blue 1 Yellow 1 Black 1 White 1 Skin 1 a shade lighter skintone”
“Clippers, 1 dull knife, 1 sharp knife, PAPER TOWEL, Wet Pallette”
“Jessup 15 set zinfandel t284”
“Citadels Nuln Oil”
“1 Black Primer 1 White Primer”
More important than any of these products you need one thing to help you on your painting journey and I cannot overstate this, this is the most important thing you need when you hobby. The one thing that will help you more than any article, more than any YouTube video, more than any specific tool. This is the most important thing you need.
“A friend”
One who is a painter and is willing to teach you. There is nothing that will be more important than that in all of this. They may steer you wrong at some point but nine times out of ten. A friend is more important than any hobby tool.
Until next time friends…
Keep those brushes wet.