Advice on starter painting sets (& brushes)

[angelicdespot 4689xp 0]

Thanks @georgesealy – that sounds exactly like a technique that would suit me.   I’ve just had a look at his page and most of his videos are ‘how to paint miniature X’ rather than ‘here is my technique’, and as they’re mostly quite long, do you have any recommendations?

I don’t mean for you to do all my research for me, but do you remember a particular video that you found helpful (‘ah yes, he did a really eye-opening video on painting a giant space squid which is where I first saw the technique in action’, or something like this…   If not, don’t worry.   I will have a look around.

Thanks also @phaidknott – I must say I’ve not been tempted by humbrol since discovering acrylics after my first attempts at using my dad’s model railway enamels on some heroquest miniatures. But I suppose I shouldn’t be prejudiced against their own acrylics!

[lobstermooch 2096xp 0]

As far as paints go, I’d recommend games workshop or Vallejo for beginners.

P3 are also good, buuuut, the lids of their paint pots have a tendency to break, I mean the little lip, so opening the becomes very difficult and i have a couple where the sides of the lid have basically disintegrated so there is no proper seal anymore.

But avoid army painter, they are hands down the worst acrylics I have ever used, horrendous coverage, worst in bottle separation of any range, no matter what I did I couldn’t get anything approaching good coverage. And I have been painting for 20 years, so not a novice.

 

[georgesealy 2670xp 1]

@angelicdespot almost any of his videos is a good start. They generally follow a similar pattern, and you’ll see him paint a figure (or more than one) over the course of 1-3 hours. Yes they are long, but you see everything – there’s very little “off camera” stuff.

If I was to pick somewhere to start, perhaps his Dark Sword miniatures series (I think this is the link to the play list I’m posting… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YabQN1DVQ7g&list=PLAj7SgXbhwS_R92TRrgO6rtgCqHeovy4A&index=2). Either watch episode 1 or look at the thumbnails and pick a figure that looks interesting. Some episodes might focus more on basing, NMM, object source lighting, freehand or whatever but you’ll still see him work through the whole process. It was eye opening to me.

Let me know what you think!

[ninjillyParticipant 11673xp 1]

I got a couple of the AOS starter boxes as part of a project at work and was actually really impressed. Nice range of colours and some shades included. In terms of brushes I’ve always said you only need three – a round tip soft brush for dry brushing, a flat wide for washes and then the work horse size no1 (I use Windsor and Newton and love them). Taking care of a brush tip has been a very important skill to learn.

However, along similar lines to what @georgesealy was saying about James Wappel using larger brushes, the same is true of Sam Lenz. There’s a video of him talking about it here – https://youtu.be/5vfJdCimmKA – and there’s a playlist on that channel where he talks about how to paint different techniques where none of the videos are super long. I haven’t gone all the way up to the size he uses but I have been experimenting with using a bigger brush more recently, I’m still not convinced but that could just be because p, whilst you can teach an old dog new tricks, it takes a while for the old habits to die ?

[stubbybrushParticipant 923xp 2]

SNAP ! was just about to mention Sam Lenz when your comment appeared, as this page was open decided to mention Dr Faust instead.

https://www.facebook.com/DoctorFaustsPaintingClinic

I find his approach more in keeping with the old school method rather than The Evil Empire’s over highlight one.

He doesn’t use fancy brushes mostly synthetic, and on the cheaper Reaper Bones figures.

[ninjillyParticipant 11673xp 0]

Yeah, he also has a good YouTube channel.

[nighthaunter666 3309xp 1]

I would say a Character and a Regiment brush from Army painter can cover most situations for basic mini painting for less than a tenner. They are widely available, pretty robust and good value. That would be my recommendation. It says something that they’re the only brushes that I have two of, so I can have a set at home and a set in my travel paint kit.

[angelicdespot 4689xp 0]

Thanks for the additional recommendations and experiences everyone.

I got my girlfriend the GW Age of Sigmar starter set.   It’s a reasonable mix of base colours with a small number of other paints (layers, an ink, a ‘dry’ paint, a ghosty technical paint, etc).   And an Army Painter set of brushes (base, detail and dry brush).   I wanted to get them in time for her birthday so couldn’t wait for the army and character brushes, but will get them in due course.   I’ve also got an Army Painter wet palette on the way.

She’s put together some Terminator: Genysis terminators and resistance to try out the clippers and mould line remover and has been experimenting with the paints this evening.   I’ve not seen how it’s gone yet!

Oh, I also bought her a couple of extra inks and a green to go with the starter set.

I’ll check out some of these large brush videos before recommending them to her – and then only if I can actually find some decent large brushes.

She seems to be having a good time though!

[stubbybrushParticipant 923xp 1]

I would recommend these, not sure who recommended them to me, maybe Vince Venturella ?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01LCFA9H0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[ced1106Participant 6224xp 0]

> I think characterful single piece minis of the type you get in board games are likely to be the way to go. Trouble is, I’d like to paint most of the sets myself and not have them done in two different styles / to two different standards.

Agreed. Some ideas!

* Terrain: Best if you two want to do your own projects. Hard to screw up, particularly for natural terrain, such as rocks and shrubbery. Obviously, her making terrain isn’t going to get the miniatures painted faster, but 3D stuff makes the board look more lively than 2D.

* Basing. Like terrain, hard to screw up. Very handy if you yourself don’t have as much time for terrain as you’d like. May step on a few toes if she accidentally botches up your painted figure, though.

* Prep and priming: Somebody has to do it! Scraping mold lines and filling gaps is tedious and boring, though. Brush-on priming followed by a wash (eg. Army Painter Quickshade Inks) is quite easy, and any mistakes she makes you can paint over, anyway.

[angelicdespot 4689xp 1]

@ced1106 “Scraping mold lines and filling gaps is tedious and boring”

Ha!   Much as I’m tempted by the idea of getting her to do all the dull stuff I think this is probably not the way to go…

I’ll see.   I bought her the first issue of the new Age of Sigmar partwork, which comes with 8 or 10 ghosts and 3 stormcast guys.   I knew she liked the nighthaunt sculpts and when we were in the shop and I saw the issue there it seemed like a good idea.   Funnily enough though, what to me seemed like a good ‘next step’ for once she’s finished with the terminators and resistance models, to her they’re ‘too nice to have a go at’.   Looks like that bad habit of mine has rubbed off on her too!

Hopefully we’ll get the time to do some painting together this weekend.   She’s painted the face and hands of one of the models but isn’t sure what to do next.   “Do you paint the eyes?”   Looks like that’s the next tutorial!

[ninjillyParticipant 11673xp 0]

Glad to hear she’s getting into it and enjoying herself. As for “too nice to have a go”, embrace the concept of testing and practicing by just making up one, prime it, paint it and strip it. Learning curves are totally normal and nothing has to be forever!

[ninjillyParticipant 11673xp 0]

P.S. once you’re done teaching her eyes, I could do with a tutorial myself ?

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