I would suggest looking in to some actual modeling paints. Especially for the blacks and metallics you'll need for those Deathwatch models. That set of inexpensive artists acrylics will not have the pigment saturation that you'll need for quality coverage.
This is a great starter set and comes with a wash and a quality brush - https://www.amazon.com/Miniatures-Highlighting-Miniature-Army-Painter/dp/B01MTXRU2L/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1546629959&sr=8-5&keywords=army+painter
Here's the listing on Amazon for the set comes with a brush as well. There's a brush kit from them as well with miniature brushes for like $13 and a spray cost about $15 as well but if you get the off white it's saving you so much time and effort to begin with
It won't Ruin the models, and I have used and do use craft and artist acrylic paints occasionally for specific purposes. You will need to be sure to thin it down a lot, though, and even then be aware that the formulation is different from model paint and it won't spread as easily in the same way.
Also, any set of "Beginner Paints" you see at the $100+ price point is WAY beyond your needs. A 30-40$ set like this one will more than suffice as you start out.
If your brother has no painting supplies or hobby experience, I would stick to one core set (of whichever time period he prefers) and something like the Army Painter beginner kit like this: https://www.amazon.com/Army-Painter-Miniatures-Highlighting-Miniature/dp/B01MTXRU2L/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=army+painter+starter&qid=1606509011&sr=8-3
He will also need an exacto knife and super glue
Assuming you mean this set, here's what I suggest.
Colours to fill out what's missing in that box:
Extra colours to build on what you have:
I don't really care for the citadel purples, so would recommend a purple by another brand (I've liked pro acryl purple which I think is between these two shades), but if you want to stick with citadel, I'd recommend one of these:
I think that should round out your colour wheel and give you a bit more range in some colours to avoid needing to mix commonly used colours too often. After this, you can get colours you wish you had while painting, premade versions of colours you find yourself mixing the most often, or just anything you think looks neat or saw in a tutorial you might be following.
So you need paints, brush(es), a primer, and probably a varnish.
For the paints and brushes, I started with an Army Painter starter set. I just looked at this one and it seems really good:
Miniatures Paint Set, 10 Model Paints with FREE Highlighting Brush, 18ml/Bottle, Miniature Painting Kit, Non Toxic Acrylic Paint Set, Wargames Hobby Starter Paint Set by The Army Painter (New Version) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MTXRU2L/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_XRG6Q4JW8Y8J0YEAD02Y?psc=1
The “super hobby collection” option looks like it’s REALLY cheap rn so I’d snag that one instead if you pull they trigger.
For the spray primer (to make the stick) and varnish (to protect the painted minis from chipping), just got to your local Walmart or similar store and go to there paint section. You probably want white primer and “clear matte” varnish.
I really hope you jump it. It can be super rewarding. I’m not exaggerating when I say you can inbox me every single question you have along the way and I will help you out. I’m sure a lot of other people here would too!
Thanks! Is this the one you mean?
Miniatures Paint Set, 10 Model Paints with FREE Highlighting Brush, 18ml/Bottle, Miniature Painting Kit, Non Toxic Acrylic Paint Set, Wargames Hobby Starter Paint Set by The Army Painter (New Version) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MTXRU2L/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_3ZNSHGMJRT9MH8TZ65K1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
What sort of colours are you looking for? I started with this one but if you have some specific colours in mind, there are different sets that might be more suited.
You really only need your basic colours, you can mix them together to get the shades you need. If you find you're really into miniature painting, you can always add to your collection later.
I've personally never used anything but Army Painter, Vallejo, and Citadel, but my partner has told me you can use acrylic in thinner, watered down layers.
Start with a beginner painting kit like this one from Army Painter, or a more complete one because you'll eventually find yourself in the need of new colors if you like it.
Get a kolinsky sable brush 1 or 0 in size which will be your main brush. Get another 00 or 000 if you want to be more precise, but I personally do EVERYTHING except drybrushing with my size 1 brush.
Get a wet palette or search the internet to do one, it's very easy and cheap.
I started with the aforementioned kit and painted most of the base game with it. You'll surely want a gold metal paint, a black shade (nuln oil) and some other paints, but you'll be fine with these, mixing colours for the ones you miss.
If you don’t have paints yet, I’d point you to these as a starter. I bought my pack years ago and am just now running low on some colors. https://www.amazon.com/Army-Painter-Miniatures-Highlighting-Miniature/dp/B01MTXRU2L/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=warpaints+starter+paint+set&qid=1627820818&sprefix=warpaint&sr=8-3
I started with and continue to use this kit right here. I mix the available colors to get what I want.
Unless you can find them at a better price in-person, I think armypainter is the cheapest. You can find some really cheap ones at like Walmart but they suck really bad and nobody would recommend them. The starter set I mentioned earlier should last you a long time though. You might would need one or two extra paints depending on what you want to paint though.
I’m also a beginner and here’s what I did:
For paint I bought the Army Painter starter set. It’s one of the cheaper sets but it’s fine for a beginner. Has a wash and a metallic paint as well as primary colors.
Miniatures Paint Set, 10 Model Paints with FREE Highlighting Brush, 18ml/Bottle, Miniature Painting Kit, Non Toxic Acrylic Paint Set, Wargames Hobby Starter Paint Set by The Army Painter (New Version) https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01MTXRU2L/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_hYqHFbKSPN74Q
Then I bought cheap packs of brushes at the craft store and some black and (optional) white primer. I made a wet palette at home with a plastic container, paper towel and baking sheets.
Total cost was around $70 CAD maybe.
This is the paint set I started with when I got back into the hobby years ago and it served as a fantastic base to build from. 10 paints and a brush for 25$ is a steal for the hobby. And then you also have a little box to store them in when you aren't using them haha
You could always start with a smaller set to see how you like how the feel.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MTXRU2L/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_FVypFbEQN9959
Comes with one of those washes too. I prime mine with Rust-Oleum paint primer from Walmart and, first coat black then do a zenithal highlight with a white. Let that dry till it's not sticky and paint away. I use a matte sealer from mod podge when I'm done.
I have the set you linked. It's good. However, if you're just getting started, I would recommend https://www.amazon.com/Army-Painter-Miniatures-Highlighting-Miniature/dp/B01MTXRU2L/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=army+painter&qid=1595623640&sr=8-4 and put a few bucks towards some brushes.
You can actually get away with a lot more than you think with only those 10 colors. Then, if after painting a while you still think it's something you want to keep doing, go for the big set.
I just started painting too and opted for this set: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01MTXRU2L
Biggest issue so far is that the red is super watery so takes a lot of layering to get any pigment on to the model. No idea if this is typically an issue for reds or if its this brand.
You really only need some paint brushes and paint to get started. You can get some reasonably priced brushes to begin with off of ebay or amazon, don't worry about the type of hair on the bristles, synthetic ones are fine and cheaper. These aren't brushes you're going to treasure for the rest of your days, do make sure to rinse them as soon as you're done painting though to maintain the shape.
Something like this will be fine just to get you started: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-Pcs-Face-Painting-Brushes-Round-And-Flat-Tip-Art-Paint-Brush-Glitter-Set-/192286285975?epid=1289057582&hash=item2cc527e097:g:7RcAAOSwrRlZoAG2
For paints, there are lots of options available and it can quickly get expensive trying to grab all the colours you want. Baseline you'll want a red, blue, green, black and white. Mixing those with each other when needed can get you further than you'd think. You could also consider some metallics depending on what you're looking to paint. Citadel(Games workshop), Vallejo, P3, Army Painter etc all do good paints, all in a similar price range. After a quick glance, you could aim for something like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Army-Painter-Wargames-Hobby-Starter/dp/B01MTXRU2L/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1507887440&sr=8-1&keywords=army+painter+starter+set
Depending on which miniatures you're looking to buy and paint, you'll need a few other tools to get you going as well. A great tip is not to buy hobby tools directly from model manufacturers, you can always get suitable (often hardier as well) tools from more general purpose distributors, almost always cheaper than from model retailers.
Invariably at some point you'll need wire clippers (for cutting models off of sprues): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Modelcraft-PPL5703-Side-Cutter/dp/B001AE5ZTQ/ref=pd_sbs_60_10?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=M4CQF6XK3DK4GTYQJKDM
Files (not essential immediately but useful, can skip if minimising cost initially): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yato-yt-6144-Diamond-Needle-10Pcs/dp/B004LY26XK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1507887713&sr=8-2&keywords=hobby+files
A hobby knife/scalpel, maybe a cheap cutting mat as well(Be careful with these, they're really sharp!): https://www.amazon.co.uk/X-acto-Z-Number-1-Knife/dp/B005KRSWM6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1507887784&sr=8-1&keywords=x-acto+knife
You'll also need some plastic glue and/or super glue. I use citadels plastic glue and it always seems to do a good job, for some materials you'll need super glue however and pretty much any brand will do. If you're going to be adding texture to the bases, a really simple but effective one is sand, you can buy a bag really cheap from any hobby store and pick up a big bottle of PVA glue as well for ~£1.
Definitely not essential but I'd look into making a wet-palette as quickly as possible, it's inexpensive and very useful. Plenty of tutorials on youtube. (It's basically a plastic box with some kitchen roll and baking parchment inside). The files and scalpel you could skip as I said but they're handy for cleaning up mould(casting) lines on the models and clearing away bits of flash. You don't want to put a bunch of effort into painting something and then realise it has a weird lump that shouldn't be there where you cut it away from the sprue.
You are so very kind! It’s not overly hard but it is very time-consuming. I think all eights of these took around 30 hours over the course of several weeks to get done.
The easy answer though is gray primer spray paint and then just have your favorite set of paints.
These are washes that bring out a lot of details: https://www.amazon.com/Army-Painter-Warpaints-Quickshade-Wash/dp/B0714QL55V/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=army+paint+miniature+wash&qid=1611450927&sr=8-4
As far as brushes go, do you need one round base coding brush, one highlighter, one level zero fine detail, and if you want to get crazy, a dry brush.
My best advice after doing this for five or so years is to get the real paint. Things that you pick up at hobby lobby or Michaels will obliterate all of the details.
If you have any other questions, I’m more than happy to give you more resources.
Have a great night!
ranges - you can get relatively cheap acrylic paints at target or craft stores for about $2-3 each (you'd probably want white, black, a few browns, primary colors and a few metallic colors to start). A can of spray primer is about $5, cheap brushes are another $5 or so (a decent brush set might cost closer to $20, and obviously you can get much more expensive stuff if you want). Elmer's glue for base materials is another $3 or so (if you want to buy fake grass, called "flock" that's like $5 and can be found at hobby stores or on amazon). A basic cheap setup might cost something like $30-$40.
On the other end, you can buy fancy paints like Vallejo for $5-8 each. Most colors can be mixed from the basics, but serious model painters like having a lot of pre-mixed colors so they can take notes on colors used and always use the same color - this is helpful when painting a whole army for wargames - if you're doing that you might wind up with a lot of expensive paints and it adds up quickly. You could buy a fancy stand with a magnifying glass and clips (designed for soldering), which can help with painting fine detail (about $20-50). There are also expensive brushes and you could even get an airbrush kit for $150-$2000.
So quite a range. A mix of fancy airbrush/regular brushes with fancy paints (and the skill to use them) will get the best results, naturally, but you can do passable stuff for under $50.
There are also starter kits available: https://www.amazon.com/Miniatures-Highlighting-Miniature-Army-Painter/dp/B01MTXRU2L/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1516052137&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=model+painting+starter&psc=1
Note that these kits have limited colors - the reaper kit, for example has a few versions of brown and grey, but no red. They're designed to get you started painting, but might not be everything you want for a given project. Also note that you can mix and match acrylic paints from different sources, so you might buy a reaper starter kit then go out and get a few more colors from target to paint your mini.
Something like this would be a good place to start.
For paints you can use citadel which they have a painting app (Citadel app) which gives you instructions on what colors to use and in what order ect for a certain look and also for different colors as well. But you can get a bundle of paints from Amazon that are small to get you started and then a larger bundle with more paints and shades which is a better price for essential paints you would want/need. There's also vallejo, P3, and scale 75 which I wouldn't recommend for a beginner. For brushes just the bundle from a craft store is a great start to get a lot of brushes to start with, no need to buy expensive stuff until you feel more comfortable. Warhammer TV has great tutorials on YouTube and you can search "painting insert model" and you'll get lots of tutorials. Miniac is also a great channel for beginners as well
I've been in deeeep with mini painting for a while. There are definitely layers to the hobby and the "must-haves" are definitely dependent on how far you want to go and how much money you want to invest.
Strictly Beginner Level - just getting started, don't want to invest a ton of money, and feel okay with "tabletop standard" miniatures that look better than grey plastic, but aren't anything special.
This is really all you need to get started.
Luckily, there are a lot of resources out there for new miniature painters. Youtube channels such as Sorastro's Painting, The Miniac, and Goobertown Hobbies are great places to start and get some well-shot, carefully paced inspiration. I'd also recommend visiting /r/minipainting
To give some quick advice:
The initial investment in paints and materials can be as high or low as you want. But going super super cheap can lead to a poor first experience. I'd recommend starting with the following:
Have fun with it! Take your time and enjoy the ride!
I got this and loved it:
https://www.amazon.com/Army-Painter-Miniatures-Highlighting-Miniature/dp/B01MTXRU2L
My advice would be not to buy Citadel/Games Workshop paints to start. They are good paints, but they are about twice as expensive as paints from other miniature paint companies. Vallejo and Army Painter are two good, widely available paint brands you can look for, but there are many other good paint manufacturers as well. Be aware that you will probably want to buy acrylic paints, not enamel paints (which are common in scale modelling).
To start out, you will need a few things:
Primer: If you want your paint to stick to your miniatures, you will need to prime them. Even though it might seem expensive at first, I recommend you pick up spray primer in two colours, white and black. Start by priming the whole model black, then white just from above. That creates instant contrast and makes painting the model much easier. You can use hardware store/auto store primer for this, as long as it is acrylic and matte, but depending on where you live it might actually not be cheaper than model or art store primer. Model primer also dries faster and smells less toxic, in my experience.
Paint: Don't cheap out with craft paints, they are hard to work with and make painting not fun. I recommend grabbing a starter set specifically for model painting, such as one of these:
Shade paint: There is a specific kind of paint that is referred to as a shade or wash paint. It has the function of running into the recesses of a model and provide instant shading. These paints are particularly useful for beginners. An example would be Army Painter Strong Tone or Citadel Agrax Earthshade. You only need a dark brown or black to start out, you can pick up other colours later if you want.
Brushes: Brushes are one of the things you can go cheap on. Craft stores will often sell bulk packs of cheap synthetic brushes which are completely serviceable. Ideally, you want somewhat stiff brushes with a sharp tip. Try to do the majority of your painting with as large a brush as you can manage, usually ~size 5. This gives you the smoothes coats. Only use smaller brushes for details or if you can't fit your large brush. You only need to go smaller than size 2 for the smallest details like eyes and gems. If you want to do dry brushing (another very useful beginner technique), get yourself a cheap makeup brush. Those brushes are the best suited for this technique. I find eye shadow brushes work the best.
Tools: You will need tools to build your models. At the very least, you will want a pair of nippers, a sharp knife and some glue. You can probably use tools you already have at home, but it will be worth picking up some flat nippers with thin, flat blades and a dedicated hobby knife with a replaceable blade at some point. You can use super glue to assemble any models, and any kind of super glue will work, but if you are going to build a lot of plastic models, plastic glue gives you a stronger bond and is generally superior.
Start with a beginner painting kit like this one from Army Painter, or a more complete one because you'll eventually find yourself in the need of new colors if you like it.
Get a kolinsky sable brush 1 or 0 in size which will be your main brush. Get another 00 or 000 if you want to be more precise, but I personally do EVERYTHING except drybrushing with my size 1 brush.
Get a wet palette or search the internet to do one, it's very easy and cheap.
I started with the aforementioned kit and painted most of the base game with it. You'll surely want a gold metal paint, a black shade (nuln oil) and some other paints, but you'll be fine with these, mixing colours for the ones you miss.
You have to prepare your minis before painting since they are made out of resin.
Wash your minis with a bath of lukewarm water with soap.
Let them dry overnight.
Then prime them. Black, or white, or another color. I always use black. The best thing when it comes to priming is spray paints. My advice would be to either use hobby brands spray (Vallejo, citadel, army painter) or Liquitex spray. Don't use classic spray paint (like Montana or else) because it will be useless, or worse, it will deteriorate your minis. The objective of priming is that your paint sticks to the mini, and also that your paint job lasts in time.
Ultimately you'll also want varnish to seal your miniatures. After looooots of searches on the internet I found my personal recipe that works really well IMO : First coat of Citadel Ardcoat (which is a glossy varnish, which we'll use to avoid "icing") Then several coats of a dull, matte varnish, which will cancel the glossy effect. I use MIG47 I think, I heard Vallejo is good enough. Then, another thin coat of Ardcoat on parts you want glossy on the miniature. Armours, metal parts, eyes, mimic tongues, etc...
I think with all this you've got plenty info to start with. You can also find a bunch of YouTube tutorials that are really helpful to paint your Dark Souls minis. I recommend lotharworks and tabletop duo. Don't hesitate to try new things, to do it your way. If you happen to have any questions about painting them minis, just DM me ! Be patient, have fun and be proud of your work !
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https://www.amazon.com/Army-Painter-Miniatures-Highlighting-Miniature/dp/B01MTXRU2L
Base colors from army painter, $25.50
https://www.amazon.com/Brush-Primer-Master-Dropper-Bottle/dp/B001BR9XUY
Brush on white primer, $3.50
Nuln oil and Agrax are about $20.
3 brushes from Michael’s would be around $20
Poster tac is like $3.
$71.50 bucks and your good to go.
Just watch some YouTube videos about how to treat your paint brushes and painting techniques. Also consider making yourself a wet pallet out of some old Tupperware or sandwich box. To be honest depending on what your painting you might not really need to attach the model onto a holder, larger models have bases large enough to just hold and simply paint the base last.
Get the thing here. Painted with this paint set from amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MTXRU2L/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_2jnBCb8EV962A
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NTMC49G/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_rmnBCbM62FJ8M <--- I started with this one
Game Color Intro Set (16) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000PHCTRK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_XnnBCbKRMBSGA <----a little bit pricey, but gives you more paints so....
As I stated, I got the reaper set to start with a few months ago and then just started buying citadel paints as I needed them to fluff up what I didnt have and I still mix my own colors for parchment and skulls, since I dont need that much of it.
Personally, I like citadel paints. I find they thin easily and flow nicely, and the colors are the official colors for the models. But I hate the pots they come in, so I bought empty 15 ml vials to pour them into.
Army Painter has sets on Amazon for $30 and then the big pack for like $90 which is a good deal
Best starter paint set. The brush has lasted me ~3 years of regular use. Vallejo for any other color you might want. I'd stay away from Citadel and P3, it's overpriced and in paint pots that tend to dry out easier than bottles.
I'd get a cheap set of brushes for a few bucks from amazon/walmart, something like this. You can do 80% of painting with them, like your dry brushing and washes. All your details you can do with the brush from the starter set.
If you want to splurge I also used this set for ~3 years before I needed to replace the biggest brush, still use the other two. The smallest brush really comes in hand on minis.
If you're not into painting - the first bundle is fine if you're willing to put the money into it, the other bundles are too much for a beginner IMO
Is a cheaper entry point - look for something in the same category as this, the primary colours + a few extras, a shade and a standard sized paint brush
This way you can try out painting and if you enjoy it, you can add to it from there, while not investing as heavily as the suggested bundles in the link are asking
Another option ~
Any paints from Army painter/Citadel/Vallejo are great places to start, just get whatever's got the best deal on at the time.
Only other suggestion would be to get a spray undercoat such as
Undercoat sprays make painting a mini MUCH easier and MUCH quicker, however, if you are only painting the bases and not any detail on the mini, you can get away with no undercoat spray (You can get cheaper sprays but I find when you're new, picking one model paint brand and sticking to it to start with makes things easier to manage)
I've just grabbed links from Amazon, but you can find these products all over the place
Skip citadel paints unless you need a specific color or want one of their technical/contrast paints.
They are overpriced.
If you want a good set try the army painter starter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MTXRU2L/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_IgUfFbQK3R5M3 for $20 cheaper.
TAP and Vallejo paints are simply better values. If you dislike dropper bottles then P3 is still a better value for pot style paints.