Coming back to painting after many years. What to buy?

[Kokaka]

Hi all.
So after a long hiatus from painting that lasted many years in which I sold all my miniatures and painting assecories I have decided to come back to the hobby with the new spoiler of the adeptus mechanicus. This is because I have dreamth of making a Preussian inspired army in space for years and now, they will get cavalry minis.
The question is however that I have forget alot about paints, brushes colour theory and the sorts. and is looking for ideas in what paints, brands, brushes and the like to buy.

The colour scheme I'm aiming for is going to be an easy one, with deep blue gray with popping mettalics with lots of gold and steel to draw the eye since I am looking for a well polished, elegant parade army style. Details will be some red colour or maybe off white, creme or beige. I also need a colour for the glowing parts, I'm thinking either green or a lighter blue.

Because I have sold my airbrush compressor and am not feeling the need or the drive to airbrush I'm thinking of just spary coating the blue on and then slap on the metallics and details, with washes of course and the like.

So, does anyone have some ideas or tips on what to buy? I will keep it fairly easy with basecoat, layering, wash, high light but I have no idea what to buy, since last time I painted. There was a colour called chaos black and chestnut ink. (long time ago)
Also if anyone has some good advice for some nice brushes or anything else that might be usefull, please let me know

 

[kittykat23uk]

Well, Vallejo Model colour do a Prussian Blue and and Dark Prussian blue, so those might be a good starting point.

or maybe this: https://acrylicosvallejo.com/en/producto/hobby/sets/wargames-en/infinity-o-12-en/

 

[MAXXxxx]

Brushes: not much changed in the last few years, best is still WnN7 and Raphaell8404, No experience with Scale75 brushes but they are supposedly good

paint: it depends on your brand faithfulness and level you aim at.
- GW brand + TTQ at best : GW's contrast paints are great (choose just the colors you need for the AdMech army you want to build + a few GW bases (gold, metal)/shades (agrax, nuln) as needed.
- any brand: GW / P3 / Vallejo (VMC or VGC) / Scale75 / warcolor / ArmyPainter / etc are all great. Just choose the 10-15 colors you may need, no need to buy the full color range from any of them (even the chosen colors can be from a mix of any of them)
- any + display: I'd suggest VMC or Scale75 colors, they are great. Then again for display any paint can work, it's more in the technique.


for the 2 paints:
- Chaos Black: any black would work, but Scale75's, Andrea's and VMC's are the most black (until you go for the specialised paints like: https://culturehustle.com/collections/black )
- Chestnut Ink: VGC - Sepia Ink is very close, Coat'dArms Chestnut identical, Scale75-InktenseChestnut is also close enough.

 

[Kokaka]

Thanks for the information guys, really apreciate it. Just what I needed .

Now I only need a good spray, preferably blue to save time. This is however nothing I have done before so would it be best to get the main colour, ex preusian blue and go from there or to get a lighter darker one?

 

[MAXXxxx]

personally if aiming for an army I'd use:
- GW grey seer spray (light blueish grey + a bit satin, great for the contrast ones, expensive but never had problems with gw sprays)
- GW contrast paints / analogue paints from others (wapellious mentioned the proacryl transparents) for most colors (does the main color + shade + bit of a highlight in one step)
- metallics (peronally I'd get the scale75 ones for this) + some black ink/shade (too many to mention, I like the army painter shades for it, but VGC/Scale75 inks are great too)
- glowing parts: only with an AB or it's a PITA to do on an army scale, then Vallejo Fluo paints or Scale75Fx paints(just the needed color) are great. (if using a lot of blue go for an orange/yellow glow, much more effective than a blue one (also getting a correct blue glow is a pain as there are no really good blue pigments for it), if the red dominates, then a green would work)

 

[Kokaka]

Thanks again. You blew my mind with the contrast paints. I didnt know they made those.
One issue I can see is when using them on tanks or large flat areas. Does the work just as well or do I need to paint them differently?

 

[ekipage]

The contrast paints are not going to work as well on large flat areas, such as a Rhino or tank but you can still use them on them. You will want to get a lighter color (If you are going with a Prussian blue, I think either Blue Horror or Hoeth blue will work if using GW paints) to do the edge highlighting though and probably a wash (GW black, and maybe Dracenhof Blue) to darken the recesses more. If you don't like how the contrast paints look on a larger vehicle, you would then need to get some paints and figure out what you want for the base color, shadows and highlights and paint it that way (and if you feel ready for it utilize glazes to help smooth out transitions and add color back to areas).

 

[Kokaka]

Thanks for the help guys. It is nice to see that CMON is just as great of community as it has always been.

I was looking around the local stores where I lived and was able to pick up an airbrush compressor for next to nothing which was on sale so I actually think I will give it another go.
That made me look on a bit of tutorials on youtube and found the one bellow and I just fell in love with the white, dirty look so I'm going to go with that as my main colour since it is just within my abilities and will not be super long to do. Heres the thing though.
I am not really sold on the red details but am not shure on what to use instead. I have been thinking maybe blue/gray but that might be to cold, but maybe if I paint the metallics brass that would balance it out.
Maybe green to get a more earthy look, with brass or steel armour, or some sort of warm brown which I actually, not that I think about it could look really cool. Maybe some brownslighter towards the yellow or red. But if you have any ideas on some nice colours which would work and complement the white, let me know.
The rank and file units will have some other cloth and leather and I am thinking I will use contrast paints on those parts since I do think those paints will work wonders. Now the question is only what colour.

I also need a glow colour and I'm thinking if I go blue/gray, I will go with red to make the mini warmer. If I go with green or brownish, I will go purple to balance out the yellow in the white, but Im open for suggestions
Also it really is a great hobby this and the more I have been thinking, the more I realise how much I have missed it.

View attachment 77936

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnQ5XyErGf0&t=702s

 

[ekipage]

the nice thing about white is that anything will go with it. If you use blue as secondary color you could always use yellow or a yellowish green for accents or even an orange

 

[bullfrog]

Vallejo Model Air is good for metallics too and can be a little easier and cheaper to source than the Scale 75, however the Scale 75 conveniently have much of what you need in the one box for each metal. They are a little harder to use than the VMA in that the Model Air paints can be slapped on a mini without any thinning. I haven’t found anything to complain about with the ProAcryl metals yet....other than the stupid screw top nozzle....looked like a great idea before I actually used them.
Only other things I can add to brush suggestions are BombWick Igniters and Redgrass Games. Both of these brands I have found to be almost as good as the top sellers but at half the price. Really depends on the way you paint so my suggestion is to get maybe a size 1 from a few brands and give them a try. I can second that Raphael 8404s are a good brush even at a cheaper price. I often choose these for minis I want to put a bit more effort and detail into. Synthetic brushes are better these days than what they used to be so don’t instantly dismiss them. They are good for metallics when you don’t want an expensive brush destroyed.
P3 are a good paint to use if you are new to the hobby or just getting back into it. Due to the formulation of the paint they don’t seperate in the pot or on your wet palette unless over thinned. Good paints if you want less fuss. Colour range isn’t as wide as some other brands but they have a good selection of greys, browns etc. Menoth White Highlight and base are fantastic Ivory colours I consider to be staples. Again, due to the paint properties they rarely seperate or give that grainy look so many lighter colours can give. Citadel have a good range of colours but are expensive AF. Washes are a definite must though if you are looking for shortcuts with decent results. Vallejo Model Colour and Model Air both have a very large range of military colours... I mean how many ways can you say blue, grey and khaki?
I’d also suggest getting yourself a wet palette even if for no other reason than keeping your paints useable for ages. Would be my number one tip even beyond paints and brushes.

Edit : The Andrea metallic boxes are a good choice too. Scale 75 have 4 true metallics and 4 complementary coloured metallics whereas the Andrea boxes have metallics plus appropriate inks which is probably more suitable for your needs.