Good set to to begin with?

Count Ziero

Count Ziero

New member
Howdy y'all. What would be a good set to start with. Preferably one that would not cost an arm and a leg (or my firstborn.)? Also what would be a good brand of paints or paint set to start with?

A little more info might be helpful. A few years ago my youngest son thought he wanted to build Warhammer minis so he was given the Assault on Black Reach set for Christmas. Well he soon found out that assembling and painting these was quite time consuming so he quickly lost interest. I painted a few of them myself and enjoyed it but I just wasn't that interested in the figures.

I later purchased some Dork Tower and Discworld minis painted 'em and the I started looking online at what others had done. That is how I ended up here.

As far as what sets, I'm curious as to what brand might offer the best value for someone trying to get some experience ( I realize the models vary in materials), same for the paints. I'm open to pretty much any genre of figures and not really interested in playing any games at this time. So pretty much just for fun.

Local shops are non-existent in my area so most of my purchases will be made online.
 
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Dragonsreach

Dragonsreach

Super Moderator
Staff member
A good set to start with is one that YOU want to paint, not one that 28931 people tell you is cool.
 
airhead

airhead

Coffin Dodger / Keymaster
You wanting to paint for fun or are these game pieces you are wanting a set of? Roll players want minis that match their characters.
Do you have a local game shop that plays more of one game than another? Great to have an army of "The Greatest Game Ever" but nobody to play with.
Does that local game shop sell paint? Always nice to keep the local guy in business.
Why do you need a set? Lots of companies sell single minis.
What part of the world do you live in? If it is outer Mongolia, I'd bet you are going to have to do everything on-line.

Too vague without more info.
 
airhead

airhead

Coffin Dodger / Keymaster
Ah the sneaky reply by editing.....

Sets are still a matter of personal preference. What do you want to paint?
28 mm, 36 mm, 42 mm, 72 mm, 12" vinyl?
Sci-fi, fantasy, historical?
Human(oids), creatures?
Specific game? WarHammer, Malifaux, Lord of the Rings, Flames of War, LOTS of others
Lots of stuff out there.

Lots of stuff on the forums about paints and brushes and other gear.

Paint
Vellajo
GW
Reaper
More that I'm not familiar with.

Brushes
Winsor & Newton
Rosemary
Stick with sable - it'll cost more up front but with a bit of care, they'll last a long time.

Read the articles section.
Lots of stuff on painting, etc. there.
 
Count Ziero

Count Ziero

New member
I like the 28mm so far. Not really particular as to brand since I'm still at the beginning of this. Will lean more towards Sci-fi/Fantasy. Just really trying yo feel out what might be a good entry level mini/brand that won't eat up the budget allowing for the need to buy paints, glue etc... Purchasing a set of some sort would keep me occupied for a while and not need to keep ordering things.
I'll have to dig around the rest of the forums to see what other answers are out there.
Thanks for the reply/info given so far.
 
Demihuman

Demihuman

Active member
For Mini's I would check out Reaper and maybe Hassle free. Reaper makes plastic minis called "bones" and they are very cheap but I am not impressed by the quality I would look for the metal ones. Reaper also makes paint that I like. The CMON shop has some neat stuff too. If you click around on e-bay you can usually find some cool stuff for cheap. People get bored or frustrated and want to clean out the basement...
 
Zab

Zab

New member
Reaper are great for price and quality(as above stick to the metal minis not just for quality but you can strip them down and repaint them repeatedly until you are happy with how they look). They also sell paint and you could create your own paint set on their site too.
 
Bailey03

Bailey03

Well-known member
As Airhead posted the four most common ranges used around here are:
Games Workshop (GW)
P3 (from Privateer Press)
Reaper Mater Series
Vallejo

There are other ranges like Scale75, Andrea, etc but the four above are probably a good place to start.

All are good and price probably isn't that far off. GW might be the most expensive, but I haven't actually calculated the cost per ounce of paint for the 4 brands. Things like shipping cost may also affect that calculation. None of these are bad choices but my main recommendation depends on your painting style. GW and P3 come in paint pots. Basically you just open the lid, dip your brush in, and start painting. However if you want to do any mixing to create your own colors, make intermediate tones, blend, etc they're a bit of a pain to transfer to a palette. Reaper and Vallejo, on the other hand, come in dropper bottles. Great for controlling how much paint you get on the palette, but since you can't dip your brush in the bottle you are forced to use a palette even if you don't want to. Go with a brand that fits your style of painting. By the way, if you do want to do shading and blending of colors I'd recommend making a wet palette. Just google wet palette for plenty of tutorials on making your own. It's cheap, easy, and you probably already have everything you need to create one.

I will make my little push for Reaper paints. I think they are great for experienced painters but also very nice for beginners. Most of their colors are organized into shadow, midtone, and highlight groupings (check Reaper's website and you'll see almost every row of three forms a set). But you won't go wrong with any of those brands listed above.
 
Count Ziero

Count Ziero

New member
I really do appreciate the info and tips. I'll look at some of the suggestions and see what piques my interest. Thanks again.
 
ced1106

ced1106

New member
Count Ziero said:
I later purchased some Dork Tower and Discworld minis painted 'em and the I started looking online at what others had done. That is how I ended up here.
Click to expand...

You can ignore the other 28930 people, but I recommend the upcoming Reaper Bare Bones Learn to Paint Kit 2: Basic Skin and Clothes. It's only been delayed a *year* but you'll get a step-by-step handholding tutorial how to paint a fantasy miniature figure, and a good set of paints to start painting with. Invest in a high quality sable kolinsky paintbrush, Size 1.

Space Marines are also *easy* to paint, at least to tabletop standard. I bought several colored metallic craft paints, and they do just fine. I *still* use them for colored armor, monster eyes, and other uses. Thin with hobby paint or airbrush medium. Basecoat your space marines, DON'T complete them, follow LTPK2, then either finish up the space marines, or go to the orks.
 
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