Suggest figure for newbie painter....

[tabithatan]

A friend of mine wants to learn painting, but he doesnt know what kinda figure to start with....... he tried painting one of the reaper knights, but er..... we had to throw it into thinner because after awhile there were huge globs of paint covering the details on the mini.....

in any case.... some of us decided to donate some minis to help him practice.... what kinda mini d ya think he should start with first?

 

[Chrispy]

Originally, when I was very young I did ceramic things I got at the art store for $.99 each.. I did them all with a number 4 bush, even the eyes. They were pretty big compared to minis, but they helped me get the idea of painting something small. Maybe he could try ornaments, too? I think old GW is low on details, just don\'t give \'em something hard like Rackham....

 

[laurence]

Hey tabithatan, maybe give your mate somthing like a wild boar or dire wolf to start with. These make for good trainer minis as you get to basecoat, wash, drybrush, highlight, glaze & detail all on the one mini. I started out with the five Space marines that came with the GW Paint set and in my opinion these also make for nice minis to begin with. Anyway I hope your buddy has many years of joyful painting ahead of him/her...

 

[Corvus]

I also started out with the WH40K starter set. In case you don\'t know there\'s also a WHFB starter set. It contains 9 basic paints and 5 figures for a very reasonable price. And those space marines aren\'t very hard to start with, so I think it\'s the best solution for your friend.

 

[Sturmhalo]

Gotta agree with the other two suggestion here. Space Marines were the first thing that came to my mind as well. Relatively simple models that shouldn\'t look too bad if only painted in flat colour. Make sure your friend uses a fairly decent brush as well. Those GW things look bloody awful! May as well start as he intends to go on eh!?

 

[Sand Rat]

Another Idea might be to get some 54mm plastic figures and let them loose on those - sure they are a little larger but the principles are the same

 

[AAvH-Darkblade]

Space Marines are the way to go, start with 3-5, one with no helmet so he can try flesh. Lots of smooth surfaces, easy to highlight. Pick an easy starting colour like Ultramarine blue, rather then red or yellow as they are harder to get good results with for beginners. And Sturmhalo\'s right a good brush will keep him from getting discouraged to quickly.

 

[tabithatan]

Hi Guys,

thanks for the suggestions, currently we are getting a buncha space marines for him to paint. I certainly hope his patience can last 3 - 5 marines

 

[Corvus]

just try the Starter Set...

It\'s relatively cheap and contains the basic paints (like space marines blue, flesh color, black & white, etc) and also a very good brush. It isn\'t a very small brush, but it has a very fine tip, so it allows you to paint smaller details to some extent... maybe an additional small brush might be advisable for painting eyes...

Cheers.

 

[the.super.hamster]

Whatever inspires!

Simplicity is a good idea to start with but it also has to be something that inspires your friend to want to do it. My wife painted her first mini on the weekend and went for a GW High Elf, lot harder than what I started on but she liked the model and that helped her enjoy it a lot more

 

[Flashman14]

Originally posted by tabithatan
we had to throw it into thinner because after awhile there were huge globs of paint covering the details on the mini.....

This is a very good time to talk about thinning your paints as well. If you\'re using GW paints remember that they are condensed - you have to add some amount of water to it.

Start him/her off with a pallette to mix on rather than straight from the tin. If results are nice right off the bat than it\'s more likely you\'ll have a convert!

Good luck!

 

[Errex]

And, while in the topic of starter\'s sets, Reaper also has a Learn to Paint kit, with a good selection of starting paints and inks, and two fairly nice minis, one a dire rat and a guard with chainmail.

 

[Dragonsreach]

The best of this website!

Tabithatan congratulations on bring in another member to the fold.

This forum typifies what I love about this website. Here we have a bunch of virtual strangers (pun intended) who are all offering the same good solid advice. My metaphorical hat is taken off to all who have written their support and suggestions for a newcomer to out art/hobby.
I\'m proud to be one of all you people!

Despite GW\'s failings, their miniatures are probably the easiest to start off with. Then once the techniquies are mastered then I would suggest moving over to minis with more detail.

Good luck

 

[smokey]

Holy Cow!! A concensus!!

I would also have to agree with the majority of the people who\'ve already posted. GW makes some fine starter sets, and space marines were the first mini I ever painted.

Som lizardmen might also be a good idea, as the scales allow for shading, washing, and highlighting.

I also agree wholheartedly with Dragonsreach.:flip:

Smokey

 

[Tuubje]

Here here, once again I also started with space marines and smokey does have a point, Lizardmen are nice if you want to learn about shading, but maybe that\'s a bit too \"big\" to start with. Dragonsearch, you are correct on all acounts, I too am proud to be part of such a \"flame-less\" community

 

[finn17]

Wot a lovely lot...

This could be regarded as a redundant post, since I am going to agree with the advice already provided, but at least is serves to support the evidence already available. Much as I am trying to boycot GW stuff myself I would still recommend one of their starter sets because everything is provided in one simple package. SMs are great to practice on and they can be painted to such a range of standards. Despite having seen millions of the damn things there are the odd paint jobs which still amaze me. In many ways, it would be the ultimate competition for the most serious of mini painters - standard space marine no conversion allowed.
The real advantage of learning on SMs is that once painted to a reasonable standard they can be traded/sold for more materials. Perhaps not so easy to do with other manufacturers. Only one other bit of advice: Please God...intervene at an appropriate point and introduce the poor soul to the world of \'non-GW\' so that he/she can expand their horizons:bouncy:

 

[mouse]

start with the basic...

The basics of mini painting, at least for me, was to do the following tasks:

(1) Cleaning the mini (GW has the most to clean)
(2) Priming
(3) Ink washing
(4) Drybrushing

My first few minis, as adviced from my friend, was the simplistic orcs. They\'re a untidy bunch. Color matching clothes is irrelevant to them and best of all, they\'re green (no offence to hulk lovers) and relatively huge.

All I did was clean them, prime, paint green, wash green, drybrush green, paint clothings (any colors), wash clothings, drybrush clothings (hence a dirty look), and if still advancing ok, paint the fingernails, toenails, facial details, metal for weapon, black wash, drybrush again and ....YOU\'RE DONE!

Layering, feathering, blending (to me the term blending means wet method), lighting, NMM, sky-earth NMM, blacklining, toning and underpainting (read this from CMON) are more advance methods that can easily frustrate a newcomer.

One of the cardinal sins to introducing someone to this wonderful and passionate hobby is to frustrate him/her.

 

[Grimznot]

Although I agree, Space Marines are probably the easiest to start with, my first mini was a grot. I like the models and I knew that if I could paint something that small to a satisfactory level, I could paint anything. I also agree that Orcs/Orks are a good starting point. What\'s nice about Orks is that a dirty look is acceptable as well as odd color schemes. Just a suggestion.

Oh, BTW. If you let him/her paint Marines, just don\'t let him/her play with them. Last thing we need is another Marines player

 

[tabithatan]

To Dragonsreach:

I\'m glad for all the advice and support given in this forum.......I\'ll get my friend to read this forum so that he can see all the wonderful people who have tried to help him Methinks it would encourage him a great deal....


To Finn17:

you know... that thing about having a unconverted space marine painting contest is a real groovy idea It would certainly be a real challenge to make the boring stuff interesting...... I wonder if we can have one sometime soon?


About First Minis:

Well mouse and Grimznot, I remember my first mini was an orc.... cos I was at this shop, and they just needed ppl to slap paint on an orc army they were trying to build .....

it was pretty fun cos we were all sittin around this table and everyone got an orc... heh heh.....I asked if there werent any other kinda mini to try out painting on, but the guy pointed to a whole box full of orcs waiting to be painted...

in any case I soon found someone who wanted a large buncha wood elf archers painted and didnt mind what they looked like as long as the paintjob was free.... that was the second thing I ever painted,..... except for some nasty looking cleric who was missing an arm.

 

[kkoene]

I started out on plastic skeletons. You can base coat,wash and dry brush all on the same mini as well, and usually there is little or no detail on them that you have to worry about unless they have some kind of rtting clothing or jewelry or something, but plain skeletons with swords and shields are fairly simple.