Newbie Warhammer help

SS-89

SS-89

SS-89

Soldato
Joined
13 May 2007
Posts
8,243
Location
London
Hi guys,

Always loved the miniatures as I enjoy fantasy and the lore (not into tabletop gaming more painting and display). Would love to get started on a small amount to wet the taste buds.

My preference is fantasy over 40k but unfortunately that is no longer around in the old style and has been replaced by Age of sigmar.

I would like to get started small and preferably with greenskinz. Was looking at this set: https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Orruks

Could anyone suggest best tools/paints/brushes to get me started? I've had a look through the warhammer thread but it appears to be quite a minefield. Brushes/Airbrushes/Paint brands/Varnish etc. Quite overwhelming to decide what is best for a newbie. Also recommendations on stuff to keep to strip and repaint as I'm bound to get it wrong (seen mention of biostrip?)

Thanks!
 
For undercoat Hallfords matt black is pretty good and far cheaper than GW's paint (also often easier to buy locally).

I tend towards GW's own paints for brush painting, although P3 (I think they are) are also good and cheaper.
Vallejo game colour brush paints are ok, but tend to clump badly in the bottles (their air colour are great however and can be brush painted as well).

Brushes tend to be quite variable and partly personal preference, GW ones aren't terrible but are fairly expensive for what you get and not the best quality, I use a mix of different ones including Vallejo sable, GW and some others, but I know a number of people love the Windsor & Newton series 7 which are expensive but last a long time (they're proper artists brushes).

Glue, basically any liquid poly cement for the plastics, Revell do a nice easy to apply version with a needle like applicator (keep a lighter handy for clearing it if it blocks).

Knives, I like Swann Morton ones, they're basically medical scalples and come with a wide selection of handles and blades - once you get a handle and a blade you like it's worth buying a pack of 10-100 spare blades and swap them out on a regular basis* (you're more likely to hurt yourself with a blunt blade that you're applying more pressure on).

I would also suggest a cutting mat, virtually any model or art one will do, I have a bunch of A4 ones I picked up from the 99p store years ago, and an A3 one.


*IIRC the standard 10A blades can be bought for about 10p each if you get a pack of 50 or 100, and they do a plastic waste blade holder that means you can safely store and dispose of old blades.
 
+1 for everything Werewolf just mentioned.

GW's paint system is designed for ease of use. They're a great place to start before expanding into rival paint systems.

If you want to dip your toe into the water without spending too much, GW do starter paint sets that come with a couple of models.

For tips on how to paint the models, Games Workshop's YouTube channel is a fantastic starting place.
 
You can't really go wrong with paint brands, there are a lot of good options available at the moment. GW/Vallejo/Scale 75/P3/Reaper all do excellent paint systems so just buy a few and find out what you like.

Brush wise, Werewolf is correct that W&N Series 7 (full length) are the holy grail but tbh they're wasted on new painters. You're better of getting yourself some cheaper, quality brushes like Rosemary & Co Series 33 or Broken Toad.

I use 3 primers, GW Black and White (I think their latest white is the best white primer I've used) and Halfords Grey Plastic primer.
 
swillsy said:
I've seen a lot of people moving over to play Kings of War instead now - the miniatures are considerably cheaper too!

http://www.waylandgames.co.uk/1058-orcs
Click to expand...

Is that because of the tabletop game ruleset rather than miniature quality? Given I'm not interested in the game side and have always had a preference for warhammer fantasy and lore I'm more inclined to stick with it.
 
It's a combination of the ruleset and cost. A lot of old fantasy players hate the new way things are going with it and kings of war provides a very good set of rules for mass infantry combat between fantasy races.

The miniatures they have are a lot cheaper (talking £200 worth of GW miniatures for maybe £50), but are not as good as GW ones.

Another option would be Warmachine & Hordes, fantastic miniatures that are slightly cheaper than GW with a rule system that, from what I have read and seen, is better than what GW pump out. That's if you had even a slight chance at wanting to play some form of miniature game.

EDIT: Other stuff, defiantly get some half decent brushes (the ones linked are good stuff), and take care of them. I'd recommend some "The Master's" brush soap, usually its in a 30ml tub. Make sure to not let paint get into the ferrel (thats the metal part of the brush) and after you are done painting, just give the brushes some love with this soap stuff.

Also might be worth getting a few really cheap brushes, so you have something else to mix paint with, something else to get it out of the pot and not using your nice Kolinsky hair brushes for it.

Get an exacto knife or similar, so you can clean the flashing off of models before you stick them all together, this can make a big difference to the overall look of your finished miniatures, since mold lines really show up after a layer of paint.

Oh.. last thing, look up on how to make a "wet pallet", IMO a must have (can be made easily with some kitchen roll, baking paper and a take away container). Make sure to post up in the warhammer thread with your finished models btw!
 
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Thanks for the advice guys

Got all the goods on order, went for IronJawz Orruk Brutes and popping into my Local GW and Halford to pick up paints over the weekend.

Went for Rosemary and Co Series 33 brushes in sizes 10/0, 2/0, 0, 1 and 2.
 
The most important thing is take care of the Brushes- get some Masters Brush Soap

Dont pop the brush up to the Ferrule in paint & everything else should take care of itself
 
mnc fear said:
The most important thing is take care of the Brushes- get some Masters Brush Soap

Dont pop the brush up to the Ferrule in paint & everything else should take care of itself
Click to expand...

+100 to this.

Sure, the brushes are reasonably cheap, but they soon add up. Also when a brush can't hold a point, generally its due to paint in the ferrel, its so damned annoying and your painting really suffers.
 
Brush soap, I never bothered for a long time, wish I had! would have saved a lot of destroyed brushes!

A good vote for Brokentoad brushes, they are all I've been using for a while, Paints wise, i use a mix of vallejo, GW, Scale 75. Same for with the airbrush, I love having the GW colours available in a pre made airbrush mix.

Miniatures wise, I know GW a little more expensive and they destroyed fantasy in my opinion, but they are still some of the best quality available. If you want to save a few quid on GW models, and order everything in one go there are a few good sites like elementgames, snmstuff and Darksphere.
 
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