Quote from: tuypo1;817188playing with lead miniatures seems really unhealthy (although to be fair i spend a lot of time with bullets so im not one to talk)

how long ago was it that they realised how bad for you it was

Early 90s I believe. Partha switched over to Pewter a year or two ahead of everyone else I think.

I had a ton of Citadel and some Ral Parthas in the 80's.  I only played one game with them when I was first getting into basic D&D. Mainly I just painted them.  You can tell looking at my collection how my skills progressed over the years.  The first ones are pretty pathetic compared to the last ones, as materials and skills/techniques improved. It was relaxing as hell, and I'd love to do it again. I'm sure that after decades in basements and attics my paints are no longer liquid, though.  And the expense of putting together an extensive set of paints to replace them gives me pause. My wife takes my son to her parents' house in South Carolina for the month of July every summer, and every year I toy with the idea of starting up again while I'm home alone for three weeks.  Maybe this will be the year.  I searched for years to find that damned "Giant on Armored War Elephant" figure, after all.  

What I'd LOVE to do is try my hand at building dioramas.  If on;y I had the time.  [Sigh]

Quote from: Bren;817220To my knowledge there is no evidence of any health hazard unless you are chewing on the miniatures or eating them. In 40 years of gaming with miniatures I've yet to see anyone do that.

ah i see

well i do chew on things a lot but i would never chew on my miniatures so i think im safe there

Quote from: IggytheBorg;817316What I'd LOVE to do is try my hand at building dioramas.  If on;y I had the time.  [Sigh]

It's never too late!

//Panjumanju

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good basic set of paints? Or maybe a few such sets which, when combined would give one a pretty extensive palette without breaking the bank?  I really like the idea of Reaper's three color shading/highlighting system, and much as I'd like to I balk at the idea of buying that many jars of paint for every color I may want to use.

Quote from: IggytheBorg;818333Does anyone have a recommendation for a good basic set of paints? Or maybe a few such sets which, when combined would give one a pretty extensive palette without breaking the bank?  I really like the idea of Reaper's three color shading/highlighting system, and much as I'd like to I balk at the idea of buying that many jars of paint for every color I may want to use.

Go with a starter set of Reaper paints.  That's what I'd do.

There's a good Paint Equivalency chart at the Dakka-Dakka forums if you want to do 40k stuff with Reaper paints.

Quote from: IggytheBorg;818333Does anyone have a recommendation for a good basic set of paints? Or maybe a few such sets which, when combined would give one a pretty extensive palette without breaking the bank?  I really like the idea of Reaper's three color shading/highlighting system, and much as I'd like to I balk at the idea of buying that many jars of paint for every color I may want to use.

This fellow here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GKvaIvqf8o&list=PLtysRnFm_YLMOh6KSoAPaUup79Ew6WTRq
gives a very good rundown of the basic paints to buy that are necessary for a starting hobbyist. I personally recommend either Vallejo or P3 paints. Citadel paints are overpriced and of increasingly lower quality, Reaper paints are specifically designed towards wet-blending which is an advanced technique I don't recommend for new painters, and while some people get by with craft store paints they are not optimal. Or get this:

http://www.amazon.ca/The-Army-Painter-Warpaints-Starter/dp/B007SQ3C18

Vallejo are nice - they do a Model Colour range which is very comprehensive and a Game Colour range, which offers brighter colours that match GW's now defunct paint names.

Their washes are poor though...

Foundry and Reaper do good triads.  I have a great triad for plain linen from P3, but that's about all I have from them.

Army Painter are fairly new - hear good things about them.  Their washes are nice.

Coat D'Arms are tstill selling the original GW paint formulations from the 80s, and they also make the P3 paints.

GW's paints these days are pretty damn good (small pots and overpriced, but I can nip into a shop for supplies in almost any town in Britain).  They offer a  set of base colours that give good coverage (importat for warm coours that typically cover poorly), layer colours, drybrush highlights that may seem superfluous but re actually very good.  their shades/washes take a bit of getting used to, and the texture paints are a waste of money.

Spray primer - honestly, cheap car primer sprays are as good as anything.

There are a couple of things about triads that may sway you in their favour...

1) First of all, they're great when you're doing a large number of uniformed figures - no more hunting around for how you mixed up that last batch.

2) Second, there's a really good painting method called the three-layer or Dallimore method, which avoids blending, glazing and other advanced techniques.  Foundry do a great couple of books that cover the method well, but basically you paint on a shade colour, cover all but the deep folds and edges in the mid colour, then paint the raised areas in the highlight colour.

It works.  It.  Just.  Works.  it gives a pleasing effect to the eye, and the multiple layers of paint give a depth and richness to your paintjob that you only get from multiple coats.

3) Thirdly, if you mix your own colours, there's more to it than black to darken, white to lighten and grey to desaturate (remove the brightness of the colour).  Black makes colours muddy, white can make them chalky and grey sometimes does nothing.  

You're often better having lighter and darker versions of your mid colour to let you mix a range of shades.  To desaturate, you want to mix in the complementary colour (on the other side of a colour wheel - look it up).

Last one for a while, honest.

Brushes - Generally you want pure Kolinsky sable or mixed brushes, rather than synthetic.  The ones you buy in model shops are often garbage - they fall apart and you end up picking hair off your minis.  Go for artist's brushes.

GW's are OK - sometimes.  Vallejo's are good.  eM-4 (in the UK) are good.  Rosemary and Co in the UK do a great series of watercolour brushes at very reasonable prices; Windsor and Newton's are also great but very expensive.

Go for a range of sizes - 2, 0, 00 and 0000 (or 4/0) will keep you happy.  Look for a good sharp point on the brush - if the hairs are splayed or the tip is bent, avoid.

Buy your basing sand, flock etc from model railway shops, not GW.

Unfortunately Foundry and Coat D'Arms paints are really only an option if you live in Britain, due to the new postal regulations, unless you're willing to pay a small fortune to get them shipped over 3 bottles at a time.

Quote from: TristramEvans;818346Unfortunately Foundry and Coat D'Arms paints are really only an option if you live in Britain, due to the new postal regulations, unless you're willing to pay a small fortune to get them shipped over 3 bottles at a time.

Didn't realise they don't have a distributor in the States .  The new international postage regs are a bummer - can't even send my daughter a bottle of perfume at Christmas now.

eM-4 brushes on the other hand - the guy has a wormhole or something, I think he sends stuff before you know you need it...

A word of advice.  If you're wanting to start painting, and want to keep costs down, that means you're probably using Bones minis.  They are plastic, and not metal.  I think their quality, while not as high as metal, are still really good.

The thing is, is if you use Bones minis, you have to be really careful what primer, paint, and finish you use.  If you use the wrong kind, the minis will get very tacky and sticky.

I go with Army Painter primer, and will never go back.  It puts on the best coat of primer I've ever used before.  Acrylic paints, and matte for acrylics is the only options for you if you use Bones.  If you use enamel paints or matte, you'll ruin the mini.


My favorite paints of all time were actually the TSR AD&D paint line.  Great paint, and the pots were by far the best pots I've ever used.  Most of my paints are still those in fact, after 20 years.  Too bad they don't make them any more.

Quote from: IggytheBorg;818333Does anyone have a recommendation for a good basic set of paints? Or maybe a few such sets which, when combined would give one a pretty extensive palette without breaking the bank?  I really like the idea of Reaper's three color shading/highlighting system, and much as I'd like to I balk at the idea of buying that many jars of paint for every color I may want to use.

A Vallejo Game Color Paint Set is great on pewter. It doesn't do well on the white Reaper Bonesium/plastic minis, but with a good base coat it's very good on pewter.
I got mine here:
 http://www.em4miniatures.com/acatalog/Paints.html
On amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Vallejo+Game+Color+Paint+Set

Quote from: TristramEvans;818346Unfortunately Foundry and Coat D'Arms paints are really only an option if you live in Britain, due to the new postal regulations, unless you're willing to pay a small fortune to get them shipped over 3 bottles at a time.

I think they just changed that again:
https://www.change.org/p/moya-greene-lift-the-restrictions-on-shipping-water-based-paints/u/9295196


"We have lifted the four item restriction. Customers can now send an unlimited number in any one package but the volume of each container should still not exceed 150ml.

The items must be securely closed and placed in a leak-proof liner, such as a sealed polythene bag, so that any inadvertent leakage is contained within the outer packaging. Surround with absorbent material such as newspaper and sufficient cushioning material to protect each item from damage. The sender's name and return address must be clearly visible on the outer packaging.

The changes went live on 12 January 2015. I trust this will be a welcome decision for you."