Required items have checkboxes.
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brushes (details below)
- for detail / general purpose work
- a good #1/0 (#0) or #2/0 (#00) round Kalinsky / red sable brush: Princeton Series 7050 #2/0 [$4.99 @ Blick]
- a good #2 or #3 round Kalinsky / red sable brush: Princeton Series 7050 #3 [$9.23 @ Blick]
- for drybrushing / rough work
- a #2 filbert or flat brush: Blick Masterstroke Finest Red Sable filbert #2 [$4.79 @ Blick] OR #2 dry brush [$6.95] from Micro-Mark
- for metallic paints (if you use them)
- a cheapish #1/0 (#0) or #2/0 (#00) round sable brush Blick Masterstroke Finest Red Sable round #3/0 [$3.77 @ Blick]
- a good #2 or #3 round sable brush Blick Masterstroke Finest Red Sable round #3 [$7.19 @ Blick]
- for detail / general purpose work
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paints
Scale Hobbyist is a good source. Miniature Market also carries Vallejo and has (slightly) better prices (sometimes), though they don't seem to stock as wide a selection and/or or sometimes they're out of stock. Micro-Mark has some things, but more expensive. May be worth it if you're already ordering something from them and can save on shipping.
Vallejo's Model Color acrylics are a better consistency than Game Color.
- Paints: Pick up a basic paint 16 color set plus some singles. Pay attention to whether the set contains washes, varnishes, mediums, 'transparent' colors, and/or metallics.
- Washes from Game Color range. Vallejo has a Model Wash line, but this is larger bottles (35 ml) than you probably need. (Standard paint bottle is 17 ml.) You can make your own washes with a bit of water/flow extender and paint. It's really a convenience / knowledge thing. Recommended colors to start [$2.69 @ Scale Hobbyist]:
- Inks (for glazing effects) from Game Color range. Can't really get the same effect as an ink from using mediums. Remember that you can mix inks with paint. Make sure you clean brushes immediately, may need to use alcohol to remove dried ink. You may think black ink would be really useful, but it's not apart from possibly mixing with another color. Recommended colors [$2.49-$2.69 at Scale Hobbyist]:
- Red (for flesh blush effect) (or possibly Flesh Wash?)
- Blue (for blue steel effect) (Not sure, though. Looks really light. Maybe get black, too?)
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primer(s): From Vallejo Surface Primer range. Get 60 ml bottle(s), not 17 ml [$5.79 @ Scale Hobbyist]. There are several colors, start with White or Grey.
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matte varnish: Protect your paint job once you're done. Vallejo makes one [60 ml, $3.49 @ Scale Hobbyist].
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fluid mediums. All of these thin, so they are confusing. Most people use a mix of flow enhancer and retarder. I can give you some to start.
- flow enhancer: Enhances flow, eliminates beading, increases blending. Used for blending, washes. Liquitex Flow Aid, 4 oz ($6.59 @ Blick)
- retarder: "Retards" drying process, increasing drying time. Use for blending. Liquitex Slow-Dri Blending Medium, 4 oz ($5.79 @ Blick) or Vallejo Retarder Medium
- matte medium: Paint without the pigment, used to make things more translucent, like for a glaze. Not something you need at first (or maybe at all): Vallejo Matte Medium, 17ml ($2.69 @ Scale Hobbyist) OR Liquitex Matte Medium, 4 oz [$5.79 @ Blick]
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cleaning
- brush cleaner / conditioner: The Masters Brush Cleaner and Preserver: Clean and condition your brushes often, ideally after each painting session.
- palette (or use an old saucer from the thrift store): Small porcelain watercolor palettes like this or this are nice because they don't slide around and keep things like washes separated.
- jars/glasses for rinse water: Never leave your brushes sitting in water! Remember to use a separate container for rinse water if you use metallic paints.
- cyanoacrylate (superglue): Starbond Medium, 1oz [$7.50 @ Starbond (free shipping)]
- putty: Milliput Superfine 2-Part Self Hardening Putty, White [$9.44 @ Amazon]
- wire (for pinning joints, modeling) of various gauges, something like floral wire [$3.58 @ Amazon].
- white glue (Elmer's) (for terrain making)
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cutting
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hobby (X-Acto) #1 knife
Micro-Mark offers a 40 piece knife blade assortment, but I assume its blades are low quality, so won't recommend it.
- #1 knife handles, set of two with #11 blades [$7.45] (good to have two)
- I like these blades best for cleaning miniatures, general work: #10 blades (package of 5) [$5.45]
- classic #11 blades (package of 15) [$6.95]
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#5 knife: 10 piece deluxe razor saw / knife set (includes #5 knife handle) [$19.95]
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sprue-cutting pliers
- Xuron micro shear (think I have this one?) OR Professional Sprue Cutter (seems expensive)
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sanding/filing
- needle files: 12 piece micro-size file set with handle [$24.95] (recommended) OR this one, though I have it and I find it unwieldy. The first one is probably the best choice.
- sandpaper: flexible film sandpaper assortment
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gluing
- applicator to control glue placement: micro glue applicator [Note: emailed Micro-Mark re whether this will work for superglue.]
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drilling
- pin vise: basic pin vise OR high precision micro pin vise [$13.95] (probably the latter)
- micro drill bits: 20 piece micro-size drill bit set with index, #61 - #80 [$12.95]
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clamping
- if it works, this might be great for holding a miniature while working: spring-loaded parts holder
- Holding Tool For Micro Size Parts, 3/32 Inch Capacity
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sculpting
- spatulas: 4 piece spatula set or 7 piece spatula set
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styrofoam: hot wire foam cutter
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small metal straight edge (smooth, not a "ruler"): 6 inch straight edge (can probably find one cheaper?)
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miniature square: Thin-Beam Square
- this seems nice: HobbyTrayz 12x9 Modeling Base
- One of Vallejo's paint racks would be good if you have space. The bottle sizes look to be standard, so should fit most brands:
You may think that you need a teeny tiny brush to paint miniatures, but realize that the point of one sharp brush is the same size as another, no matter how large the brush. Until brush size gets significantly larger, smaller brushes simply hold less paint. We use smaller brushes when we want to load them with less paint to minimize accidents. As you become more experienced, you'll become more comfortable with using larger brushes.
Brushes are sized with increasing numbers as they get larger, until they get down to 0. Brushes smaller than 0 are indicated (rarely) through multiple zeroes (000) or (commonly) through number-slash-zero (2/0 = 00). Brush sizing varies by brand, but there's no helping that.
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Two good natural (Kolinsky or red sable) round brushes for detail/general purpose work
If you're new to painting, these don't need to be Winsor Newton Series 7 brushes. In fact, they probably shouldn't be, since you'll just ruin them. Dick Blick stocks several cheaper brands, as well as a store brand. Get those first instead, and you won't feel so bad when they're frayed and curled. Once you're got some chops, replace them with better ones and use these for drybrushing and rough work. When you do get the Winsor Newtons, you don't want the miniature brushes—these are simply shorter, which means they hold less paint, which means they'll dry up quicker and need reloaded more often.
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Drybrushing and rough work
Drybrushing will destroy a good brush. Save wear on your good brushes by buying cheap brushes for drybrushing and rough (non-detail) work. Some folks prefer brushes with bright, filbert, or flat (rather than round) shapes for drybrushing.
As your good brushes age out and you buy new ones, you can use them for drybrushing or metallics. If it helps, use something like electrical tape around their handles to indicate older brushes that you've relegated to these tasks.
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Metallic paints
Metallic paints contain bits of grit such as mica that give the metallic effect. These bits of grit will destroy your brushes. Also, they can be nearly impossible to rinse out. If you use metallic paints (many folks use an NMM (Non Metallic Metal) style these days), don't use your good brushes for metallic paints. You'll also want to use a separate water jar for rinsing out metallic paints; otherwise, those bits of grit will end up in your other brushes.