Okay, let’s start with the stuff you’ll need: X-Acto blade, clippers, Spray Primer (white or black), a very stylish dishwashing glove, matches, needles (notpins), a luxurious chunk of Styrofoam, and a Dremel with polishing pads. If you have any questions about the tools, check out our tool blog here.

Cutting Pieces off the Sprue

First, you need to trim the pieces off the sprue. Use a sharp pair of clippers and clean up rough bits with the X-Acto. What you’ll have to look out for at this point are either spots you’ll be able to hide once the figure is assembled, like under feet or inside armpits, or leave a bit of a sprues riser on for our next step…

“Pinning”

The main reason people assemble before painting is because they can’t hold the little bits cleanly, but you can work around that, so get your matches and needles out. You want to light a match, heat the tip a needle, then jab the needle into a concealable spot on each piece of the figure. You need to be quick, and I’m a bit of a clutz and just drop the matches, but I guess an ashtray or saucer of water could prevent burning your house down if you don’t have cement floors where you’re working.

Once you’re done, you’ll have every bit of your figure impaled on a needle. You will now be able to hold the pieces cleanly and set them down by poking them into the Styrofoam.

Spraying

Put on the sexy glove and hold your pieces about 18” from the spray can. You’ll want to sue white primer for lighter figures and black for darker ones, though dark primer is good for novices since it hides a lot of painting mistake. Spray in clean shots and keep the can moving. If you stop at any point, you’ll filly in crevasses and make a runny mess.

If you’re really having trouble, don’t use the can to fill in the last gaps, it’s better just to touch them up with a brush rather than obliterate details with too much paint. I like to apply in two really light layers so I just barely cover the plastic by the end of the second spray.

Dremel Time!

Now it’s time to crack out the Dremel and a polishing pad. Since the patina of a spray can’s micro droplets has very little in common with whatever you’re painting, we’re going to buff it out. I suggest you stick to just a bare cotton pad, which is what I do. You can use a pad impregnated with some rubbing compound, or get a little jar of rubbing compound to apply to the pad, but it’s not necessary and can lead to damage. If you keep the Dremel’s speed within reason, this is perfectly safe.

What you want to do is run the pad over the primed surface until it goes from matte to shine. It’s easy on the flat bits, but try to work the edge of the pad into the crevasses or else you’ll lose detail.

And there you should have it! You should now have pristine pieces ready for paintwork.

Okay, this blog probably would have been better entitled “Basic Tools with Bonuses,” especially when it comes to the Dremel, but what’s done is done. So let’s go through the items…

Paints

Listen, I like the full paint set. Unfortunately, if you add up all the contents of the set, it’s only worth $232, though the set costs $250. While $18 for the case isn’t unreasonable, I really think Games Workshop should have worked a bit of a discount into the set. I mean you’re buying enough! It does keep my life in order though, there’s a tray to dry brushes on as well as a compartment big enough for all my foundation paints. Also, I never find myself sitting at my desk at 11PM wishing I had just a couple drops of a less common color for a highlight.

For the record, I hate that these are all acrylic paints. I know oil based paints need thinner, which is noxious, but acrylic paints are just so damned soft! The “’Ard Coat” varnish is latex-(water)-based, so it doesn’t offer much protection either. I like to mix some varnish in with the water I dilute the paints with to harden them up slightly, but it still doesn’t do much. I tried to coat a Space Marine in oil-based varnish and the paint melted on me, so that’s not much of an option either.

The Holy Tile

Kitchen tiles are great surfaces to mix your paints on, and once they’re cruddy, just throw them out! They’re only 99 cents after all. If you want something a little more luxurious, get a ceramic mixing tray with a plastic cover, then you can cover your paints up and they won’t dry out on you. Plastic trays are the cheapest, but I’m pretty much married to the ceramic surface now. Of course, my el-cheapo pictured tray is plastic. When you’re in a pinch, use the lid off a yogurt container. The container itself is perfect for holding water and when you’re done, you can just chuck everything out.

Designer’s Guide to Color 4

Anybody can match blue and gold or red and white, but what about a faded orange and brown with a deep blue? This book shows you over a thousand color combinations categorized by tone, just flip through it and you’ll find some incredible combos. You can find it for sale on Amazon (for the Americans) and Chapters (for the Canadians) at the two links below…

http://www.amazon.com/Designers-Guide-Color-Colo/dp/087701681X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200499034&sr=8-2

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Designers-Guide-to-Color-4-IKUYOSHI-SHIBUKAWA/9780877016816-item.html?ref=Search+Books%3a+%2527designer%2527s+guide+to+color+4%2527

Foundation Paints

Have black paint for dark figures and white paint for bright ones. In truth, you can get great dark figures from a white paint foundation but applying judicious layers of ink. I like that best, but it’s time consuming. Spray cans themselves are limiting in that you can get spatter and tiny blobs, but using an airbrush is a hell of a lot more work. Also, get one of those grandma dishwashing gloves to keep your holding hand clean while spraying.

Styrofoam, Matches and Needles

My priming video will explain this fully, but a lot of figures, once assembled, are near impossible to paint properly. You end up with spaces deep inside the fold of a cloak etc. Also, a lot of more conventional figures benefit from painting the head separately so you get a clean edge between their neck and jaw, and there’s always the edge between a Space Marines crest and boltgun. Painting the pieces separately can be difficult since you can hold them properly or put them down to dry. So you heat a pin, jab it in a spot you’ll eventually be gluing. Then when you put a piece down to dry, you poke it into the Styrofoam. As I said before, we have a priming video on the way where I properly demonstrate this.

Glue

Games Workshop glue is good and invisible, but some figures really benefit from tougher super glue, so keep some on hand for staffs and outstretched arms. If it looks like gravity might be an issue, use the stronger glue. Some knockoff Krazy Glue dries white, but it’s easy to touch up afterwards, even so, it’s better to break out five bucks and buy the real stuff.

X-Acto Blade

Buy ten blades right away! If you don’t, you won’t be able to resist using a dull blade and you’ll get garbage results. Also, the case they’ll come in will have a little slot you slip used blades into, so you won’t have dangerous garbage bags. Also, blades can vary slightly in quality, but it’s not worth buying anything other than the cheapest available, and the handles are all the same, so definitely buy the cheapest and ignore that stupid $15 Games Workshop one.

Clippers

Forget the Games Workshop ones. First, the last generation ones weren’t very good. Second, the new ones are overpriced. Get a nice sharp pair from a hardware store and borrow the cutting stone from the kitchen to sharpen them up now and then. Again, ignore that stupid $15 Games Workshop clippers.

All Those Other Tools…

Don’t buy the $120 Games Workshop Tool Set! The parts are only worth $100 and the X-acto blade and clippers are incredibly overpriced. You can easily save another $20 bucks there, so you could save $40, and that’s if you still want everything, which you won’t…

Okay, onto the saw: I don’t have one. Modders might want one. The new Games Workshop one is meant to waste very little plastic, but it’s $22. Sorry, you’re on you own.

Onto the vice: again, I don’t have one, but I would check out prices at hobby shops and online before plunking down for the Games workshop one. I end up switching pieces so often I don’t see the point. I imaging people who assemble before painting would like one.

As for the files: $12 for three Games Workshop files seems like a good deal, especially if you work on metal figures, but then again, you can buy hobby files for $2.50 individually. Also, you only need two, a round one and a triangle one.

Finally, the toolkit: it’s stupid. I like the paint set because those paint can get confused easily. These tools don’t have that problem. In fact, most people would have enough space in their paint set to fit everything. If not there, get a nice metal toolbox for $20.

Dremel

The Dremel is definitely a more advanced sort of tool, but once you pick one up, you’ll be hooked! They’re pretty inexpensive, especially if you pick one up on sale. For attachments, definitely get the super tiny drill set and cotton polishers. You can also try out some polishing pads impregnated with rubbing compound, or even a little tub of rubbing compound, but be careful with that stuff! Also, cutting discs can kick ass, but I’m too afraid to them.

You can’t go too wrong buying a Dremel, someday you’ll use one on something.

Lighting

I’m not sure this is really a painting tool, but strong lighting is critical! Do your figures in dim light and you’ll have a cruddy result. Since I’ve always had them, I use my photography lamps with big fluorescent bulbs in them, but a directional desk lamp will do the trick. Also, a spare, warm lamp can help bake your paint dry.