Here ya go, a valuable tip for not only painting, but one that you can apply in a lot of aspects of your life:
Don't stress the small stuff.
I mean it. Here it is on Wednesday and I am just getting around to my tip. I did this for two reasons:
One, to make this point; painting should not be your priority, it is a hobby (unless you make money off of it) and if you cannot get to it one day because of more important things, don't sweat it. That model doesn't care if you paint it today or next week, just cover your model so dust doesn't get on it.
Two, I did not have the time. This blog is even further down on my list of priorities than painting. Right now painting is pretty important because it helps me relax during a stressful time, so I chose that over doing this.
So, don't stress the small stuff and have priorities taken care of so you can concentrate on spending guilt free time making that model look great!
Till next time, True Believers!
Excelsior!
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Begining: The List
If you think this is going to be a cheap hobby, let me stop you right now. Honestly, coming from someone who owns two guitars, a X-box 360 and has a few books, I do not think there are many cheap hobbies out there.
But, if done right you can budget with this fairly easy. Allow yourself a model or two a month, depending on your financial status, maybe more. It is the start up fee that will get you, but I can go over some ways that it may be a possibility to work around it.
First off, let us start by naming a few things *I* personally think you need to do this hobby in the beginning. I will start with the obvious:
Paint
Brushes
Model
Seems straight forward? Well, yes, you can paint a model with just those things. Will it look good? Sure, decent, table top quality. But there are a few things to elevate it and step up a notch. By my standards, here are the essentials for that:
File set
X-acto Knife and Cutting Mat
Washes (a thin type of paint)
Glue
I purchased most of these things from an online store called thewarstore.com. Good prices and you can find all of this stuff in one spot. My paint was bought in a case with I think 72 colors. I got a set of files from there. I also ordered a slip-a-grip mat and I have to tell you, I love it. It is my pallet and the paint will come right off of it, any glue as well. It isn't something you need though. The glue I had gotten and I still have the same bottle is called Zap-A-Gap. Take care of the bottle, recap it with BOTH caps or it will dry out as He found out. X-acto knife and self healing cutting mat were found at a hobby store in a pack.
The paints are the most expensive thing on that list. My case cost close to 200 American dollars and for specifics, it was Vallejo Game Colors. They come in dropper bottles which I find to my advantage for a few reasons: less paint waste, no paint drying in the pot while it is open, ease of coming up with paint "formulas" (mixing paint) by drops is really easy. The paint flows well, mixes very well and thins even better due to a high pigment count. Use old small drinking glasses to clean your brushes off or plastic throw away ones.
I believe if you wanted to you could buy the paints specific to the project you are working on to keep starting costs down. If you were doing Space Marines in Ultramarine blue or Cygnar you could limit to a few blues, metallic, black, white, and any accent colors like browns for belts or whatnot. This has potential to keep cost down but could also cause frustration when you want a color for something and you do not have it.
At this point I am going to talk about washes for a second. I never used them till the minis I painted for my gaming group, and even then I used thinned paints for them, as is feasible and frankly sometimes better than pre-made washes. BUT, I digress I recently discovered delven mud and badhab black, (I am not sure if I am spelling those 100% correct, and frankly Scarlet, I don't give a damn) let me tell you this about them, they flow awesome and work great, plus, they smell weird as can be (like burning).
Files are for cleaning off mold lines, as is the X-acto blade. Be careful to not ruin the model while trying to "clean it up".
I will create a post just for supplies I use if you want to get an idea of where I am or where to start. It will be JUST a list and when I mention another product I will add it there.
On a final note, there are a couple of other important things that make painting easier. Primer, everyone has a favorite, I use gray Gesso because I live in a state where using spray primer outside is not the easiest due to constant weather changes. I'm rough on brushes and that is where brush soap or pink soap (as it is called) comes in handy. It cleans the brushes really well and conditions them. You can get both of these at a local hobby store as well.
I think that is a decent list of the essentials for starting out, give or take a few items. Hope this helped.
But, if done right you can budget with this fairly easy. Allow yourself a model or two a month, depending on your financial status, maybe more. It is the start up fee that will get you, but I can go over some ways that it may be a possibility to work around it.
First off, let us start by naming a few things *I* personally think you need to do this hobby in the beginning. I will start with the obvious:
Paint
Brushes
Model
Seems straight forward? Well, yes, you can paint a model with just those things. Will it look good? Sure, decent, table top quality. But there are a few things to elevate it and step up a notch. By my standards, here are the essentials for that:
File set
X-acto Knife and Cutting Mat
Washes (a thin type of paint)
Glue
I purchased most of these things from an online store called thewarstore.com. Good prices and you can find all of this stuff in one spot. My paint was bought in a case with I think 72 colors. I got a set of files from there. I also ordered a slip-a-grip mat and I have to tell you, I love it. It is my pallet and the paint will come right off of it, any glue as well. It isn't something you need though. The glue I had gotten and I still have the same bottle is called Zap-A-Gap. Take care of the bottle, recap it with BOTH caps or it will dry out as He found out. X-acto knife and self healing cutting mat were found at a hobby store in a pack.
The paints are the most expensive thing on that list. My case cost close to 200 American dollars and for specifics, it was Vallejo Game Colors. They come in dropper bottles which I find to my advantage for a few reasons: less paint waste, no paint drying in the pot while it is open, ease of coming up with paint "formulas" (mixing paint) by drops is really easy. The paint flows well, mixes very well and thins even better due to a high pigment count. Use old small drinking glasses to clean your brushes off or plastic throw away ones.
I believe if you wanted to you could buy the paints specific to the project you are working on to keep starting costs down. If you were doing Space Marines in Ultramarine blue or Cygnar you could limit to a few blues, metallic, black, white, and any accent colors like browns for belts or whatnot. This has potential to keep cost down but could also cause frustration when you want a color for something and you do not have it.
At this point I am going to talk about washes for a second. I never used them till the minis I painted for my gaming group, and even then I used thinned paints for them, as is feasible and frankly sometimes better than pre-made washes. BUT, I digress I recently discovered delven mud and badhab black, (I am not sure if I am spelling those 100% correct, and frankly Scarlet, I don't give a damn) let me tell you this about them, they flow awesome and work great, plus, they smell weird as can be (like burning).
Files are for cleaning off mold lines, as is the X-acto blade. Be careful to not ruin the model while trying to "clean it up".
I will create a post just for supplies I use if you want to get an idea of where I am or where to start. It will be JUST a list and when I mention another product I will add it there.
On a final note, there are a couple of other important things that make painting easier. Primer, everyone has a favorite, I use gray Gesso because I live in a state where using spray primer outside is not the easiest due to constant weather changes. I'm rough on brushes and that is where brush soap or pink soap (as it is called) comes in handy. It cleans the brushes really well and conditions them. You can get both of these at a local hobby store as well.
I think that is a decent list of the essentials for starting out, give or take a few items. Hope this helped.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)