While I am no expert in painting figures I decided to share my knowledge (albeit limited) and hope others do the same.
Paint:
There are a lot of paint companies out there and even more information. Here is some of what I have learned. No way is this all encompassing.
Citadel, produced by Games Workshop will have a ton of the paints you will need. They paints are often good but every few years a batch gets away from them. They also rename things every few years for whatever reason. These are usually readily available at any game store and makes them great for veteran and new painters alike. Hands down the best Metallic paints I have ever worked with.
P3, produced by Privateer Press has a huge range of colors as well. It is all themed around their games, Warmachine and Hordes. They do make it somewhat easier by saying things like "cryx bane base" and "cryx bane highlight" it makes it simple for learning the order of colors to really make miniatures pop. The only downside is that their caps seems to crack and they aren't sturdy, but I mean they are 4 years old now. Their washes are some of the best out there.
Army Painter has a big range and is best known for the "dip method" of painting. Great for speed painting and they seem pretty popular.
Vallejo dropper bottles. These guys, are the best (IMO). Dropper bottles make better seals so paints don't dry out. The metallics are great but they seperate (chemically) if they sit too long, so stick to GW metals. Dropper bottles means exacting mixing recipients and less waste. Also they have the Vallejo Air line, for airbrushes (more on that later), these are great for airbrushing as they are pre-thinned but honestly, i use them for brushwork because, well they are pre-thinned. Vallejo's downside is not a lot of places carry it, and its drastically more expensive, but for my money this what I prefer.
Don't go to Michael's and buy generic cheap acrylic paint. Its just not good. You spend so much on models, don't skimp on paint.
Primer:
Automotive spray primer is usually good enough. I used to prefer Citadels over priced black primer as it never orange peeled on me. There is also Vallejo's Surface primer which can be either airbrushed on or painted on (what I prefer now). Really it doesn't matter too much, just do not prime in any weather extremes. You will have a bad time if its too hot, too cold, or too humid. If you live somewhere that is always anyone of those things, get brush on surface primer.
Brushes:
Don't skimp here either. Windsor Newton Series 7 size 2 will do everything you need, granted its almost a $20 brush. If you are just starting out, Army Painter and Games Workshop (citadel) has brushes that are pretty good quality for the price. I would recommend brush soap to help maintain your brushes between use and buy 2 brushes. One of them will be your dry brushing brush and use it only for that. Do not go cheap here you will spend more on cheap brushes than one or 2 really good brushes.
Clear Coat:
Clear coats are a clear, acrylic protective paint that is applied to protect paint from chipping, rubbing, and whatever else. I prefer Testor's Dullcoate, not only are the fumes the strongest, it has never orange peeled, or tinted my models. Its pricey but the best. I won't even mention the others don't bother.
Phrases/Things to Know:
Washes/Inks - thinned down tint meant to sit in the recesses and add depth
dry brushing - minimal amount of paint on a brush. brush is swept across a model so that paint up picks up the highest points
glazing - thin tint of paint that is meant to change the color. like washes but does not pool in recesses and is more of a camera filter.
2 brush lending - applying paint with a brush and then using a different damp brush to drag and fade the color so it transitions nicely
Zenithal priming - Priming a model black, and then priming it white, but from the angle of the light source so that is has "natural" shadows when you apply the base coats. Works great with glazing
Base coat - the first layer of paint that set the defined scheme. Better to do this in multiple thin coats.
High lights - high lighting the highest parts of a model in a lighter color than the base so that it pops out.
This is it for now. If you have more feel free to add.
Last tip of advice... use youtube. There are so many free and amazing painting videos for every technique around. Its much easier to learn how to paint now a days then when i started 20 years ago.
TL:DR my recommendations
P3 Washes/Glazes
GW Metallics
Vellejo/VallejoAir Everything else
Testors Dullcoate
Enjoy and I can not wait to see everyone's figures.
EDIT** added TL:DR and Clear Coat section
Edited by BergerFett
haven't painted since LOTR