I am buying for my friends and I to play together, so funding both sides.

My current setup at first is going to be (already ordered).
-2 Core Sets (66), 1 Fleet Trooper (7), 1 Pathfinder (6), 1 Rebel Commando (7), 1 Jyn, 1 Han, 1 Imperial Scout (7), 1 Snowtrooper (7), 1 Deathtrooper (6), 1 Krennic, 1 Boba.

I was trying to convince myself that the 2nd core set was unnecessary as I didn't want doubles of Vader and Luke; wasn't initially interested in having 2 units of vehicles; I didn't realize just how many things I DO want doubles of.

So All in all that's initially . . .110 minis to paint.

I am currently looking at buying WotC's painting collections as they are priced around $1.70/bottle which is a fairly good price.

However, my question is, how much paint should I expect to need?

Obviously a lot of white for the storm troopers. Though I plan to do a kind of desert sand color for maybe two units of my stormies.

How far will a 1-ounce bottle of any given color for general areas get me?

I just want to make sure I'm spending my money on paints wisely.

Thank you for any help!

One single bottle goes a long way, especially if you are watering paints down on a palette (as you should!). I would only ever double up on white or black (as long as it's pure white or pure black) as you will likely want to mix that more often than not.

I honestly cannot remember the last time I threw a bottle away. If they are properly stored, they will last years. I did recently replace some Secret Weapon Dark Sepia, but that's because I use it as a wash for the bases, which tends to take a lot.

I paint a lot of stuff and most pots can last years. dont buy two of any bottle when starting, absolutely a waste imo.

Awesome, thanks for the reassurance.

I ended up going with Army Painters 50 bottle kit. There were a lot of colors I liked in there. I'm now thinking that's more than enough.

Do not buy the WotC or the GW paint sets; Both of these are using smaller bottles and you get a better deal from the AP or Reaper sets. Although the WotC set does have a unique Owlbear that is only available in that set.

Games Workshop switched to their standard pots for their intro paint sets last year. (Not really helpful, though, as so far this leaves you with a limited scope of very specific color schemes - Nighthaunt and Stormcast. And, of course, their Base, Layer, Dry, Shade, Complete, and Air paint sets as well as their faction paint bundles have always had standard pots, but these offer no discount whatsoever, so you're better off putting together your own collections (at any other retailer with sizable discounts).)

The point is moot now, anyway, but while I'm a Vallejo boy, The Army Painter admittedly has better intro packages. (Reaper's, though, suck.)

I think this is gonna do me quite nicely.

I'm excited and nervous to paint minis for my first time.

These guys claim a

1. Spray

2. Paint

3. Dip

4. Complete

Remember the 5 Ds: Dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge!

16 hours ago, Jon_DDA said:

I think this is gonna do me quite nicely.

I'm excited and nervous to paint minis for my first time.

All new Legion painters must watch the Awesome Teri's Fabulous Videos of Awesomeness. The stormtrooper and rebel squad ones are quite good. I don't know if you know about "assembly line" painting but it will save you a ton of time. The other big tip I give is this. Put blu-tac on an object and stick you mini to it during painting to form a "handle". We used to use film cannisters when film was a thing, now I use old Citadel Paint containers but anything that rough size/shape will work. It makes painting way faster and easier.

If I were you I'd consider using your Ion Guns and DLT's as practice/test models, then assembly-line paint the rest of your squads.

IMO just 1 of each color you may need. If you are on need of more... you can buy it later.

Thank you, I'm gonna definitely watch them..

Do whatever looks fine to you, but to be perfectly honest, I don't like the results produced by those tutorials.

The Rebels are fixed easily enough with some anti-shine varnish to remove the distinctive gloss of The Army Painter washes. (Also, you'd have to pay me to use Formula P3 (Privateer Press Paint), but I digress.)

The Stormtroopers, however, simply don't look authentic to me, which is entirely a result of the drybrushing.

Since we're posting painting tutorial videos, these Imperials here are done in a bit more involved a process, but it's much more on my wavelength:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3WLHZP4fB6P-9Pyduyc6qKP9nz8hRgLA

On ‎4‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 2:06 PM, Jon_DDA said:

I think this is gonna do me quite nicely.

I'm excited and nervous to paint minis for my first time.

These guys claim a

1. Spray

2. Paint

3. Dip

4. Complete

I tried this method as well. I have a love/hate relationship with step 3, Dip.

First, don't actually dip the figures. It is very messy and they come out really dark. Use a brush instead. Just don't use a nice brush, since the dip is really hard on brushes.

Also, the effect is really different depending on your color scheme. I used the medium and tried it on Stormtroopers. They ended up becoming sandtroopers. It highlights very well, but ended up being too dark, making them look dirty because of the white armor. I late found that a regular, thin wash worked better for stormtroopers. For my rebels, it worked really well. I love how they turned out. Just be selective on what figures you use the dip on.

I will say as a relatively inexperienced painter as well, it isn't as difficult as I thought to get good results. I established early on what I considered "good enough." There is a certain level of detail that I'm not willing deal with. None of my stuff is winning any competitions, but I enjoy it and am pleased with the results. However, as I've become more comfortable painting, I've tried out different techniques that I was originally hesitant to do.

So I went looking some more, and other than his use of a "very" (not really) dark grey for the black parts I really like these fairly quick tutorials (both in the end results and his not filming his first tries, mistakes and all, which is fine for chill live-streams, but not so much for step-by-step guides):

Also, he uses The Army Painter in these, so they're suited extra well for the OP given his recent purchase.

My first attempt at my "Black Squadron" Storm Trooper leader mini. I'm happy with the table play quality, gonna move on and keep trucking.

On 4/13/2019 at 5:05 PM, Jon_DDA said:

My first attempt at my "Black Squadron" Storm Trooper leader mini. I'm happy with the table play quality, gonna move on and keep trucking.

Looks like a stormtrooper to me! Great work, looking forward to seeing you post up the rest of the army