I've gone kind of back and forth on this if it's worth it or not. I'm mostly wondering how much would it cost to do it myself versus charging someone to do it? What all would I need? And does it all seem worth it to you all?

I like the idea of doing it myself but I'm terrible with painting and imagine it can be pricey...

I'm in the same boat.

Think I'll practice on more expendable minis, first (e.g., the Reaper Bones line).

Hey IWasLeft2Die - great question.

I decided to have a go at painting my minis two years ago, after having never painted at all....total newbie.

So here's some quick thoughts from my experience in case it helps:

i) It is expensive...I brought two starter citadel paint sets which cost $150(NZ) each. It gave me a great starting range of base paints and layer paints (about 25 paints total). Base paints are the colours you start with as a base, and layer paints are the brighter ones you use as highlights etc to make the figures 'pop' - or come to life. From there on, individual paints are around $7.50(NZ) a pop.

ii) It is much easier than it looks. I was scared to start - and didn't know how to get started - in case I ruined some really cool minis. I decided to start with Arcadia Quest as those minis are a bit larger than normal and not microscopically detailed. They were great. A year later, I started doing gamesworkshops bloodbowl minis really comfortably - they're about 1/3 the size and more than twice as detailed!

iii) Youtube is your friend. Check out Sorastro's painting guides (here's a link to his Imperial Assault guides as a starter: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6xOeNhrVj9to2nKZjk5H8OAQbG9izBrH). He follows the citadel paints (Gamesworkshop) approach that uses a standard sequence: a) undercoat the figures, b) apply the base colours, c) add a recess wash, d) use layer paints to bring out the contrast and highlights.

iv) You will make heaps of mistakes but you just go over the surrounding colours again and tidy them up. It really is easier than it looks - it almost feels like a bit of a trick or illusion in a way, once you've got it down.

Anyway, hope that helps. I've found it enormously fulfilling...however, it has added another hobby to sink money into! :)

7 hours ago, TwiceBorn said:

I'm in the same boat.

Think I'll practice on more expendable minis, first (e.g., the Reaper Bones line).

I used to get Reaper Bones for the price, a single medium humanoid figure is typically around $2.99, then I found D&D Nolzur's Marvelous Mini's , they typically come 2 per pack for $5, and the quality of the mini is much better than Bones, in my opinion.

9 hours ago, IWasLeft2Die said:

I've gone kind of back and forth on this if it's worth it or not. I'm mostly wondering how much would it cost to do it myself versus charging someone to do it? What all would I need? And does it all seem worth it to you all?

I like the idea of doing it myself but I'm terrible with painting and imagine it can be pricey...

Make sure you get paints made for miniature painting, don't just get typical acrylics from your local hobby or art supply. Mini paints are formulated with finer grain pigments, which applies thinner and better to minis.

Citadel is a good quality, but can be kinda pricey to get into, with many different variants ("wtf is a technical paint?") if you are unfamiliar with the hobby it might be confusing. If you want to get started with good paints, but not a heavy investment, you can probably get a set of Vallejo paints for less than the price of a Citadel set, and they are good quality.

Most often used brushes for me are a Round and Flat #0 and #2 (that's 4 brushes).

Thin your paints with water, never paint straight from the paint pot onto the mini, and go slow at first, let the mini dry but keep your brush wet and clean.

Edit: Oh, and don't worry. A little rubbing alcohol and elbow grease fixes everything.

Have fun, I find its a great hobby and how I relieve stress.

they do look a lot better on the table painted. I would have 2 words of advice. Contrast paints.

Yes they're not cheap, but theyre fast and effective. All my monsters are done with them, in less than a week too, that's all expansions too minus newest and horrific journeys

Hi there, I also decided to paint my minis myself. I have to say I think that it was the right decision for me.

I got some acrylic paints from a friend (the normal art supply ones) and I use airbrush flow improver to thin them down a bit. This made it a lot easier to apply. With time going on I also got paints and shades from citadell, vallejo and warpaints. I quite like those and have 50 somewhat colours now... I also use the black and white citadell spray paints for priming the minis. I mainly use round brushes and of those mainly #-10, #-5 (both for details) and #0, #1 and #2. I also use some flat brushes, but mainly for dry brushing.

This was also the first time I painted minis and I was also a bit nervous but I think mine turned out alright so far (At least I am ok with the jobs I achieved so far^^). I still have quite a few to go but I will post my results when I finish (will propably take another 6 months or so as I just paint when I am in the mood for it). I also got a magnifying glass with a lighting ring around it on a stand. This really helped me with some of the details.

I also watched some youtube videos on what to look out for and that also definitely helped me a lot in the beginning. I would post a link to them but those videos are not in english but I do not think that you will have a problem findinga tutorial video.

Looking at what it will cost to commision someone to paint the minis for you I would say it is definitely cheaper to do it yourself.

Have fun with you minis whatever decision you come to take!

Great point re the magnifying glass!! Look after your eyes - it can be quite a strain without magnification and the ones with the light rings are awesome! The better you look after your eyes, the longer you can enjoy the hobby for!!

I started painting minis just about a year ago. My daughter and I attended one of the free weekly painting clinics at our LHS "Gamers Haven" here in Colorado Springs. You may find that one of your LHSs may have something similar. Now the whole family paints. Nice relaxing time for all of us. Interestingly, the painter that was hosting the class told me that if I "need a magnifying glass to paint it" , then I "need a magnifying glass to see it". I took his advice and skipped the magnifying glass. We do however have OttLites at each of our painting stations.

I’d recommend giving it a shot. I got a set of brushes for about $10 and a set of Vallejo paints for about $40. That has permitted me to paint pretty much all of Mansions (don’t have Path of the Serpent yet) and all of Journeys Into Middle Earth. I’d recommend watching Sorastro’s guides for a general idea what to do. Painting can be a relaxing thing to do, and makes the games much more enjoyable. I’m far from the best painter, but even a mediocre job is better than the plain grey miniatures. I’m very glad I gave it a shot and recommend you do it as well if you can afford to sink an additional $50 or so.

On 1/14/2020 at 8:48 PM, kris40k said:

I used to get Reaper Bones for the price, a single medium humanoid figure is typically around $2.99, then I found D&D Nolzur's Marvelous Mini's , they typically come 2 per pack for $5, and the quality of the mini is much better than Bones, in my opinion.

I have some D&D Nolzur's Marvelous Minis and Pathfinder Deep Cuts minis as well, and of course, they are of better quality than the Reaper Bones line. But I have loads of minis from a Bones Kickstarter I backed many years ago that I never did anything with, so I thought they'd be fine for first attempts.

I burned out after getting about 1/2 way through all the MoM minis (including expansions). Now I kind of wish I had just done some quick contrast/washes on everything. It bugs me that 1/2 are not finished and I just want to play the game. I'll hopefully get around to doing the rest, but it definitely is a big time/money commitment!