New to miniatures - What you need :

[Tecumsea]

1) If you run to it a dremel or cheap hobby drill, a set of bits and if you can get hold of them some dentist bits for cleaning seam lines etc.
2) Tommi put me on to a brush made by Rosemary and Co which is cut at a 45 Degree angle-great brushes for blending Oils. Pure Sable Series 78 1/8th Inch. The other Rosemary brushes don't have the fine point needed for detail work on 54mm figures in my opinion and don't last as long as the W&N's
3) Apart from the above I use Series 7's in sizes 2,1,0.000 having tried every brush known to man over the past 3 years, for oils, I find these unbeatable but it is a matter of personal preference-whatever you do don't buy cheap brushes!

Keith

 

[seansdaddy]

1) If you run to it a dremel or cheap hobby drill, a set of bits and if you can get hold of them some dentist bits for cleaning seam lines etc.
2) Tommi put me on to a brush made by Rosemary and Co which is cut at a 45 Degree angle-great brushes for blending Oils. Pure Sable Series 78 1/8th Inch. The other Rosemary brushes don't have the fine point needed for detail work on 54mm figures in my opinion and don't last as long as the W&N's
3) Apart from the above I use Series 7's in sizes 2,1,0.000 having tried every brush known to man over the past 3 years, for oils, I find these unbeatable but it is a matter of personal preference-whatever you do don't buy cheap brushes!

Keith

For 28mm they do work well but I also love my series 7, Ive had great reports on the da vincis but cant find a Uk supplier nor am I up on whats the best range for our hobby

 

[marius'mules]

A good light source is important also. I use a Ottlite Truecolor lamp, in 27 Watt; it replicates natural light i.e; sunlight in doors, which allows you to see the true and full spectrum of colors. Also, the full spectrum lighting causes less strain on the eyes while doing tedious and prolonged detail work.

As far as brushes; it's a good idea to have a separate set of brushes specifically for painting metallics.

 

[kev]

as a couple of others have mentioned rosemary&co brushes available from
elgreco miniatures, also good reference material like osprey books, the internet, I have also been collecting figure international available through
historex agents, well worth a look. Above all you must enjoy it, don't make it a chore

 

[itsonlyakit]

Good quality artists oils can be had in introductory sets, tube size may not be same as the rest of family but the price is right. In North America there is an arts and crafts chain store beginning with letter "M", only enter with a 40% or more off coupon. Get friendly with your dentist and hygenist, ask for old dental tools and drill bits, later show them what you did with those tools. You may find quality tools at a pawn shop but know $$ what you are after. Get a 3 ring binder, some page dividers and clear pocket sheets and start your own reference collection. Collect faces from old magazines, the criteria is this, a realistic "flesh" tone, showing high lites and shadows and hands if in same shot. (sometimes the figure you are working on may be similar to a collected image and this can be a big help). The internet and sites like Planet Figure are a fantastic resource and hard copy is still a good thing. Get a library card and when you are there you may find better references in the children's side of the room. A cake saver clear plastic cover from dairy queen makes a great dust cover while your oils dry. Read the warning labels on the goodies you buy, there is nasty stuff out there and children and pets can be curious. Keep an open mind and check out other parts of the hobby shop, not just the figure case. Have fun, Cheers Eh!

 

[mcsneed17]

So should i try doing any of my DML figures first to get the knowledge before doing the 28mms because of their small details is this right.

 

[bogusman53]

All very good advice gentlemen, I use Rosemary brushes and more recently W&N series 7 as they excellent brushes, not cheap at £20 for two 00's and a 000 but hey, your'e painting figures that cost £20 upwards and busts costing around £40. Don't they deserve the best paints and brushes you can buy?
for anyone using acrylics wanting to strip paint you could always try Dettol disinfectant, not the Dettol Antiseptic which for some reason looks almost identical, check the ingredients if it's got Pine oil in it that'll do the trick, and it;s also kinder to brushes than IPA for cleaning. I also use the Masters Brush Cleaner which is pretty much the best cleaner you can buy. One last word, if your local DIY shop sells the reasonably priced Silverline range, their dremel clone is about £22 with some tools thrown in which is really good value for money, and if you are cleaning up, cutting off and sanding moulding blocks don't forget to get yourself a dust mask and if possible do the sanding near your vacuum cleaner hose to get rid of the nasty resin dust!

 

[bogusman53]

Hi Einion, what is the best then? I find masters and Dettol much kinder to brushes than IPA. What are your thoughts?

 

[Colin_Fraser]

Some good smoothing putty and some basic sculpting tools to fill gaps.

And I've said it before and will say it again - these tools are the ones I find most useful for removing seams and burs from metal, resin or plastic castings. I wish I had them whne I started out. You don't need the whole set - one will do. I usually use the rounded end with the flat blade (left side of picture).

http://www.riorondo.com/tools/scrapers.html

Colin

 

[Funky50]

Just wanted to say I have been doing this for 45 years and all this advice is great even for an old codger like me....brill

 

[Einion]

Hi Einion, what is the best then? I find masters and Dettol much kinder to brushes than IPA. What are your thoughts?

There is no best, but there are certainly better that The Masters; despite what the makers would like us to believe there's really nothing that special about it, side-by-side comparisons with common soaps show that conclusively. I've got no problem with Dettol, that could be a great addition to the options people can choose from but never tried it myself.

Soap is inherently a little harsh on natural hairs if it has a high pH, so you have to be careful not to overuse most soaps as they're highly alkaline. Lots more to it that this though, moisturising soaps and overfatted vegetable soaps are worth looking into (for anyone who enjoys that sort of project these can be made at home quite easily).

One of the biggest improvements to cleaning technique is simply to minimise the need to wash brushes by adopting a better rinsing routine - starting with double- or even triple-bath rinsing. Just as important is getting into the habit of doing it regularly and thoroughly.

And I've said it before and will say it again - these tools are the ones I find most useful for removing seams and burs from metal, resin or plastic castings.

In case you missed when I asked before, is there much real difference from craft knives, chisels etc?

Einion

 

[Colin_Fraser]

In case you missed when I asked before, is there much real difference from craft knives, chisels etc?

Einion

Einion - In my view yes - or I wouldn't have posted them. I think they are great as the carbide steel stays permamently sharp while blade wear out. Big advantage is that they shave rather than cut. So you don't have the risk of cutting into the figure unless you want to. When I reshaped the mouth on my recent WWI Young Somme bust (vbench) I used this tool to remove layers of resin...almost like sanding. They are also sharp enough to shave baked sculpey or magic sculpt without shredding the material.They are the most important tools in my collection and I think they are relatively unknown in the hobby.

Colin

 

[mcsnead17]

as a person who re-starting the hobby should i do figures that everybody else is doing like ww2- germans or do something else like the allies-US,British and the Soviets well what should i do.

 

[Figure Mad]

Paint figures of a subject that grabs your interest, it could be a subject that you haven't even considered or a subject that you have seen many of, it's your choice, there are plenty out there. One thing I do suggest is get good quality cast and sculpted figures, be choosy, getting good quality at the beginning will always make it easier to paint, bad proportion, sculpting and casting can bring your confidence down, because your fighting against the bad quality.

 

[mcsnead17]

you mean all the german figures that where done by the like of John Rosengrant are bad quality .

 

[JGREEN]

Did he say anything even remotely like that? No. Seriously Mark, come on. Now that everyone on Timelines is fed up with you, are you going to start bothering us over here on PF?

Jason

 

[mcsnead17]

i am not trying to bother anyone all i am trying to do is learn about the hobby and see what i maybe doing wrong that is all is any harm in that if there is then i will keep quiet again or maybe forever they will love that.

 

[Figure Mad]

You are talking to the wrong person here about the wrong person. I nor John Rosengrant need or warrant comments like that, if you spent a little more time painting something instead of insulting people maybe you would have a better opinion of yourself, then maybe you could put up a post that would actually have a purpose other than annoying everybody

 

[Helm]

A list of good expletives and how to use them

 

[Robb]

Unfortunately I have started one figure after another and now find that after improving over time have to go back and improve those painted before. Looking at some of the great figures and the tips that
are given, one can not go wrong. My own personal advice would be to complete one figure to your own happy standard and then paint the another kit the same figure again rather than stripping down the original (first painted figure) as I did. I enjoy the fact that some of my earlier figures are more than rough as this clearly shows how much improved my technique has grown (still learning), we do not start as experts at anything in life,
but slowly learn how to walk then run ,,,,Rob