Essential Tools of the Hobby
This miniature hobby is vast (see one of my previous posts if you need more info) and because of that there are a multitude of various tools and kits that claim to be “essentials” or even mandatory depending on which marketing department you listen to. I think the sets of tools that you need are very much dependent on what you want out of the hobby (more info here on thinking about that ), but for 3 of the biggest areas that take up likely the majority of hobby time (Building, Painting and Playing) below is my list of where I think you should start, and perhaps where to go to next if you want to explore more.
Before we jump in, for buying anything I feel the best advice is to buy cheap to start and then upgrade when you know what you want, why you want it and how to look after it. Will the most expensive items help you achieve a better result - maybe is the honest answer. But without knowing why they are expensive, how best to use them with the right techniques, care and process, you are likely going to end up with a similar result for ten times the price. With that entirely unsolicited advice thrust at you, on to the list!
Building Tools
- Clippers & Blades : Typically the first step in getting a model built is to remove it from the packaging and ‘sprue’ that it comes on. A sprue is a frame or protective component on which the model / bit you actually want is attached to, either as part of the manufacturing process or to protect / support the item in transit. A small sharp Exacto or hobbying knife is probably best, alongside a small pair of clippers, but go and raid the bathroom for a small pair of nail / cuticle clippers as a starting point for removal of the items. As with all things knives, keep it sharp and pointed away from you to avoid any injury, and always take your time and do things safely.
- Files, Sandpapers and Clean Up : Once the model has been removed from any protective pieces, check to see if it has any residue or elements left on it that need removing. These can be scraped away using the exact same sharp edge you used in the set above, or there are specific small files (nail files or emery boards work well here) and sandpapers designed for the job. It is also worth noting that some manufacturing processes use something called “release agent” to help the models be removed from the mold or case after initial construction. Most of these come off with a quick wash in warm soapy water (using the same dish soap that’s under your sink / above the taps) and you are going to want to do this to allow the paint to stick to the model and not slide off like the original mold did.
- Glues and Solvents : Typically models will come in pieces and need to be assembled together. This could be for a large number of reasons, ranging from manufacturers process to ease of travel, through to multi part kits that allow you to choose which weapon this model is holding. Whatever the reason, you are going to need to stick those items together. Super glue / CA glue works in most cases, especially for metal mini’s, but some glues have been specifically designed for work with plastic or resin to form a tighter bond. It is worth doing the research here and reading the manufacturers recommendations, as some glues / solvents can melt various materials with some combinations releasing toxic fumes. As always, stay safe, be sensible, and do the research where needed.
Painting Tools
- Brushes : Brushes are the general term for the tools used to get paint from the container its stored in onto the model where you actually want it. Mostly this is done with small natural or synthetic hair brushes, ranging from size 1 or 2 down to size 00 or smaller depending on the application. These can be cheap (12 for under £2 / $2) or they can be very expensive (A single brush costing £25 or $30) and is a prime example of starting cheap and learning what you want from a brush and how it can be used. On top of the standard brushes there are brushes specialized for certain techniques, such as dry-brushing, wet blending or washing / inking, but as a beginner a standard cheap brush will achieve a pretty good job until you know what you are looking for. And as this is a post for those starting in the hobby, don’t worry about an airbrush at this stage. It’s a significant investment for a very cool tool, but it can become a hobby in itself just keeping it cleaned and maintained and definitely not for the beginner painter.
- Paints : One of the biggest areas with the the widest variety, paint selection can depend upon availability, price, technique and speed. As a beginner I think hobbyists want to focus on a couple of key areas to help them off to the best possible start; namely ensuring they have a good spread and range of colors to cover nearly all situations, paints that have a good opacity/pigment and thus can be used easily and quickly, and paints with multiple uses rather than hyper specific technical paints. Painters can then learn which models they enjoy painting, what techniques they want to try and how they want their models to look. I am not going to recommend a specific brand as I have not tried them all (but there is a great video from Squidmar who recently did try them ALL and came to some conclusions : Here) but picking up a “starter set” which most brands will do should get you a good spread of paints. Depending on what you are painting, your collection will start to tend towards certain color palettes (e.g. if you paint typical fantasy there is a lot of browns and leathers…) but a good starting spread is always useful. Eventually you will get to the point where your paint collection is vast with every color under the sun, containing paints for specific use cases or technical paints that do more than just paint, such as gore effect or crackle paints for making bases, but when starting these should be an aspiration and not a requirement. In addition, it is very possible to mix any color you need from a small basic collection of colors and pigments, but mixing colors is more of an intermediate technique that is not a topic for this post. Oh and one final thing : Always thin your paints! I am not a painting expert, nor do I consider myself advanced or even intermediate, but thinning your paints is a key first step in learning to paint cleanly and sharply, and I would recommend seeking a beginner tutorial online to explain that better than I can!
- Washes / Inks : A wash or Ink seems like a very thin paint, watery in its consistency and applied over the top of standard paints already on the model. Often referred to as “Talent in a Bottle”, the impact a wash can make is huge and can really make a model pop. Because of the thin nature, the wash tends to pool in any recesses of the model and pull away from raised areas, heavily simulating how light would hit the surfaces. Whilst not mandatory, with some even suggesting that washes lead to bad painters, I think for those starting out the quick and simple application of a wash and the results that it can generate are so huge that it’s well worth it, even just for that moment of holding a completed model in your hand and saying “Wow - I did this!”.
- Model Holders : As the name suggests, this is any way to hold a model so its not your fingers in contact with it as you are painting. Human beings release oil, so not only is there the problem of having paint all over your fingers and then transferring that to other parts of the model, there is also the issue that the oils on your fingers sit on the model causing issues when the paint is then applied. Starting solutions can be old paint pots, pill bottles, glue pots, corks… anything that is small and models can be attached to with double sided tape or blue tack / poster tac. More fancy ones have spring loaded grip mechanisms or additional fixings to steady your hands when painting, but as a start cheap, cheerful and recycled should be perfect!
- Water Pots : A mug, a glass or an old pot noodle packet, you just need something to hold that dirty paint water from when you wash out your brush between colors. It’s also the water that you will be using to thin your paints which is a very key step for beginners to learn in order to keep all the details on the model crisp and visible. My only recommendation here is make sure that this is a very clear and obvious paint water pot - it’s a rite of passage the first time you grab your beverage of choice during a paint session and end up drinking some paint water. Not pleasant, probably not dangerous and you definitely won’t be the first or the last.
- Palette : The middle step between paint pot and model, a palette is a place to interact with the paint once it has left its container. Some paints come with clip lids which means you can in theory paint straight from the pot, whilst others only come in dropper bottles, but either way you are going to want to THIN YOUR PAINTS (have I said it enough times yet?) and you can only do that with a palette. They come in 2 main forms, wet and dry, with the dry just being a piece of hard plastic and the wet being a sheet of waxy paper on top of a wet sponge to keep the paints from drying out as you work with them. A dry palette is fine, but I think a wet palette is a worthy first upgrade to help you on the painting journey. A palette is also needed to start mixing colors as discussed above, so an essential piece of equipment outside of your first 2 or 3 paint jobs at the most.
Playing Tools
- Board / Play surface : This will be very system specific, ranging typically from small 2ft by 2ft boards up to massive scale gaming surfaces that I have seen up to 6ft by 8ft, completely dominating the room. Most of us started by using the kitchen table, a bed or even the floor in a pinch, and that’s completely fine. If you need terrain or obstacles, use whatever comes to hand that your imagination can turn into buildings or items - books, cups, mugs, shoe boxes, anything that sits and stays can be terrain. There is something very aspirational about playing on a large fully painted and constructed board, with multiple bits of terrain themed around a concept, but when you’re beginning you still need to find the right system, the right setting and the cost level for you and your hobby.
- Rulers : Nearly all systems will require some sort of measurement, either for movement or range. The other way of doing this is overlaying a grid onto your playing surface, some games are moving towards this to make it faster and simpler to get through games (although that’s not everyone’s cup of tea). For most measurements, a standard tape measure or ruler is sufficient, as long as it can measure in the unit needed which is normally inches. There are gaming measures that exist out there, physical objects that have standard measures on each face, but for starting just find anything that can measure and get to the table!
- Dice : Most games within the hobby have a need for randomness, and this is typically covered through some sort of dice. Check with the system to get the dice you need, whether that’s just D6’s or a set of multiple dice (see the blog post on randomness for more information - Here) , and a cheap set online is a nice easy starting point for most. There are multiple different sets of dice at various levels of cost, ranging from cheap plastic $3 sets through to metallic or precious gem sets where the sky is the limit on cost. Some people just like collecting dice as a hobby in its self and I would always recommend that you can never have enough dice, but for starting out go low cost and assess where and how you want to be spending your money.
And there we go - it sounds like a lot but the reality is you can start fairly cheaply with things probably already laying about your house, and those you don’t have I would recommend picking up cheaply where you can. Are nice tools going to make you ‘better’ at the hobby - probably not, however, they will make it a more enjoyable experience. However without trying some of this stuff out you won’t be sure where to invest that money to extract the most pleasure. So let me know below - are there any tools that should be essential and I have missed out? Where would you recommend the first upgrade of tools to be?
