"What should every painter have besides paint and brushes?" Topic

Getting back into miniature painting after a hiatus of some years. I think I've settled on Vallejo for use of use, and a couple sable brushes, and a couple nylons for tough work. What else do I need?

Brush cleaners? I have a bottle of pink soap for brush cleaning. Should still be good, right?

Pair of nippers for cutting sprues? Got that.

File for getting rid of flash? Got that.

Good light? LED, 5000k? or lumens? (not sure of the difference)

PVA glue or cyanoacetate? or other?

Spray primer or gesso? or other?

What about other things?
Acrylic flow aid?
Gel medium?
Modelling clay/putty/green stuff/wood filler/spackle?
Inks?
Washes?
Bottle spinner/agitator?
Paint rack?
Matt varnish/lacquer?
Bases?
Kitty litter/baking soda/sand/model RR ballast?
Flocking?
Furniture stain?
Bottle caps to stick miniatures on to paint?

A sharp knife.
A pair of tweezers.
A palette.

Much of the other stuff depends on your painting style. I use inks as washes, many people don't.

What glue(s) you need also depends on what type of figures you are painting and how you want to base them.

I use superglue or plastic cement to stick things together (sometimes two part epoxy, depending). For basing I use Bostik and PVA. Other people use different things.

About the only thing I would not do is settle on a single brand of paint anymore. There are a lot of really good paints out there that are well worth trying.

I find craft paints as good as, if not better than the much more expensive Vallejo or other hobby paints.

Uniform books.

I'm with Winston on that. Damn! We agree on that also!

Time and patience.

McD's napkins. There's always one under my water pot ready to have a brush wiped over it.

sharp knife
band aids
good light source (I have an Ott light)
music
sprue cutter
patience

As for glue, there is no such thing as one glue to rule them all.
When assembling hard plastic models I use liquid cement designed for plastic models.
PVA for assembling laser cut buildings.
Thin superglue for areas where you have drilled out hands for swords or spears orvheads.
Gel in other cases.
5 minute epoxy for gluing riders to horses, or infantry to washers.
Never assume that superglue works for everything. It has a lousy shear strength perpendicular to the bond. In other words, it's easy to knock it apart.

I glue figures to the bases they will be fighting on. It cuts out a step where you pop them off bottle caps or popsicle sticks.

Oh. You can teach an old dog new tricks. I'm proof of that. Don't be afraid to experiment with new techniques.
I took 10 years off.

I just got a bunch of laser cut mdf buildings. I have to re-learn a whole new bunch of techniques.

3.0 readers from Costco, comes in a 3 pack.
+1 Winston on craft paint.

A syringe for adding small amounts of water to paint.
Tissue for wiping brush ferrules and cleaning up messes.

"Time and patience."

+1

Ott Lights
Robart Paint Shaker
Krylon camo flat black for primer

I use paint on primer, easier to control the amount.
You might consider paint solvent for hardened paint on brushes, although the brushes will never be quite the same.
I too use craft paints.
Oh, and water. Pots to put water in (I use "no-spill" pots).
I never thought of getting a bottle spinner, do they make them for 2 ounce bottles?
I have most of what you've listed except Furniture Stain, is that for dipping?
I glue figures to scrap cardboard painting strips.

Suitable thinner that won't weaken the acrylic bond (paints thicken over time sitting in the bottle)

Metal medium to mix your own metallic colors.

Brush cleaner and conditioner.

Brush washing and drying station that holds brush bristles down.

Paper towels or clean wash/cleaning cloths. PT can shed dust, so cleaning cloths/rags that do not shed are preferred.

Good light!

About lighting:

There are three qualities I can think of one needs to think about.

1) Light color (temperature)
This is expressed in "K" for Kelvins (a unit of temperature)
Here is a chart and write-up:
link

The key thing is to match your painting area to where you expect the figure to be seen. Or default to "Day-Light" color which is about 5000K. Lower Ks are more yellow and even more red. Higher Ks are bluer or even violet. But if your work bench is 5000K and your play area is 2000K, your paint job will not look the way you expect.

2) Intensity:
This is just how much light you have. This is measured in Lumens (some time candles, candle power, or Watts)
A write-up:
link
The key here is to have enough to avoid eye strain and not so much that your pupils close down too much.

3) Diffusion:
It is not just having enough light but also how you have it spread around. For best results you will want multiple sources of light or at least a good diffuser. It is also helpful to have direct light available as well. Because sometime you really want to see how the shadows will fall.
I would say no one lamps gives you all you need. Better to have several.

Also remember to mix your colors in the same light as you paint and play in. They always change when they dry, but do not put yourself behind the eight ball by having your palette off to the side in the shadows. This is why mixing paint on your thumbnail works so well. You assure it is in the same light as your work.

Aegon:

Lumen =" the SI unit of luminous flux, equal to the amount of light emitted per second in a unit solid angle of one steradian from a uniform source of one candela." in simple terms, how bright the light is.

5000K ( K = Kelvin) refers to the "temperature" of the light, effectively its colour. 5000Kis pretty much natural daylight, higher values are bluer, lower values are more green/yellow/red

For most painting purposes the 5000K LEDs are ideal, especially if output is around 1500 lumens.

A wet palette is very helpful if you blend or mix colors in any way. Also very helpful if you live in hot or low humidity climates.

A notebook is very helpful. I try to write everything down so I can reproduce a color, scheme, or technique.

Most of the things you listed are nice to have, however I do not believe flow improver or medium are essential. I rarely use those. Bottle spinner not required. Furniture stain not preferred over high quality modern washes though can still be used.

Thanks everyone for the answers. Very helpful!

I suppose another thing I'll I'll need is a reasonably priced store that has sales from time to time. :) Who do you gents use, besides Michaels?

newspaper to cover your surface.

natural light

paper towels to clean up the inevitable mess, act as a drying surface for dry brushing etc.

An outside (ish) area for spray painting.

Figures to paint!

Michael's, A C Moore, Hobby Lobby, Walmart.

An OptiVisor and good lighting (Ottlite) for my tired old eyes.

Not a fan of craft paint; just saying…

Patience, as a young guy I had none, paint a thousand minis and you see time is not of the essence

Optivisor and a bright light shining on your subject and not into your eyes.

I have sometimes wanted one of those microscopes we had in school where the light doesn't go through a slide, but reflects off a solid subject. But my optivisor is good enough.

A cup labelled DO NOT DRINK!!!

If you do plastic models as I do for 28mm Ww2. I recommend Tenax 7R liquid glue. When you use a model for gaming you need a good bond but it also cannot obscure detail. This melts the plastics together.

If you choose this glue save an old coffee can lid. You super glue this little bottle to the middle of the lid. I even weight it down with washers or pennies. You knock it over you will open a warp rift due the the magnitude of swearing that you will unleash.

From experience I do share.

Do not limit on projects. Keep something that you started but hVe set aside for whatever reason. One night you will see it. Pick it up and work on it just because the time felt right and it was there.

JH

Salutations, gentlefolk !

My $0.02 USD. I base figures for painting on the cardboard 'trees' that boardgame pieces come on, and use 'Scotch Removable Poster Tape' to attach. (UPC 0 51131 53405 6, need to look for some at Back To School sales)

Have a top from a laundry deterg bottle, use it for water basin, cut a few notches in top to keep brushes from rolling off. Save the plastic tops from milk bottles, use as mini-palettes for a couple of drops of paint, or for glue mixing.

Golden Gel Medium Molding Paste – not cheap, need to keep tightly capped to keep from drying out, but acrylic, no fuss or mess, drys fast – for filling small holes or imperfections is the best stuf.

"The Masters' Brush Cleaner and Preserver" Does what it says, worth every penny.

Have a 'Dralla' (two dots above middle 'a') cutting mat from the kitchen department of Ikea on my workbench. Washable protection. Oneovdesedaze they'll have them in stock again…

Old-fashion wooden spring clothespins, big ones from the dollar store, little ones from ye bigbox craft store, and some of that honeycomb cardboard Ikea uses for packing padding, poked holes with screwdriver to keep clothespins upright while paint on whatever they're holding dries.

A bunch of the foam-plastic-trays from local supermarket's produce dept, washed off, used to keep parts together or move projects off workbench while stuf dries. And some clear-plastic-clamshell-containers from the bakery, used now for finished figures and for work in progress. Also teabag boxes.

Tea.

Very little painting gets done here without tea.

DB

Bb to drop into paint bottles. One or two help shake mixing.

@FingerandToeGlenn

I've read here on TMP that a lot of folks think the BB rust inside the paint bottle?

I have been using craft paints for the past ten years to great effect. Paint use/preference is all about learning your paints and getting them to do what you want. Don't be afraid to try the cheapies!

Something that I've learned is to have something to support my hands. This reduces fatigue quite and forces me to remember to keep the mini UP at eye level. I use a small container to serve as the support, as well as it holds the other minis waiting for the brush!

AegonTheUnready,

An airbrush with a spray booth--helps avoid the horrible toxic/noxious spray paints, among other things.

BB rust inside the paint bottle?

Not if they are good stainless steel bearings:

link

Mike-I can show you my steel bearings for paint mixing, if interested.

John

The Masters Brush Cleaner and Preserver.

$10,000.00 USD to hire a painter that really knows what they are doing.

Furniture stain is in reference to, The Dip technique, I assume. Minwax Polyshades Urethane Stain Tudor (black), or Royal Walnut (dark muddy brown -- my personal favorite), is the least expensive variety.

If you wish to experiment, buy some throw-away figures to practice on. Plastic Army Men are a great sacrificial lamb for this: inexpensive; will take paint, if washed in dish/wash-up soap, and fully dried; can be donated to a child, or friend, as a gateway-drug into the world of miniatures gaming… ;-) Cheers!

OK, now that we have gotten "The Dip", or Magic Dip, or Wonder Dip, here are a few write-ups from the end of the last century I did about it:
link

link

Which brings up some more materials one might find useful.
Most folks use water bases paints these days (and they are very good!). One nice thing to add to you workbench is:

Future Floor Finish (Not in anyway a wax)
It is an Acrylic Media with a flow agent added.
This is the best info source (with lists of its many different names)
link

This can seal your minis, can be used with a airbrush, can be made into a magic dip, and costs almost nothing.

It can be used to thin paint and even restore paints that are suffering from aging in the bottle.

There are now many pre-made washes and inks, but you can also make you own for a few cents.

I had better stop there before I drift off into oil paints and shoe-polish.

You should tell us if you are working with plastic or metal figures.

"Must-have Miniature Hobby Supplies"
link

Hot glue gun to stick figures to the top of 2" nails for holding and painting. 'Oasis' florists block for holding the nails when drying.(cheap at Wilkinsons DIY in the UK)

Thanks everyone for all the replies. I've been furiously scribbling all these down in my notebook, ha ha.

Patience