Thank you guys for sharing your game changing tools! If you are new here and you enjoyed the video, consider subscribing 👊

why would i need a good lamp when the Emperors light is my torch? :P anyways, thanks for the tipps. i learned something :)

I've been painting minis for about 30 years, and only brought some of these things into my toolbox in the last few years, really improving my painting. Light, wet palette, magnifier, paint handle, airbrush, sable brushes have all made a massive difference. One of the other best tools is youtube and channels such as this, making this information available and accessible has also been vital in my progress.

I wear a magnifier on my head while i paint i usually use 2x but i switch to 5x for things like eyes or other small details that i want to get prefect. It was absolutely the biggest game changer for me, mostly because i could perceive what my brush was doing while it was doing it, not just the end result.

Thank you so much! My brother is getting into Warhammer and requested gifts. I had no idea where to start and your videos have made it a breeze. I'm so glad I can support his new hobby with confidence!

I agree with all of these, great video. My biggest game changer discoveries are -Good sable hair brush, as you described. -magnifiers, probably the biggest game changer. -Inks, especially for faces. -Micro Sol and Micro Set for decal transfers. -Watching lots of tutorials. There's so much knowledge out there by some great painters.

Personally I don't imagine painting without acrylic retarder. You have so much time for painting those tiny details without worrying about paint going dry on the brush. Great vid btw :)

Mine is definitely a magnifying lamp. I was experiencing eye strain trying to paint at first. After purchasing that lamp, I can actually paint for longer than an hour!

For airbrushing I would recommend having a playing card (or other piece of thin cardboard) that you can use for quick masking. (For instance if you paint an arm with the airbrush and the model is behind the arm you can just put the card behind the arm to avoid any spray going there)

If you are drybrushing at all - get a makeup brush. It is miles better than any dedicated hobby drybrush and you can pick up a set of different sizes in any drogerie (or even big supermarkets) for a couple bucks. Even the cheap ones are better than hobby drybrushes. Another thing - Any kind of blue tack or sticky tack helps immensely. There's just so many things you can do with them - stick figures to cardboard before priming, stick them to handles if you are not using magnetic ones, stick the mini to the base if you are not quite ready to permanently glue them, even stick individual parts together if you want to paint in subassemblies, but want to prime the whole model at once, eg. for zenithal priming.

Reading glasses. Best $4 dollars i ever spent in the hobby. To me it helped see the mini better that a good lamp did.

That lamp is a practical investment

It took me a while to think in a good list my dear friend but i think there 3 things are crucial (At least for me): A good chair with a lumbago support. A good table that is a good height to avoid to curve your spine or that doesn't allow you to put your elbows in a good position. And probably the best and more important of all: A good pair of headphones for the long sessions while listing some good podcast (TUP hehe) and music for concentration. As always my friend, marvelous video!!! Also, something that could be extremely useful is to have a calendar or something to note the things to paint during a specific deadline, that can motivate and help to concentrate to do the thing you want to do!

Silly Putty (yes, the cheap toy) is fantastic for masking, especially while airbrushing. You can re-use it a lot, simple to mold around odd shapes, doesn't stick or peal off your paint layer.

Using silly putty (bought on Ebay) to mask off irregular shapes when airbrushing was a big help, a decent pair of clippers for cutting plastic parts from the runners is worth the money and if you get into airbrushing before long you'll be getting a decent dust mask and a desktop spray booth. Really enjoy watching your videos, thanks for the effort that goes into them.

Scott the Maniac recommended you...good choice. I think the biggest thing collectors forget is... how are the going to display or store figures.? It seems like easy choice until you realize you haven't solved the problem.

olfa blades. Those things are SHARP

For me, you have about the same pieces of advice. High end Brushes I only went into a few years ago, being sick & tired of the silly GW brushes which I am never ever buying again. The biggest cheatcode to painting miniatures is Airbrush. Time is limited, usually the pile of shame is big with most people, the airbrush saves you days, weeks, months of painting, it's not just the time factor, it does smooth layers as well. The primer is way cheaper once you have all the airbrush gear, base layers save you so much time, but this tool just opens up a whole new world. Using an Airbrush long enough, I did find that it's best to switch to a decent airbrush, if you want to get most of your airbrush, you might even want to get a detail airbrush. Base layers are very nice, but you can go further, there's certain things you can only do with an airbrush. A decent all round airbrush just works better, clogs less, is easier to clean usually. I started off with a cheap airbrush, but I had too many problems with it, once you try a better airbrush, you don't look back. The better airbrush just gives you better control and clogs less, in a way it speeds up your airbrushing. I went into airbrushing because of one reason: I had titans to paint. I told myself: ok, if you can afford a Titan, you can afford an airbrush. I had tried to paint big flat surfaces and that's where I noticed, no matter what I did, I always left brush strokes. I'm an experience painter, I thin my paints, this wasn't only about skills, I just hit a limit, I had to take this one through another angle. Without a single doubt to me airbrushing is the biggest hobby hack, it's the one thing I would 100% beg my old self to buy. I mean, just 1 example: my tyranids. Looking back, I hand painted around 200 bugs of all sizes. It took me weeks to months to do the base layers. I thin down my paints, still took me long to do and it was not smooth either, here and there some imperfections. You paint big batches of models and you start getting sick of it. Now, the same amount of base layering, with the airbrush takes me hours to days at worst for a good hoarde. I just immediately jump to details after the airbrush base coating is done. A big bug would take me like a week to paint, now a couple of hours of airbrushing, 2-3 days worth of painting, just a few hours a day and it's done. Basically in a week I do 2-3 big bugs instead of just 1. Something like a titan, if you want a smooth paintjob, airbrush is the only way. Airbrush is fast & effective for terrain, but once you learn advanced airbrushing, you learn techniques you can only do with the airbrush. A fair warning though, this is like a new set of skills you'll need to learn, it's not easy and you will make a lot of mistakes, it is fun though, I'm really enjoying this new way of painting miniatures. I'm old, I work, my time is limited. If I had known it was possible to trade money to buy certain gear who would speed up your painting, I would have done it sooner. If you paint miniatures, you can usually afford an airbrush & the whole set up. If you have one big army or if you have several big armies, this should be a no brainer. If you're buying big forgeworlds, then can also afford an Airbrush.

My tricks: 1. I use small ink pen, to write some texts on models, like runic symbols on space wolves armor/weapons or paint dots and hyphens as word imitations on purity seals. Also it can be used instead of shades paint in small areas like gaps between armor plates. 2. Use tamia alcohol colors over light silver details, to make glass effect - for lamps, screens e.g. 3. For bases i make my own texture paint. I dry used brewed coffee on the pan. And mix it with cheap acrylic paint, and put it on my bases.

I have 2 lamps from IKEA, 100lm daylight bulbs, and diffusers. A great solution for £40 W&N Series 7 brushes are a must. The Redgrass Wet Palette is a game changer. An airbrush has gone from being niche to being a staple. At £100 for a good compressor and airbrush, it's less then 3 boxes of minis. Somewhere to store paints is massively important. I think that's my essential list.

When I got a good lamp with a 5000k bulb it was like opening a door rather then looking through a keyhole. Also I have the Redgrass Games wet palette. With those two items my painting became much better and more enjoyable. 👍🏻

Getting that airbrush so I can prime, basecoat, spot highlight, shade and varnish multiple models in one go. A real game changer for me.

Love how you say "palette" 🎨🥰 Great video, thank you

When I started painting I used an old beat-up ceramic plate that my mother gave me as a palette, haha. After a while I finally built myself a simple wet palette and the ceramic plate now exists as a Salvador Dali like little piece of random art due to all the dried paint splotches, haha

Your painting guides are pure gold! Thanks and keep it up 👌

The biggest tool to have when starting the GW hobby: a winning lottery ticket.

I keep coming back to this video and ive gotten things on the list as budget allows. This list is the apex of beginner must-haves!

Just scooped up the lamp! Thanks for the suggestion I was needing a new one!

i took your advice and bought the lamp you recommended and i absolutely love it! thank you!

I really like how every painting tutorial and list is really useful on youtube.

The most game changing tool I found were these variable sized cotton sticks. They come in all shapes and sizes. Love it.

I just picked up an Army Painter wet pallet and it is a game changer. I love it.

I never thought of using a metal container thanks for sharing.

Another great and informative video. Being older I got myself a set of magnifying glass with led built in, it really helps with the tiny details.

Wet palette and proper lighting are probably the two most important items on that list. My wet palette was cheap and such a game changer that it was worth every penny.

Hi there ! Not much of mini painter myself, though I do paint some for the pleasure. Just passing by to say thank you, as those advices aren't helpful only for miniatures. I'm a special effect artist and I do a lot of painting for props, prosthesis, or simply some makeup effects, and a lot of tricks you have shown here such as the wet tablet, the oil wash, the texture paste or even the different types of brush have been of a tremendous help to do my job. They easily saved me a lot of money and helped me do my work more efficiently. I greatly appreciate all of those helpful videos you do. There is a lot to be learn from minis painting, and you good sir did a wonderful job at teaching them to us. I am grateful. Have a good day !

I'm just about to start my hobby journey and this was a big help thanks!

Super glue and kicker is the biggest game changer for me.

The best tool I have is a computer with at least one internet. I use it to view great videos. Like yours.

The lamp is a gamechanger for me, before that my paint sessions were very short, because my eyes would get tired so fast but since i got my lamp i can paint for at least double/triple the time without even getting eye fatigue. Awesome video once again, i'm considering brushes for my next upgrade since i have basic AK synthetic brushes.

Really helpful video for someone getting back into the hobby after 15 years. Thanks, man.

The Wet Palette from army painter would be a great place to start, has a compartment for brushes which is always nice to see a single product do two things. Means less space wasted. I got a cheap CHEAP set of brushes for £4 of amazon with sizes 0, 00, 000 and 0000 and was very surprised at the tip quality and springiness with no hairs trying to escape. Also picked up a 0.05 fine pen for whenever i want to do writing on Purity Seals or something. Medical Forceps are great for holding small bits to paint and ideal for bluetacking things like heads to, to paint prior to gluing to the miniature. If there was a nice all in one USB powered air brush/air can combo i'd buy it but i'm not buying a compressor and brush seperately. Too much space and noise.

Hi, I'm getting back into painting after 7 years and would love to see you do an ork flesh painting video in the future. Thanks for the great videos on your channel so far. All the best :)

You are really producing some amazingly good videos now, better every time. Love this! 💙

Honestly, those little metal balls that you put in paint to better mix it. This has saved me so much time and money when it came to painting. Especially with thicker paints since they dry up quicker. Just dab a bit of water or wash in there and mix for a solid minute and it is as good as new!

Game changer for me was Kork + texture paste. It opened up the 3rd dimension of Basing. Great video. Support all of these items

I love your videos! I have chronic constipation and your videos really help! I have no idea why, but your voice makes passage easier. Its gotten pavlovian, every time I watch your videos, I have to go to the bathroom...

My cheap Dremel knockoff. I buy minis for D&D and they come with bases attached, but they’re usually kinda screwy. It’s a snap to use a Dremel to carve away unwanted basing bits around feet and then base the mini how I want to. This is the only suggestion I didn’t see in the first bunch of comments.

Silly Putty for masking, rather than tape. Learned that form Kris at Way of the brush and had to get it off Amazon to Prague, but man, the difference that makes for masking... Tape has some glue ultimately, the putty leaves no residue, and the paint that sticks to it, you just play around with it a bit, it all comes off and ready to reuse, so buy once and forget about it bonus.

Thank you for the advice... even after 30+ years in the game, I can still learn a trick or two here :-)

Best tool is a magnifying lamp! Cant paint without it. Keep your goob work I love your channel. A big thank you from Quebec, Canada 🇨🇦

Great video, very useful. For me the wet pallete has been a real game changer for me. Another useful tool is the magnifier glasses with led light

I have almost 30 years in the hobby now, and the shut down gave me a lot of time to do some research on the hobby. Had taken a break after high-school to pursue a career, got back in around 6th edition (started with 2nd), then came back during 8th edition. Just spent a little time watching your videos, and subscribed. Good stuff, and I intend to spread some of my own knowledge in the near future. Very conversion heavy with a lot of my work, and I noticed a brief view of clay shapers. I do a lot of putty work, and have even sculpted a couple of my own miniatures. Clay shapers were a game changer, as well as the knowledge that different putties mixed together, create different properties to the putties you're working. Ie: green stuff is very tacky, has a swelling stage, and tends to cure flexible. Ave's epoxy sculpt, doesn't have the same tack, doesn't swell, and cures hard like plastic, but very brittle. Combine the two, and you have a much easier putty to work with, and you can vary the mixture for different results. I have yet to try other putties, but you can tailor your mix for the right results. Also, sculpting tools aren't limited to something you can buy from the store, but anything that can make a unique texture or impression. Like the tips of pens and mechanical pencils, toothpicks, needles, paper clips, etc.

Tin Lunchbox for trasporting Minis. You can stick models to the bottom and top of the lunchbox, the magnets if strong enough can hold multiple lunchboxes together. You can also get neat branded lunchboxes for style points.

Subbed for the beard.. and happy lamp sounds... and the content of course! Thanks man!

I'm a little late to the party, but a portable spray booth has helped me immensely. Mine cost something like £20-30 a couple of years ago from Barwell Bodyworks in the UK - place in a well lit area, direct extraction hose out of the window, turn on. Along with a decent mask, this is a great way to avoid breathing in paint particles from airbrushing!

Dude, thanks to all the inspiration from videos like yours I am enjoying painting minis again after many, many years!

Use a small, narrow pallet knife to transfer paint to wet pallet. No loss of paint/blobs of pain or n brush. Also simpler to get all paint to pallet and tool is easy to clean.

I made my own wet palette and will never paint without one now.

My game changer was Matt Clay and Vinegar. I learned from Midwinter Minis that if you boil water and put in some Vinegar, you can clean brushes VERY thoroughly, then i could sharpen the point of the brush with some V05 non-grease matte clay and some hot water. Saves a lot of time and money if traditional brush cleaner is not an option.

Your videos have been incredibly useful in helping me get started. Progress is slow, but your instructional videos have clarified things to such a heavy degree that it doesn't even feel like it. Great stuff.

Silly putty (the kids toy stuff) is the best masking "tape" ive ever used for airbrushing. you can form it into small crevices and it doesnt strip paint.

Paint shaker, that tool made my paints better (nicer consistency), my wrist hurt less (yes I am old). So I paint more and use more colors.

Paint handles. It has changed my way of painting. Again thanks keep up the great work.

Wish I had skill when I first started! But I will settle with watching your videos and practicing! Thanks for great content and useful advice!

I base with sand. And leave it like that. Maybe glue some cacti here and there

My led lamp with magnification lens was a game changer

Thank you! This was well done. You shared your experiences and didn't focus on specific products, instead, you shared with us the category itself and then shared your specific preference product without sounding like you were marketing that item. Short. Concise. Informative. Thank you again for taking the time to create another video that falls into the group of "Wish I had known/had when I started ..." There are many out of these out there. In my humble opinion, yours should definitely be on a top 10 list for anyone starting out in, or getting back into, the hobby. For me, miniatures hobby/gaming became an extension of my plastic model kit-building hobby. Play a game ... build the figures to play with ... paint them to suit my vision ... what could be better, right? I shelved the hobby for more than 20 years, and like many, in these days of COVID-19 quarantine and working from home, pulled it out and blew the dust off. In the early years of my hobby, there was nothing like the internet to get such copious tutorials, tips, and tricks open and freely shared to boost my learning. I was a fish in a pond of one, so, I only had myself to learn by trial and error. Some of your tools, I already have ... Airbrush; check. Some type of figure holder; check. I will agree with others, some type of magnification is helpful, or should be considered a must so that you can apply that fine paintbrush tip to the fine details. I have used one and will be upgrading to a magnifier plus lamp for my workspace (not head-mounted) because my vision is also 20+ years older now.

Good vid, I couldn’t imagine painting powerswords without masking tape, another good use for gloves too, put mini inside glove and tear a hole and put part of model out of glove and tape it or blue tac and spray, totally safe.

+1 for vallejo texture, I have been using Asphalt/Lava for the last year and it is superb, cheap and a little goes a long way.

Silicone colour shapers of course! You can sculpt with them. They are great for transferring paint to a pallet and mixing without damaging a brush since they can be cleaned easy. Situationally I've used them for transferring the tiniest beads of paint onto a model too.

Thanks for this video I am looking to get into miniature painting.

Great content and tips thank you

Those 5 spray cans you showed at the start cost more than my Airbrush and compressor! If you were ever getting more than one can to basecoat just get an Airbrush!

On airbrush, the masking tape, and the different type of paints (primers, or regular pigment density). Using a precision airbrush also allows to have fun spraying on very specific parts, and at this point it truly become a painting tool on its own. Im still creating my bases scene with military miniature parts (for urban battlefield wires, metal parts, rocks and small grain sand) or natural stuff (big grain sand for desertic area, real moss and lichen for swamp or such), but i like it ! Thanks for the tips

I really like masking putty for the air brush. When painting a marine for example you can prime the whole thing black, then easily cover the weapons with putty before base coating the rest of the model. Honestly re-blacking things is one of my pet hates, the putty solves the issue

Appreciate the content, thank you!

With the magnetic storage, it is worth considering getting some tissue paper. It will add a bit of extra protection if you have a clumsy moment and drop the storage box. The tissue paper is soft enough that it shouldn't have a bad effect on the paint and will cushion everything from contacting each other. Really useful boxes make great storage boxes on their own too. They're strong, stack well and come in lots of different sizes. As for tools, there are lots you don't need but will be handy in some cases. Keep old loyalty or gift cards as they make useful tools for spreading filler and for mixing epoxy.

Nice video. Definitely need to suck it up and get an airbrush. Just have to dedicate an area for it which space is not too available for me. Game changers was definitely a wet palette, hands down. Also, flexible sanding sticks. Soooo much easier cleaning mold lined and sprue gates. Worth every penny

a game changer for was change acrilics to oil paint, great video as always

Thanks for another great tutorial man! =)

something that improved my painting a lot was contrast paints,after i use them i started to see how to highlight my miniatures easier

The lamp sounds silly, but its 100% necessary. I just painted a battle damaged gundam miniature, and while I could see the color fairly well, I couldn't see any my metallic dry brushing and ended up overdoing it because it wouldn't show the difference under my lamp. Invest in a good lamp and a wet pallete, youll avoid quite a few headaches, youll also waste less time and a lot less paint.

Thanks for the great advice! No need to spend lots of €€€€ to get started with my painting. Great video once again!

I use a bunch of old medicine bottles and sticky tack as painting handles.

Using blue tack for masking parts, take a bit to set up, but comes off easier than liquid latex

I keep coming back to this thought, some stuff I came across: Big apron: sometimes you have clothes you should not get paint on (no barrier to painting!!!) I have a big leather one for fun, Liquitex ultra matte medium for paint AND AK ultra matte varnish to finish for the more "realistic" paint look, eye makeup brushes for dry brushing, "Block painting" needs a larger ~#4-6 brush with a good point for longer / faster application, glycerin for airbrush "lube" and as a mild paint retarder (inhibits water evaporation), LOTS of dropper bottles for mixes or for portable paint stations (no spills! like shade...) and the drying out prone pots, glass beads for bracelets used as agitators (inert), use 2 to 3, best one: a vortex mixer, never have poorly mixed paints with swirls in them again or sore wrists with all the shaking I cannot agree more on this one.

I got an airbrush mainly for priming due to my humidity levels in my area in the US made the rattle can act funny. Also when it's cold outside in the winter... Just less fumes and mess. Then you have it when you wanna do more than that. Wet pallete is a must. Also the Tamiya Panel Line wash is great, though clean up requires lighter fluid and it has a smell to it.

Definitely the following are my necessities: 1. Lenses to see the tiny little buggers. These really help get to details 2. Airbrush. Amazing and really gives more options 3. Wet palette for sure. 4. Rosemary and Co pointed round brushes. Soooo much more control and detail allowed with these bad boys. Even better than a long bristle brush with a good tip, IMHO

For bottles, I recommend taking a look into tattoo wash bottles. They are really cheap on places like eBay, and they make jobs like washing out the paint cup of an airbrush or topping up a wet palette much more convenient. With other bottles I run into one of two problems. Big bottles get in the way and cause spillage, or small bottles need to be refilled too often.

My own things I wish I had - Wet palette - mainly it helps cut down on waste, and extends how long you can keep using the same few drops of paint. Panel scribing tools - can be as simple as a pin and ruler, or the fancy tiny chisels. As well as scribing stencils. Pastel chalk, charcoal and/or weathering pigments. Pin vice. A nice one, not the cheap kind, huge difference. Also olfa blades, just the best and most reliable ones I've tried. Excell are good too and can be more specialised.

I found a case for someone's respirator kit at a thrift store. It's got multiple compartments with velcro lids for each of them, it zips up perfectly, its got nice foam walls to protect everything, and I have used it to carry and store all my painting tools for about 4 years now. It's prefect. Find yourself someones old respirator kit bag, 10/10 would recommend 😂

I think good paints that go with your painting style (vallejo are very good for different techniques) and a vortex mixer. Yes it is expensive but I can't go back now, having properly mixed paints is a must.

Flow aid! For airbrushing, but I use it for brush work too since it last longer than water and allows for easier wet blending :)

That handle is so awesome. I wish I got it before I bought a citadel one.

Just got some pigments because I tried a tutorial from NRM and have to say, they are amazing, another thing that has helped me is a glaze medium, as water where I live is very heavy and separates the pigment a lot, other than that, discovering matt paints was an eye opener too

Brilliant video and I would recommend a vevor vortex mini mixer as a must have tool, mini mixers take the hassle out of shaking your paint bottles and mix the paint better, you can add two agitator balls to your paint to help, but really not needed if you have a vortex mini mixer. Theres many on the market but personally and after using, I'd avoid the cheap black tattoo one one Amazon and Ebay, mine broke after two months. The vevor mini vortex mixer is the best , you can buy on Ebay but is cheaper from their home page, I highly recommend. Wish I bought first, but you live and learn.

lamp, wet palett, dripper bottles ... prob the things i have seen that improved my painting .. and less waste, the burshes ... i still think its good to begin with the cheaper brushes and then move on to better brushes when your skill has improved. good video ;D keep up the good work

Hey, great video as usual. You asked us to talk about stuff we use. Something I use is little plastic baggies. When I have multiple projects, or I'm going to put a project down for a while, I put a plastic baggie over it to keep dust off.

Hi I'm new tonthe channel, I smile because i have all the objects, I recently find new tool the pot holder that friends printed. It's usefull when you use contrast paint or shades. Also acrylics inks and molotow paints for base the models are very good. Molotow paints can be put directly in the airbrush without dilution and you gut a very fine layer.