Painting Tools

    There are lots of different paint brands out there. We personally have Vallejo, Reaper Master Series, Citadel and The Army Painter paints at our place that we use on a regular basis. We have tried using inks and paints from other brands but have had the best luck with the “miniature paints” that were made for this type of hobby. Painting and minis can be super expensive and are not going to be the hobby for everyone. It took many years and many trial and errors to get to the point that we are at. 

As much as I would love or think it would be amazing to have full sets of paints it just isn’t financially possible for many of the gaming community. The Army Painters have 124 full range war paints not including their speed paint series, or their color primers. If you have an airbrush (like we do) you will have a whole separate set of airbrushing paints as well. 

We try to have one or two (a light and a dark) of each of the colors to choose from knowing that some black and white paint can be added to make a variation when needed.  

Brushes: We have both traditional artist brushes but we have a wide selection in our brush collection. I also have some dollar store paint brushes and makeup brushes that are used frequently for base coats and larger paintings. We use the small artist brushes just for fine detail work. The best dry brush I have ever used is a makeup brush from the dollar store. If you are on a budget, focus on getting one nice small bristle brush for details as cheaper hobby brushes will do you ok as base brushes. For me I have one "nice" artist set and then we have a hodge-podge of miscellaneous brushes of different sizes, quality and ages. 

Basing: We do have tins with a variety of basing from jungle tuft, grass and moss. We here at Dungeon Fox Chronicles don’t do large army battlefields that some may have if they play for example Warhammer. If you are planning on making large terrain maps and battlefields you will want to use basing to add natural effects like flowers, grass and snow. Based on where you live you can always get sand, small rocks or moss from around where you live. 

Hobby Knife/precision/Exacto/Filigree Blades: Some miniatures are manufactured to be cut apart then glued together, these will need a knife like these to cut them apart. Using hobby knifes allow for precision cutting to reduce the risk of damaging your mini when cutting them for assembly. Make sure to also get extra blades as they will dull over time and use. We also use hobby knifes to clean up 3d printed miniatures of their stray filament. 

Wet Pallet: This tool is a must have to save paint. Putting paint on a wet pallet allows paint to stay moist even if you need to walk away for awhile or go to bed and still have usable paint the next morning. Make sure to grab extra hydro sheets and foam as well. I found that speed paints, washes and inks do go through the hydro sheets and stain the foam beneath. It didn’t affect the performance, it was only cosmetic. Flipped the foam over and kept on going.

Model Files: This is the first step to any mini I paint: using files to take off any mold lines or any blemishes. We have a variety of grit, shapes and sizes to make sure that we have anything from fine points inside joints to larger pieces that need filing (3d printed stuff usually). Mold lines will show through paint and many minis (even the pre-primed lines) will still have the mold lines on them out of the package and needs to be removed for a smoother paint job. 

Sculpting Tools: We use these when adding pieces or to sculpt green stuff into a more natural looking fix. I have used this to add scales, feathers and muscles into green stuff. Can be used to pick out loose/broken filaments on 3d printed minis as well. 

Base/Miniature Holders: These work great for regular sized minis to hold onto the bases to make moving a mini in your hand with less risk of smudging your fresh paint. We have two Citadel handles; one regular and one that has arms to help hold small pieces in place while glue is drying. Looking for a cheaper alternative? Wine corks can have a small amount of hot glue added to the tip to glue your mini in place to work the same. You will just need to use a hobby knife or the low setting of a hair dryer to get your mini free.

Green Stuff/Liquid Green: This is filler and putty that goes into cracks, crevices and gaps between pieces of a mini that needs to be glued together to give the mini a cohesive look. Didn’t like a feature on a mini, cover it and resculpt it using the green stuff. The liquid green stuff can be used on 3d printed minis to fill in print lines to make it smoother when it hardens. 

Silicone Mat: This was the newest addition to the table. Silicone mats make it easy to clean up spills, protects the table and makes a decent dark background for progression photos. There are tons of colors and sizes to pick from for your own table preferences. 

Paint Pallets: I use these to mix larger batches of paint, and use the plastic pallets when a paint is to wet/runny for the wet pallet. Washes, speed paints, shades and inks go into thes paint pallets. 

Extra doo-dads: These shinnies were originally packaged as filler for resin projects, but the silver, gold, copper and gems are perfect for adding treasure to the bases of monsters (such as a dragon horde for a dragon) or if you have minis that have gems on them you can put these on instead (holding gems/treasure, gem eyes on statues, etc). 

Variety of Glues:  When putting your minatures together sometimes glue is required for assembly. Always read the packaging to know what type of glue you need. Some glues may melt your miniature if it is the wrong type. 

USB Fan: I use this at the table to help speed up the painting process. I use it to dry the paint on minis that I need to add more coats to, to dry brushes that I need for a different color and to help dry washes. 

Water Pots: I personally use 3 paint pots. The first is of clear clean water and is only used for clean water. This is where I get water for making washes or water to re-hydrate paint pots that are on the dry side or getting drops of water to add to paint that is too thick to use. The second pot I use is for cleaning brushes when using dark paint and the third is for cleaning brushes when using light paints. I also have baby wet-wipes near by to help clean off brushes and paint that's too stubborn to come off in water.