Age Of Sigmar Paint Set

[Mickie Bottiglieri]

Ifyou are just starting out in the hobby, you probably want to start by painting an army that will not overwhelm you. But what is an easy army to paint in Warhammer? And what makes an army easy to paint in the first place?

Big models are high on the list of things that will make an army easier for you to paint. Big models will mean that you have a lower model count in your army. A lower model count will make it much easier for you to complete the task at hand. Just ask anyone who has ever painted 200 Skaven Slaves (after 100 it is close to torture).

Big models will also be more straightforward for beginners because you will have less fiddly details to worry about. It will be easier for you to apply a neat basecoat, do a good job on shading, and eventually highlighting the model.

A cartoon style has the added benefit of helping you to cover your mistakes. In a Nurgle army you can, if you paint the right way, make a very sloppy paint job look good. You can fire on a lot of washes, blend them together in weird way and make it look like it is part of the theme (it is Chaos rot after all).

If you have ever considered buying a second-hand army, stripping the paint and starting all over you should think twice about it. Not only will it take you very long to get to a stage where you are even starting to actually paint models, but the difference in ease of painting between new plastic models and some of the old kits is just staggering. On the old kits you need to spend a lot of time cleaning up mold lines and reposing stuff to make it look cooler. The new kits are just so much better in that sense.

There is a reason that Stormcast Eternals and Space Marines are such popular armies (and are the poster boys for each gaming system). Armour is so easy for beginners. GW metal paints are solid, and some shade over that and a beginning painter will think they are Leonardo da Vinci (at least until they search for miniature pictures online). If you are not fond of metal paints, you can simply paint the armor a different colour.

Painting a ton of models is just harder. It will take longer and you will get tired of painting the same colour and models again. Making sure you can finish your army will be a big factor in how enjoyable the process is.

Some miniatures will come with an astounding amount of intricate details on the miniatures. Granted, as a beginner, you can just skip that stuff over (but it can be really hard to let go). For your first army you will want something without too much going on on the model, so stick to simplish miniature types.

I am not saying that it must not contain any detail (every new GW miniature will have amazing detail) but just that too many scrolls, golden sigils and so on can keep you from landing your end goal of getting the army done.

The same factors that hold true for eyes also come into effect on human skin. Trying to paint and highlight human skin can be a real pain for beginners. You might find that the skin starts to look too yellow or pink or that the contrast between the colours is too stark. This is your pattern recognition for human kicking in.

For the first army you are painting, you are probably gonna want to assemble and play with it as you paint it up. Therefore it is probably best if you get an army that does not contain too many miniatures where details are gated by other pieces of the model. Some shields on older models will have that effect. Other than that it is mostly big models with something mounted on top you have to be careful about.

Big models and crazy cool characters can be amazing for you as a beginner. They can be the driving force for picking your army and they can be such a great experience to paint and play with. But beware that you do not go overboard and get too many hard to paint models. One big monster in your first army to paint can be more than enough challenge for you. They are, after all, a bit more complicated to make look good.

Just as the new plastic kits are easier for you as a beginner, so are resin models and metal models really hard on you. Putting together these beasts is no easy task, so I would just recommend that you skip them if you want an easy army to paint. Resin will require quite the amount of work to clean out and the detail can be missing in spots.

You might also notice that the paint will rub off much more quickly on metal models. When you paint, you should consider a painting handle. After you are done painting it can also be an idea to lay down a protective varnish on the model.

I might skip an army that you would like to paint or think would be good or easy for you to paint. Go ahead and start that army anyway. This list is only a list to get you thinking about what will be an easy or a hard army to handle painting.

You can help yourself by picking a good looking colour scheme and a few painting techniques that you can overcome. I would recommend starting with a neat basecoat followed by a shade on all models. Pick up a few different pots of the Citadel Technical paints (Typhus Corrosion followed by Ryza Rust looks great for rust effect on weapons).

One of my biggest downfalls as a painted is when I forget to write things down. Let us not hope this happens to you, but this is a distracting hobby. It is not uncommon for people to return to an army they started on years ago. The problem with that? They have no clue on howto topaint the colour they did back in the days.

My suggestion is to write down a recipe for each colour you use. How did you basecoat it? How did you wash it? How did you do that cool effect on it? Be as specific as possible. Future you will thank you big time!

One of the biggest keys in army painting is staying consistent throughout your army. Use the same colours and paint them the same way. If you do thatyouarmy will look like an amazing cohesive force, even if the painting itself is subpar.

Over time you will get bored and you will want to try something new. Do not give in to the temptation of trying something new. Instead satisfy your urge by painting something else (right now I am painting some Endless Spells because I am so tired of painting my Endless Green Horde). If you give in and try some different colourcombinaitonon your army, you might be tempted to start over and paint it in a different way.

You will become a better painter over time. The last model you paint will look immensely better than the first one you painted, even if it it the exactly same paint scheme on the same type of model. Over time your basecoat will get neater because you will learn tothinand apply it better. Your shades will be better because you will learn how to get it to dry correctly in the cracks. You should look at this progress and feel joy. You should not look at your old paint job and get discouraged. Just keep trucking along. Now, when you get to the end you can return and make those models better (but chances are you would rather start something completely new).

Do not start out by buying a 5000 points army. Trust me, this might seem like a wise thing to do but the chances of you getting burnt out before finishing it is just too great. You risk losing resources and hating yourself for it. There is just no reason to do this.

When painting your first army, make sure you do not get lost in all the details. Sure, do something extra for those characters and monsters. But if you are painting something with a lot of smallmodles, chances are it is only you that will be able to see the difference between something you spend 2 hours on and something you spend 3 hours on.

Pretty bases can really help cover up a simple paint job so do not skimp on doing them. I suggest something simple to do that looks really well. For that, you cannot go wrong with some of the Citadel Texture paints. if you slap some of that stuff on a base and plop down a bit of extra details they can look amazing.

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I use citadel paints, just because that is whats available almost every where. I read recently that vallejo paints have a more matt finish than citadel paints and i am wanting to try those. But i keep seeing these "model" or "game" color ranges. Does anyone know the difference and whats best for painting minis?

I use various brands, mostly Vallejo but I got quite a few Scale75 and Reaper MS paints as well. Citadel colors I mostly avoid these days, solely because of the pots used. I'd like to try other brands too but getting them is too much of a hassle and if they were better than what I have, I'd be unhappy with my current ones. Ignorance can be bliss after all!

It's amazing that GW didn't change their pots to something good by now though. GW paint pots are inferior to ALL others since 25 years by now. The first ones used, the ones GW did with HMG, were actually the best as the paints at least didn't dry out in those.

I use various brands, mostly Vallejo but I got quite a few Scale75 and Reaper MS paints as well. Citadel colors I mostly avoid these days, solely because of the pots used. I'd like to try other brands too but getting them is too much of a hassle and if they were better than what I have, I'd be unhappy with my current ones. Ignorance can be bliss after all!

It's amazing that GW didn't change their pots to something good by now though. GW paint pots are inferior to ALL others since 25 years by now. The first ones used, the ones GW did with HMG, were actually the best as the paints at least didn't try out in those.

Straight from the pot. When it comes to basic, super beginner painting, its a lot easier. You don't need a pallet, you can stir it with a stick inside the pot etc. Dropper bottles basically require a palette, whether its wet or dry. Should you be painting straight from the pot? Not particularly, but it makes it a lot easier for beginners. When it comes to the contrast/xpress/speedpaints I actually prefer the bottles, since straight from the pot is a reasonable approach.

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