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Getting started with miniatures can be daunting, and finding the best hobby tools is just one more potential landmine. With Warhammer 40,000: Darktide and Marvel’s Midnight Suns crashing the early holiday festivities, you or a friend might be tempted to get into some of the excellent associated miniatures games, like Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team—which we recommended in our 2022 Holiday Gift Guide—or the fantastic Marvel Crisis Protocol (opens in new tab) from Atomic Mass Games.
But where do you start when you’re brand new to one of the most venerable nerd hobbies? Which hobby tools are essential, and which are a waste of limited starter budgets? I’ve got the plastic skinny on everything you’ll need for fielding your very own teams of miniatures, whether they’re dedicated heroes of the Imperium of Man, members of the X-Men, or just awesome sci-fi operators straight out of Rainbow Six: Siege (opens in new tab).
The best hobby tools for getting started with miniatures
I’ve broken down our recommendations by category, so you know what you’ll need for each step—from box to gaming table.
Assembling your miniatures
Before you can get to painting, you’ve got to put together your new plastic friends, and with some luck and the right tools, you might even assemble your brave space GI Joes with both a left and right arm.
Painting your miniatures
Paint is its own huge topic, and I’m going to stay out of the debate for the most part, since everyone has their preferences between the big ones—Citadel, Vallejo, Army Painter, and Scale75. But there are a ton of other things you need to turn your mini-canvases into mini-warriors.
Upgrade picks for even better painting and assembly
Once you’ve gotten the basics down, you might have a bit in your budget for an upgrade. Or maybe you know somebody who would love a fancy addition to their own hobby tools? These upgrades aren’t essential, but the convenience might make you feel like they are once you’re used to them.
Inexpensive hobby alternatives when you don’t have the funds
Sometimes you can’t quite afford the tools you need, especially after buying the latest and greatest box of shiny new miniatures you want to put together. Thankfully, the world is full of exceptionally clever people who are good at finding homemade workarounds.
Make your own wet palette instead of buying one
Wet palettes are a big cost saver, allowing you to keep paint on your palette from going dry quickly and allowing you to use the same paint mixes for multiple days. However, most wet palettes are also overengineered and unnecessarily expensive—opt for the basics and make your own instead so you can make your expensive miniature paint last a lot longer.
Use medicine bottles as painting holders
While painting holders are cool, they’re not totally necessary when something most people have in their house will do. Prescription pill bottles are plentiful, inexpensive, durable, and perfect for all your needs—so don’t overlook how useful they can be, especially paired with some cork from a wine bottle to pin miniatures.
Make your own washes instead of buying them
Washes are an excellent and common tool when painting, allowing you to add layers of grime, oil, or other environmental tones, but they’re also pretty expensive. If you’re using them a lot, making your own terrain to use for your table, or just want to fine tune your wash colors, they’re relatively easy to make in large quantities.
Give up and just make your own dang miniatures from trash
Maybe you have more creativity than money? Why not lean into that and bash together the most wildly imaginative things you can come up with, all from spare bits of trash and repurposed plastic. Scratch building can be even more rewarding than the most amazing miniature kit from big companies, since the end result is uniquely your own.
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