BEGINNERS' PAINTING

Painting is fun and easy, and the best way to get started is just have a go! It doesn't matter if you make a mistake - wait for the paint to dry and just try again! If you live near one of our shops, why not pop in for a free painting lesson?

We recommend you start with some of the simpler projects like infantry models before going onto cavalry, which involve painting two separate models then sticking them together. Vehicles like the Land Speeder and the Space Marine bike are a little bit more tricky, so you might want to practice on some easier painting projects before having a go at these.

There is no right or wrong way to paint - do whatever you find works best for you!

WHAT EQUIPMENT DO YOU NEED?

You will need the following equipment for the painting projects listed below:

PAINTS: Although you can use ordinary artist's paint for painting models, it's much better to use paint formulated specially for this purpose. Games Workshop's range of Citadel water-soluble acrylics is ideal for painting metal and plastic miniatures, and all the instructions for the projects on this site assume you'll be using it.

To start with, you'll need about 10 basic colours like red, yellow, blue, white, black, etc. You can either go to a store and pick out the colours you like, or, if you don't already have any paint, we'd recommend one of our two starter paint sets, which contain nine specially selected pots of paint, along with a brush, a mini painting guide, and some models. You can then buy new colours as you need them.

If for some reason you don't want to buy a starter paint set, these 10 colours will get you off to a good start: Skull White, Chaos Black, Blood Red, Enchanted Blue, Sunburst Yellow, Goblin Green, Elf Flesh, Bestial Brown, Chainmail and Shining Gold.

For undercoating, you will need a can of Citadel undercoat spray paint, available in white, black and other colours.

BRUSHES: You will need at least one brush; two or three in different sizes would be better.

WATER POT. An old mug or a jam jar will do just fine.

MIXING PALETTE. You can buy a plastic palette from an art shop, but most people just use an old plate.

Some KITCHEN PAPER or tissues. Useful for cleaning or drying your brush, and mopping up spills.

WHERE TO PAINT

You will need a table to paint at, somewhere where the lighting is good, like a kitchen table next to a window. Put some newspaper on the table before you start painting, to protect it from any spilled paint, water or scratches.

BEFORE YOU START

Before you start painting, you'll need to do a little preparation work like gluing the model to its base, and undercoating it. Our Beginners' Modeling Guide will tell you how to do this.

WHEN YOU'RE READY TO MOVE ON....

Once you've stuck together and painted some models, and you're feeling a bit more confident, you could try some of the projects on the main area of the Hobby website.