There's a very specific panic that hits a new Warhammer painter. You're holding a grey (or shiny silver) plastic model in one hand, a brush you're not quite sure how to grip in the other, and a creeping fear that you're about to ruin something you paid good money for. Breathe. Every painter whose work you admire started exactly here — producing first models that looked a bit like a toffee apple left out in the rain.
Here's the good news: getting a miniature to a tidy tabletop standard — the level that looks great across the table during a game — is far easier than the eye-watering Golden Demon-standard stuff you see online. You don't need natural talent, an airbrush, or fifty paints. You need a handful of the right bits and a few habits that stop beginners going wrong. So before you put brush to your first miniature, here's everything worth knowing.
1. Don't Buy the Entire Paint Range
The wall of little pots is genuinely intimidating, and you do not need most of them. A small starter set will cover the vast majority of a beginner army, and you can fill gaps later as you actually need colours.
- Start with a set: a boxed paint set gives you a sensible spread of base colours for less than buying pots individually.
- Buy by colour, not by hype: a 'red is red' mentality will save you a fortune. You don't need the premium-branded version of every shade.
- Add as you go: only buy the specific colours your chosen faction actually uses.
2. Undercoat First — Always
Paint does not stick well to bare plastic or resin, and skipping this step is the single most common beginner mistake. An undercoat (primer) gives the paint something to grip and makes every colour on top look brighter and more even.
- Spray or brush: a rattle-can spray primer is fastest; do it outdoors or in a well-ventilated space.
- Black, white or grey: black is forgiving and great for darker schemes; white or grey makes bright colours pop. When in doubt, grey.
- Thin coats: two light passes beat one thick one that drowns the detail.
3. Thin Your Paints (The Golden Rule)
If you remember nothing else, remember this. Straight-from-the-pot paint is too thick — it clogs detail and dries lumpy. A little water (or a thinning medium) on your palette, aiming for the consistency of milk, makes a bigger difference to your results than any expensive brush.
It feels slow because you'll need two thin coats instead of one gloopy one, but the finish is night-and-day better.
4. A Couple of Good Brushes Beats a Cheap Set of Twenty
That 20-piece bargain brush set is a false economy — the bristles splay within a week. You really only need two or three.
- One medium brush for the bulk of the model.
- One fine detail brush for eyes, buckles and edges.
- One old, knackered brush for drybrushing and applying glue.
Look after them: rinse while you work, never let paint dry in the bristles, and reshape the tip after washing. A decent miniature brush looked after well will outlast a drawer full of cheap ones.
5. Base Coat, Wash, Highlight — The Three-Step Shortcut
Almost every good tabletop model follows the same simple recipe. Master this order and you'll get results that look deliberate rather than accidental.
- Base coat: lay down your solid colours, neatly.
- Wash: a dark, runny wash (shade) flows into the recesses and instantly creates shadow and depth. This is the closest thing painting has to a cheat code — one step makes a flat model look three-dimensional.
- Highlight: a lighter colour dry-brushed or carefully edged onto raised areas catches the light and finishes the job.
6. Use Speed Paints When You Want an Army, Not a Single Showpiece
If the thought of hand-shading 60 models makes you want to lie down, modern contrast and speed paints are your friend. They go on in a single coat and do the shading for you — base coat and wash in one hit.
Ranges like Warhammer Colour and The Army Painter are built exactly for getting a playable force finished fast. They won't win competitions, but they'll get an army on the table this month instead of next year.
7. Don't Forget the Base
A beautifully painted model on a bare black plastic base looks unfinished. Five minutes of basing — sand, texture paint, a few static-grass tufts — ties the whole thing together and hides a multitude of sins.
8. Be Honest About the Two-Foot Rule
Here's the straight talk: nobody is examining your models through a magnifying glass mid-game. If it looks good from about two feet away — the normal distance across a gaming table — it's done. Chasing flawless perfection on your very first squad is the fastest route to burning out with an unpainted army in a box.
Get them tabletop-ready, get them playing, and let your skills improve naturally on the next unit.
Your Beginner Starter Kit
If you're starting from scratch, this is genuinely all you need:
- A starter paint set for your core colours
- A can of grey or black primer
- One shade/wash (the magic step)
- Two or three brushes (medium, fine, and an old one)
- A pot of water and a scrap of paper for a palette
Painting is a skill, not a gift — and like any skill, your tenth model will look miles better than your first without you really noticing it happen. Thin your paints, undercoat everything, lean on washes, and don't chase perfection on day one. Do that, and you'll have an army you're proud to put on the table far sooner than you think.
Further reading: ready to put it into practice? See How to Build and Paint Your First Warhammer 40k Army, or check Jack's pick of the best-value paint sets to kit yourself out without overspending.
