Build Your First Miniature Paint Kit: What You Actually Need

Walk into the hobby for the first time and the paint wall is genuinely intimidating — hundreds of pots, washes, contrasts, primers and mediums, all shouting for attention. The good news: you need surprisingly little to start, and buying smart beats buying big every time. Here's the kit that actually matters.

The five things you actually need

1. Primer. Everything starts here — it gives paint something to grip. A rattle-can or brush-on primer in white or grey is perfect.
2. A core colour set. A Speedpaint or Warpaints set covering your army's main colours does the heavy lifting.
3. A wash or shade. One dark wash instantly adds depth in the recesses of every model.
4. A metallic. One silver — and ideally one gold — covers blades, guns and armour.
5. Two brushes. One fine detail brush and one larger brush for basecoating. That's genuinely all you need to begin.

Two honest routes

There are two valid ways to go, and the right one depends on your patience. For speed, lean on single-coat paints like Speedpaint — prime, one coat, done. For control and range, a pigment-rich set like the AK Interactive 3G line gives you proper mixing flexibility and a wider palette as your skills grow. Neither is “better” — pick the one that matches how you like to work.

Don't forget the boring essentials

Three cheap things make everything easier and are easy to forget: a pair of clippers for removing parts cleanly, plastic glue or super glue for assembly, and a palette — even a cheap wet palette keeps your paint usable far longer. Add a pot of water and some kitchen roll and your painting station is complete.

Build it from one place

Everything above lives in our paint & hobby supplies. Start small, add as each project demands, and resist buying the whole wall on day one — half of it will dry out before you reach it. The hobby rewards finishing models, not collecting paint.