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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Doug Sundseth" data-source="post: 4829670" data-attributes="member: 52196">First, for priming, do not use spray paint.  Use spray primer.  They are not the same, and spray paint makes a really poor primer, because it doesn't bond to the underlying miniature anywhere close to as well as real primer.  (Note that what GW currently calls primer is actually paint.)Krylon primer (available in Black, White, Gray, and Rust Brown to my knowledge) is adequate and cheap.  Many painters think that Duplicolor (available from auto parts stores) is better and still inexpensive.  Competition painters seem to mostly use Tamiya Fine Surface primer, which can be found in better hobby stores.  Black, white, and gray all work, though the techniques are different.  (The short version is that white is slow and pretty, black is fast and ugly, and gray is in between. I use all of them at various times, though I use black least.)Second, stay away from cheap brushes.  They make your life harder and they don't last long.  Buy top-quality Sable brushes.  A good brush will cost you $8-12 and last more than a year of regular painting.  If you're planning to paint a full Descent set, you will save money by buying quality brushes. I would recommend Winsor & Newton Series 7, Da Vinci Maestro, or Raphael; all are available from <a href="http://www.dickblick.com/" target="_blank">Art Supplies from Dick Blick Art Materials</a>.  (Blick has good prices and excellent service.)When you're getting brushes, pick up a cake of brush soap as well.  The Master's Brush Cleaner and Restorer works pretty well and doesn't cost much.  I'd also recommend that you pick up either a porcelain (not plastic, it doesn't clean well) well palette or (if you have someone to teach you how to use it) a wet palette.For paint, I use mostly Reaper, but any of the major hobby brands will work.  For that matter, craft acrylics like Apple Barrel or Delta Ceramcoat will also work, though they're a bit more difficult to get good results with.  The difference between good paint and adequate paint is much less than the difference obtained by using good brushes, though.I'd start with Black, White, Red, Blue, Yellow, and a few colors you plan to use on your first minis.  With the basic colors, you can mix your other colors; anything beyond the first set is a convenience, not a necessity.  It is enough of a convenience, though, that most painters have a wide variety of bottled paints available. Fortunately, buying paints one bottle at a time is relatively easy.If you have lots of painting questions, you might want to try out Reaper Miniatures' forum; it's a very polite and helpful community, with some of the top painters in the world as regular contributors.HTH</blockquote>

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