I got quite a few questions about the various supplies needed for painting miniatures, so I figured I would share with you what I personally used. My personal collection is quite modest, but it’s definitely enough for a beginner!

Step 1: Minis!

The Reaper Bones collection is my favorite for painting, since you don’t have to prime them and it makes it easier as a beginner. You can either buy these on their website, or at any number of local game shops that carry this brand. Call the stores around you to see if they have them!

Step 2: Paint!

I bought an assortment of these nifty little paint bottles. There wasn’t much rhyme or reason to how I picked colors – I started with a standard set of good colors for mixing (red, blue, green, yellow etc.), a good black and white, a few skin color options, and a wash in black and brown. I splurged a bit for gold and bronze and silver (I knew they’d be useful) and then at the last minute I threw in a pink and a purple. I ended up with about thirty paints, but you can absolutely get by with less than that. These paint bottles are about $3 each, which sounds cheap – but beware! That starts to add up.

Step 3: Brushes!

I bought this set of brushes to get a variety of styles and sizes, and they worked out really well! There are definitely nicer brushes out there, but this set ran me about $20 and I was very pleased with how they ended up working out. You’ll also want a couple of “crappy” brushes to use for drybrushing (this process can ruin nicer brushes, so it’s actually better to just pick up some cheap-o ones) and a few bigger brushes for your base coat.

Step 4: Lights!

First off, I bought some daylight balanced umbrella lights. As a YouTubers, I knew these would be multifaceted, so making the plunge was totally worth it. The lights were hugely useful, but not totally necessary. Any sort of daylight bulbs or natural life is great, as long as you have enough of it. For more detail work, I also got this magnifier+light combo for about $20:

Step 5: Display Case!

Again, this is totally not necessary, but I had so many people asking me about it that I figured I would share. This display case is meant for thimbles, but it’s also exactly the right size for standard miniatures. It comes in a few different colors (black and three various woodgrains) and I absolutely love it. I got it on Amazon for $80.

There you have it! That’s what I have in my collection, and even though it’s a bit spendy to get started – once you have this stuff, you rarely have to buy anything else. I have such a painting bug right now, and I can’t wait to do it again. Also, there’s another set of Reaper Bones coming out soon, so I’ve been highly impatient waiting for the kickstarter. I’ll be sure to let you guys know when it launches.

If you’ve ever painted minis before, or if you start, please send me pictures of what you make!

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Sometimes, right when I think it’s not possible for me to get any more nerdy… I develop a new hobby like painting miniatures. I don’t even totally remember how it happened. I think the first time I painted a mini was a few years ago at a con, and I had no idea what I was doing. I distinctly remember making my fighter much, much too orange. Then some friends of mine bought the giant Reaper Bones kickstarter mega pack and invited a few of us over to help them paint, which was the first time I learned anything at all about technique.

Liz, Joe and I spent a fair amount of time in the Reaper painting room at PAX this year as well, and through that, I could feel the bug catching. That’s why when I saw an opportunity to cultivate my own collection of painting supplies and making a fun video about the process in a Fiesta Mission this month, I jumped on it.

I am very much still learning (there’s so much crazy technique involved in this hobby, it’s nuts) but I am having a ton of fun along the way. And as I start to fill my new display case with finished pieces, there’s one thought that really strikes me… I need to play more D&D.

Have you ever painted minis before? Did you even know it was a thing you could do? I’ve always been really interested in dollhouses and miniature sets and basically the concept of “really small versions of larger things” so this was totally right up my alley. I hope you enjoy the video, and maybe I will make more as I continue to learn and get better.

Four days of PAX was a whole new experience – but it was nice to have that final day to make sure we saw everything. I opted for a comfy outfit for this final day; I’d been saving this fantastic Power Rangers dress for last for that very reason. Paired with a simple pair of black leggings, sensible black sneakers and the same Threadless cardigan from the day before, I was good to go (go power rangers)!

I was a little preoccupied the whole day because I finally had the good sense to bring my DS and collect Street Passes. I had never experienced the magic of Street Passing at a video game convention before, and I have to say, it sort of changed everything. Maybe it was annoying that I was multi-tasking with Warrior’s Way while doing everything else that day, but on the other hand, my army is now 30,000+ strong after a single day. So… no regrets.

We spent a good portion of the day hitting up raffles (tried again to win hardware at the MSI booth, then Liz and I succeeded at winning a GIANT Magic the Gathering card at the MtG raffle, which was hilarious and awesome albeit awkward to carry around the rest of the con) checking out a fun board game called Dungeon Run, and then painting another miniature over at Reaper. It was a nice, calming way to end the con.

In an attempt to prioritize games and fun on Monday, my group somehow ended up forgetting to eat for most of the day – so the last thing we did was GORGE ourselves on Mexican food over at Pacific Place mall. Let me tell you… enchiladas have never tasted as good as they do after four straight days of conventioning. I could have eaten chips and salsa all night if the restaurant had let me.

I have a huge list of games I wrote down over the course of PAX that I’ll be checking out in the near future… I’m thinking tomorrow’s blog post might go through that list. Let me know if that would be interesting!

Note: This post may contain affiliate or referral links.