paints:
I use citadel colour, P3 colour, and Vallejo. Theyre all really much the same, and fully intermixable, so buy whatever tickles your fancy on any given day.
Paint is gonna cost ya. Its the kind of thing you eventually pick up one or two pots of as you see it/discover you need it, but to get started youre going to need a fair selection.
Black
White
good, strong red (e.g. GW blood red)
dark brown (e.g. P3 umbral umber)
light brown/tan (e.g. GW bubonic brown)
bone (e.g. GW bleached bone, Vallejo Bonewhite)
dark blue (Foundation Necron Abyss see below)
mid blue (e.g. GW ultramarine)
dark green (e.g. GW Dark Angel green or GW foundation orkhide shade)
mid green (e.g. GW emerald green)
strong yellow (e.g. GW golden yellow AND GW foundation Iyanden darksun)
dark metal (e.g. GW bolt gun metal)
light metal (e.g. GW mithril silver)
shiny gold (e.g. GW shining gold, P3 brass balls)
There are also some colours that are just damn valuable in and of themselves.
Washes are a special type of paint. They are much "thinner" than regular paint. They are transparent, and have a different feel to them. GW do a very good range of em. I love em all. For starters, Id recommend:
Devlan Mud: AKA magic juice. Possibly the most useful paint ever made. its a muddy brown colour.
Thraka green - important if you plan on painting green things.
Badab black - useful for metals.
Foundation paints from GW are different again. Theyre thicker than regular paints, so you have to thin them a bit (this is good. it makes a pot go further). They have much better "coverage" than regular paint. This is especially important for bright colours. You'll likely need:
Orkhide shade (a very dark green)
Iyanden darksun (a slightly brownish yellow)
Mechrite red (darkish red)
Calthan Brown (mid brown)
Necron Abyss (v dark blue)
the last "special" paint id recommend is a metallic colour from GW called Tin Bitz. Its a dark brassy colour, and is an ace base coat for any metal.
Or, if there's a hobby/art store near you, go take a shufty. You want to buy water based acrylic paint. Be wary of gouache, as it is sometimes easy to rub off when dry. Do not buy oils (altho you can get nice effects with em, I wouldnt recommend em to beginners.)
You will also need a decent paintbrush. (well, two, actually.) i recommend Rosemary and Co. You need to order these from overseas. Id advise against cheap brushes. They die easily, and are very frustrating to use. Invest in one good Kolinski sable size 1 brush and one decent size 1 or 2 artificial bristle brush. Use the Kolinski for painting and the synthetic for mixing and undercoating and non-fiddly stuff. Actually, R&co's synthetics are rather good. I often find myself not swapping over to the kolinski at all, unless im doing an especially fiddly model.
e.g.
http://www.rosemaryandco.com/series-pur ... -p-83.html
http://www.rosemaryandco.com/series-poi ... p-367.html
as you can see, when i say "invest" in a good brush, I aint talking about taking out a mortgage. The shipping from this site is about 5 pounds, so youre as well buying two of each brush for later. (actually, Primarch was thinking of buying brushes from here. maybe you could split the postage. PM him...)
Tbh, the best way to learn how to paint, aside from trial and error (and there will be lots of this...) is to be shown how. If you fancy, I could bring my painting stuff to Nagoya some time and give you a demo. This month would be rather difficult, as Im already bringing a large case full of eldar and a backpack full of tanks, so adding in my (rather heavy) painting box would make for a Very Not Fun Trip up from Mie. Also, I daresay you wont actually have any models by that point anyway.
So, hows about next month? Say, the end of the month game in Nagoya? (maybe earlier, depending on schedules and whatnot). I'll bring me paints, you bring yer orkses, and I'll show you how to turn em into proper greenskins
