Let's Talk Some Shop

As there are some beginners in the club, I thought that I would give you the benefit of my years in the hobby, and share some modeling wisdom (such as it is). Most of this wisdom comes from trial and error, and has been passed to me from other, better modelers than myself. First of all, let’s talk some shop.


PART 1: Materials

Most of us who like hobbies enjoy more of the playing than the actual modeling aspect of it. That being said, I think that you can really take pride in your army when you see it well-painted and presented on the field of battle. The only issues you have then are supplies and determination. Determination is hard to teach, but I think we all enjoy a nicely painted model. It’s all a matter of priorities; if you can commit time to video games and television, you sure can give up some of that time for something more lasting. That’s my last word on that subject. The supplies can be problematic, though, as well.

Games Workshop, or rather Citadel, has been producing modeling products for nearly 25 years now, and because they are a name brand, the cost has become somewhat high for less actual product. Is it worth it? In my opinion, Citadel’s products are not worth the price. Here are my alternatives:

Paints: Decoart Crafter’s Acrylic – A great acrylic paint available from almost any dollar store…they cost about $1.50 per bottle, and provide you with three times the paint than the Citadel pots. They are a great alternative, and I have been using these for years now. They don’t dry up very easily due to the fact that you squeeze out the amount of paint you want to use; I use a palette to paint minis, which is another dollar-store special.

Brushes: Most brushes you find at Citadel range from $6.00-10.00, which is ludicrous. You’re paying for a name: that’s all. Again, the dollar store and a couple of local hobby/train stores will furnish you with comparable brushes for $1.00-3.00.

Primer: Yikes. This is possibly the only thing that Citadel does really well that is somewhat worth the cost. At least, I thought so until one of our members told me that GW is charging $14.00 per can. Fourteen big ones! Give us a break. At any hobby store, you can purchase a half-size can for $5.00…so if you buy two, you’re saving a third of the price. Testor’s makes a great primer, which is available in many different colours. You might also consider that using the cheaper bottles of paint AS the primer, and dry-brushing the primer on with a tank-brush will save you tons ‘o dough; a lot of paint is wasted on sprues, and you can paint the figures on the sprues just as easily.

Glue: Testor’s Plastic Glue, and Krazy Glue. With very few exceptions, it works best with the models. It’s a dollar a bottle, and it’s pretty easy to work with. The Citadel Metal Glue is good, but it is horribly over-priced, like everything else.

Flock is also much cheaper if you go to the actual hobby stores. For about twice the flock, I pay half the price. Those bottles of flock that Citadel sells are NOT worth the price, and the hobby bags of flock have more variety. Go to your local hobby store. It is worth the trip. John’s Trains in Simcoe is the absolute source for great stuff like flock, brushes, paints, etc. The Mill Store in Port Dover carries the Decoart paints, along with most other Dollar Stores. The point I’m trying to make is that if we save some decent money on modeling supplies, we can spend our savings on, say, another box of troops, or a new character for our armies.

That’s all I have to say for now. Feel free to ask me about any more details at the club. In Part 2, we’re going to go mini-shopping…

Lord-Marshall Ivey