5 reasons you've never started painting minis (and the fix that isn't a YouTube rabbit hole)
Wasting money, model choice overload & getting judged... don't worry, you're not alone.
You've wanted to start for a while. You watch the videos, you know the models, maybe you've even had one sitting in a cart.
Then the same quiet voice talks you out of it every time. It's not that you don't want to paint. It's that starting feels like a test you haven't studied for.
You're scared to waste your money
This is the big one.
You spend money on a model, you get it wrong, and now you've burned cash on a mistake sitting on your desk. Except that's not how it works. Paint comes off. A bit of water, a soft brush, and you're back to a clean model ready for another go. There's no version of this where you're left with something wrecked.
Every attempt is just practice you can undo. The only people who never get better are the ones who never start.
You don't know where to start (choice paradox)
Open any starter guide and you'll drown. Forty paint pots, six brushes, primers, washes, a wet palette you didn't know existed.
So you close the tab and tell yourself you'll figure it out later. You don't need any of that. You need one model, a handful of core colours and a single brush. That's it. We tell you exactly which, so there's no research, no rabbit hole, and nothing sitting in a cupboard unused.
You think everyone's better than you
Every mini you see online is finished by someone who's been doing this for years. So you assume that's the bar, and your first attempt will look like a kid's next to it. But nobody starts there. The painters you admire have a shelf of early ones they'd never post.
Your first model isn't meant to look like theirs. It's meant to be yours, and it'll look a hundred times better than the one you never painted.
The easy way in
One forgiving model, a few core paints, twenty minutes. No army, no rabbit hole. We tell you exactly which mini and which paints so there's no guessing.
Start with an easy oneYou think proxies are somehow dodgy
Here's the truth nobody says out loud. A proxy is the same sculpt quality, the same crisp detail, for a fraction of the price. On the tabletop and on your shelf it looks identical. The only difference is what you paid. For a first model you're learning on, spending triple for a logo on the box makes no sense. Start smart, keep the change.
You think you have to commit to the whole game
You don't. You don't need an army, a rulebook or an opponent. Loads of people never play a single game and just paint. One model on the shelf that you made is a hobby on its own. Start with one, and if it grabs you, the rest is there whenever you want it.
Genuinely thought I'd be terrible. First one I've painted and I'm proud of it.
Your first mini, chosen to be forgiving
Big flat surfaces, clean detail, hard to get wrong. Looks good even on attempt one.
Start with our essential miniOne model, a few core paints and a single brush. That's the whole list. Forget the forty pots and the wet palette, you don't need any of it yet. We tell you exactly which mini and which paints so there's nothing to research and nothing left sitting in a cupboard.
Just paint. You don't need an army, a rulebook or an opponent. Loads of people never play a single game and only collect and paint. One model you made, sitting on the shelf, is a hobby on its own.
They're proxies. Same crisp detail, same scale, a fraction of the price. On the shelf there's no difference, you just keep more in your wallet, which is exactly what you want for the first one you're learning on.