What vital tools do you need to get for painting miniatures?

A bunch of random tools hastily gathered for this article.

Tools. The cornerstone of civilisation. The bedrock of humanity's ascension. Pretty handy when painting miniatures.

This is a basic list of 9 tools you might need for painting miniatures, some vital, others less so.

1. Knife

Any sort of knife with an edge can be used, but the smaller the point the better. Hobby knives are expensive but do the job well and you can you can easily replace the blades that you clumsily snap. The same can't be said for the family heirloom multitool!

Rating - vital

2. Clippers

Clippers are like two knives stuck together and that is automatically better. Cuts through plastic like butter.

Rating - useful

3. Magnifying stand

How are your eyeballs? In their prime? Glistening with a 2020 sheen? Even if they are, you may like to use a magnifying device for the extremely tiny details that nestle in most modern miniatures.

Rating - an indulgence

4. Washing jar

If you want to avoid smearing and mixing the paints together like a child, a jam jar or cup can be used to remove excess paint before moving on to a new colour. It should be clear glass because it looks cool swishing the colours together!

Rating - vital

5. Mat

Protect your precious surfaces from defacement! It doesn't matter how careful you are, you will get over excited and cut deeply and irreparably into your antique mahogany desk. In a pinch, a couple of layers of cardboard can be used instead of those expensive green hobby mats.

Rating - vital

6. Files

Files are great for smoothing rough parts of your miniatures! The small metal pointy variety are good for getting into knocks and crannies, but if you don't want to shell out for them, then a normal nail file is fine.

Rating - fairly useful

7. Glue

The two main flavours of glue you need would be, superglue for miniatures and that white gloopy glue you probably used at school(PVA/wood glue?) for scenery.

Rating - vital

8. Paint pallet

Any smooth surface will do. A tile, a plate, the lid of the paint pot, the back of your hand. All serviceable pallets. If you want to learn how to make a wet pallet click here!(coming soon)

Rating - somewhat vital.

Incredibly budget redbull can stand.

9. Blue tack

Some sort of adhesive gummy stuff. This has a ton of uses from sticking bits of miniature together to mounting them on a stand for easy painting.

Rating - non essential but you probably have some lying around anyway.

So, those are the basic tools, now lets start painting!