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What "cheap" figures to practice painting

11Bravo_C2

Texas, United States
Joined: May 12, 2015
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Posted: Tuesday, July 14, 2015 - 12:27 AM UTC

Howdy ya'll. Im a beginner at building and painting figures.

I'm looking for nice, but affordable, 1/35 figures to practice painting. Something I can paint, strip and paint again until I hone my skills.

What do you recommend?

phantom_phanatic309

#372

United Kingdom
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Posted: Tuesday, July 14, 2015 - 12:58 AM UTC

Tamiya, Masterbox and Miniart do some good figure sets at reasonable prices. Dragon are pretty good too but you might want to shop around to get a decent price.

11Bravo_C2

Texas, United States
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Posted: Tuesday, July 14, 2015 - 01:00 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Tamiya, Masterbox and Miniart do some good figure sets at reasonable prices. Dragon are pretty good too but you might want to shop around to get a decent price.

I will check out Masterbox and Miniart. Thanks !!

Jmarles

British Columbia, Canada
Joined: November 02, 2008
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Posted: Tuesday, July 14, 2015 - 01:50 AM UTC

Another idea, if you are buying kits, is to get the cyberhobby orange box kits that have bonus Dragon or Masterbox figures, or some Tamiya kits that have Masterbox figures. I just payed $23 for the LRDG truck that comes with seven figures...beats paying $14 for a four pack

Also MINI ART does diorama sets and some have bonus figures...or use old Tamiya ones that are dirt cheap if you don't mind the meagre quality. If you are just painting and stripping you can get Tamiya eight packs for asl ow as five bux...

americanpanzer

Iowa, United States
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Posted: Tuesday, July 14, 2015 - 02:16 AM UTC

some hobby shops have stocks of older Tamiya kits for a few bucks (one in my area has them for $4-6); you might find good bargains at a swap meet or modeling contest, or a nearby model club might have members who need to reduce their stash;

Thudius

Uusimaa, Finland
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Posted: Tuesday, July 14, 2015 - 02:20 AM UTC

You might want to keep an eye on ebay for resin figures (and head sets) and of course plastic. One thing to consider: the better the quality of the figures in terms of definition, the more your painting skills will improve. It can be rather challenging to paint faces realistically if they aren't well defined to begin with. The same applies to equipment and clothing in general.

Kimmo

11Bravo_C2

Texas, United States
Joined: May 12, 2015
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Posted: Tuesday, July 14, 2015 - 03:16 AM UTC

Quoted Text

some hobby shops have stocks of older Tamiya kits for a few bucks (one in my area has them for $4-6); you might find good bargains at a swap meet or modeling contest, or a nearby model club might have members who need to reduce their stash

One of the local modeling clubs has a show near me in September. I have it marked on my calendar. Now for LHS, we have lost many. Seems the mom/pops shops have all but disappeared and we're left with HobbyTown and their high prices. So its the online shops for me.

Thanks for the tips.

11Bravo_C2

Texas, United States
Joined: May 12, 2015
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Posted: Tuesday, July 14, 2015 - 03:21 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Another idea, if you are buying kits, is to get the cyberhobby orange box kits that have bonus Dragon or Masterbox figures, or some Tamiya kits that have Masterbox figures. I just payed $23 for the LRDG truck that comes with seven figures...beats paying $14 for a four pack

Also MINI ART does diorama sets and some have bonus figures...or use old Tamiya ones that are dirt cheap if you don't mind the meagre quality. If you are just painting and stripping you can get Tamiya eight packs for as low as five bux...

Thank you!

phantom_phanatic309

#372

United Kingdom
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Posted: Tuesday, July 14, 2015 - 04:13 AM UTC

Do a search for what your interested in and if you see a set you like, I'd recommend looking up some reviews to find out what you get in the box and detail of the figures. Some good reviews can be found in the reviews section here.
Often, a well known brand name does not mean quality. I'm currently working on Dragon's British Commonwealth Infantry 44 set (6055) and they are very poor. Soft detail, undersized packs and a bad fit. I'm going to have to guess at where some of the webbing is when it comes to painting! I think it was one of their earlier efforts as most other sets I have are much better.
You really will need some figures that fit well and have sharp detail to help painting. Cutting, filing and filling are quite tricky on figures and not for a first timer.

11Bravo_C2

Texas, United States
Joined: May 12, 2015
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Posted: Tuesday, July 14, 2015 - 04:19 AM UTC

Quoted Text

It can be rather challenging to paint faces realistically if they aren't well defined to begin with. The same applies to equipment and clothing in general.

I completely understand.

obg153

Texas, United States
Joined: April 07, 2009
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Posted: Tuesday, July 14, 2015 - 05:29 AM UTC

Not sure why it hasn't been mentioned yet, but,,, there's a buy-sell-trade forum on this site where you might find what you're looking for.

edmund

United States
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Posted: Tuesday, July 14, 2015 - 06:10 AM UTC

Have you considered starting with something bigger say a 54 mm figure . When you get the hang of it then do the 1/35 .?

misanthrope

Tennessee, United States
Joined: February 12, 2015
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Posted: Tuesday, July 14, 2015 - 06:53 AM UTC

For what it's worth, I could not paint figures to save my life until I got an opti-visor. Less than $15 from Scale Hobbyist.com.

edmund

United States
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Posted: Tuesday, July 14, 2015 - 07:05 AM UTC

Harbor freight has those ones that clip on to your glasses I think total of four pieces ,

Bravo1102

New Jersey, United States
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Posted: Tuesday, July 14, 2015 - 03:06 PM UTC

I was a real masochist back in the day as I went with the least defined detail I could to learn how to pick things out and just paint I wanted the paint to do the talking and create the detail to challenge myself. Almost like approaching a blank canvas.

The eight box Tamiya figures are really good for practice painting and assembling to get an idea how to let stuff hang as opposed to looking glued on.

Cantstopbuyingkits

European Union
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Posted: Tuesday, July 14, 2015 - 06:26 PM UTC

I would suggest having a look at Warlord's 1/56 scale plastic WW2 range, the figures are very cheap [about £25 for 24] but have very nicely moulded detail.

18Bravo

Colorado, United States
Joined: January 20, 2005
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Posted: Tuesday, July 21, 2015 - 10:16 PM UTC

If they're for practice and you don't care about using them, I'd say most of us could pack up quite a few that we'll never use and send them to you,

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