Army Painter Gift Sets Guide

Published: November 6, 2020 10:30 AM /

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The Army Painter

With all these awesome ship miniatures, you'll want to get them assembled and painted. The Army Painter has your back with their awesome starter sets to get you into the hobby element of wargaming. They also make great gifts. So join us, as we go through some of their painting and hobby starter sets.

This article forms part of our Nautical Tabletop Month that's running across all of November. We're going to look at different nautical wargames and board games, as well as interview developers about capturing the sea feel on the tabletop. We'll also look at nautical factions in popular wargames along with tabletop accessories that are available to keep your hobby ship-shape. You can see all the articles here on the hub. So come aboard as we set sail and celebrate all games nautical in nature.

Firestorm Games

You can buy all the Nautical Tabletop Month products from our tabletop sponsor, Firestorm Games.

The Army Painter Hobby Set.

The Army Painter Hobby Set

The Hobby Set really is the perfect starting point for any wargaming hobbyist. It contains everything required to get miniatures assembled and painted.

The full contents of the Hobby Set are:

  • Plastic Frame Cutter - for removing plastic miniatures from sprues
  • Model file - for cleaning up the miniatures
  • Super Glue - for putting the miniatures together
  • Paint mixing tray - with individual segments for mixing a variety of colors
  • 3 paintbrushes - Starter Brush for most work, Precise Detail for small areas, Drybrush for easily picking out highlight detail
  • 1 Brush-on Primer Paint - For the undercoat paint layer
  • 9 Paints - The core colors, Black, White, Yellow, Red, Blue, Green, Flesh, Brown, and Bone
  • 1 Metalic Paint - Plate Mail Metal to give armor a shine
  • 1 Strong Tone - That goes over the paint to darken the recesses of the miniature
  • Army Painter Tool and Painting Guide - Includes step by step guides to all the products and techniques

The great thing about this set is that it is a single purchase that includes everything to get hobbyists started. It is also still a solid purchase for existing hobbyists, as the paints are core colors, that you can never have enough of. The tools are also full quality tools and brushes, not cheap starter-set quality. The Frame Cutters are very sturdy and durable and the 3 included brushes are a perfect core for starting out, to get a feel for The Army Painter style of brushes.

Expanding out from the Hobby Set is easy, and can be done gradually when you know what other tools and paints you need.

The Army Painter Hobby Starter Paint Set.

The Army Painter Wargames Hobby Starter Paint Set

The Wargames Hobby Starter Paint Set is a great base for anyone who already has their own hobby tools and wants to start painting, or start with the Army Painter paints. It contains the same paints as the Hobby Set, except for the Brush-on Primer and Bone.

The full contents of the Wargames Hobby Starter Set are:

  • 8 Paints - The core colors, Black, White, Yellow, Red, Blue, Green, Flesh, and Brown
  • 1 Metalic Paint - Plate Mail Metal to give armor a shine
  • 1 Strong Tone - That goes over the paint to darken the recesses of the miniature
  • 1 Starter Brush - Perfect beginner brush, or as a core brush
  • Army Painter Painting Guide - Includes step by step guides to all the products and techniques

If buying this as a gift, we recommend adding in a spray primer. These usually match the core color of the miniature being painted, so if unsure, get the Army Painter Matt White Undercoat. That way, the gift will be a complete painting package.

The Army Painter Hobby Tool Kit.

The Army Painter Hobby Tool Kit

The Hobby Tool Kit can be combined with the Wargames Hobby Paint Set to give a complete package that has everything for beginners into intermediate and advanced hobby work. On its own, the Hobby Tool kit has everything players need to get started with miniature wargame as well as tools they will need for working with resin and metal miniatures, and also when they start to work with more intermediate and advanced techniques.

The full contents of the Hobby Tool Kit are:

  • Hobby Side Cutter - Can be used for removing metal and resin edges from miniatures, or plastic miniatures from sprues
  • Hobby Knife - Sharp knife for cleaning up miniatures or removing metal or from sprues. The safety grip handle is fantastic and easy to work with
  • Hobby File - For flattening edges. It has 3 sides, 1 flat and 2 angled for precise work
  • Super glue - For putting the miniatures together
  • Hobby Drill - The drill is used to make holes for pins, for a firm set when gluing. It is also used when magnetizing miniatures with interchangeable parts, or simply making holes, like boring out the barrels of guns
  • Green Stuff - Some metal and resin miniatures don't have a firm fit and green stuff can be used to fill the gaps. It's also great for hobbyists when they start to convert miniatures
  • Sculpting Tool - Used in conjunction with the green stuff to get it into the gaps and shape it to the requirements
  • Army Painter Tool and Painting Guide - Includes step by step guides to all the products and techniques

This can be bought on its own for use with any miniature wargaming system or starter set and will carry the hobbyist through their first steps and well beyond, giving them the tools they need for advanced techniques when they want to try them out.

The Army Painter Most Wanted Brush Set.

The Army Painter Most Wanted Brush Set

The Most Wanted Brush Set is the perfect set or gift for all wargamers and hobbyists. It contains 3 brushes, that while they have specific uses, are regularly used by all hobbyists.

The full contents of the Most Wanted Brush Set are:

  • Wargamer: Regiment Brush - This is a solid use brush and the next step from the starter brush for standard troop painting
  • Wargamer: Insane Detail Brush - The tip is perfect for fine lines, such as eyes, tattoos, and additional markings. The thick, triangular handle makes it very easy to control for such work
  • Wargamer: Small Drybrush - The brush hairs are angled, which makes it much easier when dry brushing and offers more control

This is a great gift or starter set for any hobbyist, or to upgrade a painting starter set. It includes brushes to help beginners with techniques, but also core brushes that veteran hobbyists will also use.

The Army Painter Masterclass: Drybrush Set.

The Army Painter Masterclass: Drybrush Set

The Masterclass: Drybrush set includes 3 dry brushes of different sizes, to be used on different sized miniatures and terrain. They are very different from a normal brush, with a thick domed head, rather than long bristles. These brushes allow hobbyists to get fantastic effects on their miniatures and are great for veteran gamers, and those looking to upgrade from beginner skills.

The full contents of the Masterclass: Drybrush Set are:

  • Masterclass: Miniature Drybrush - For use on most standard-sized troop types
  • Masterclass: Moderate Drybrush - For use on large units and vehicles
  • Masterclass: Mighty Drybrush - For use on terrain and huge miniatures

Don't be mislead by the Masterclass subtitled. These give masterclass results, rather than being specifically aimed at elite painters. If someone has started painting and enjoys it, then this is the perfect gift to help them upgrade their results. The Army Painter has a video showing how to get great results with the brushes.

Beyond The Starter Sets

The Army Painter has a huge line of products for all aspects of miniature wargaming. To go with any of the gift sets, the spray color primers are extremely useful and speed up the whole painting process. They are better color-matched to the main color of the miniatures that are being painted but are available in the core white, black, and grey if the color scheme isn't yet decided. After that, there are 124 paint colors to choose from including metallics, different strengths of washes, and effects. And to complete the miniatures, they also offer a range of different options to go on the base of the miniature for different environments from snow, to the desert and everything in between.

The Army Painter Complete Paint Set.

TechRaptor Testimonial

I started using the Army Painter products when I discovered them through the Reichbusters: Projekt Vril Paint Set. The included basecoating brush in that set is my core brush now, and I use it for most work before highlighting. The range of colors offered is also perfect for everything I need and I find that I use an insane amount of XXX Claw from that set, combined with the various washes to get all kinds of effects. That set completely sold me on their products, and I've been expanding my Army Painter bruches collection from there. - Adam Potts, TechRaptor Tabletop Editor


The copies of The Army Painter Starter Sets used to produce this article were provided by The Army Painter.

 

Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net


A Potts TechRaptor
| Senior Tabletop Writer

Adam is a Tabletop Specialist for TechRaptor. He started writing for TechRaptor in 2017 and took over as Tabletop Editor in 2019 and has since stood down… More about Adam