Welcome

Hello Everyone, and welcome to my painting blog! The purpose of this blog is to share the knowledge of assembling and painting miniatures. Let me first state that while I do things a certain way on this blog, it does not mean that my way is necessarily the only way these things can be done. If you disagree with my methods, go ahead and do it your way if you like it better! Painting miniatures is an art form, and I only wish to help those who are not well versed in the hobby.

The focus of this blog will be on the race of aliens calling themselves "The Tau Empire" from the tabletop miniatures game, "Warhammer 40k" produced by Games Workshop. The purpose of the game is to purchase and paint miniatures to build an army to field against your opponent in various missions. These missions could include capturing strategic points, assassinating an enemy's powerful commander, or even trying to simply destroy your opponent with superior tactics and military might.

To get started with the hobby, you will need a few things, including:

• Plastic and metal miniatures for your chosen army.
• Your army book for your chosen army.
• Paints for the color scheme you intend to use, including canned primer.
• Hobby tools (A hobby knife, clippers, and drill).
• Plastic glue, as well as super glue.
• Terrain for your miniature bases (hereafter refered to as "Flock").
• A variety of good quality brushes.
• A sectioned box to keep spare pieces.
• A paint palette (Personally I use a square piece of plastic. Just nothing that will soak up paint.)
• Two cups of water; one for clean water and one for rinsing brushes.
• A few paper towels.
• Some free time and a good light source! 

While this may seem like a long list, most of these are essential to starting the hobby. Many of these can be purchased from places other than hobby stores, but generally I find that name brand hobby materials tend to last longer than those from a dollar store.

Next time I will discuss miniature assembly and how to properly glue your new models together. Welcome to the hobby!