"Painting Seminar Notes Flow shine in your water base helps the paint stick. Nail files are good for sanding down coarse surfaces on minis. Greenstuff is good for sculpting, of course. ... MoreHead visor magnifying glasses and/or a magnification light are excellent for up close work. Dental tools might be a freebie from your dentist, and are good for burnishing and scraping. Corks make excellent terrain and base pieces. Double-pinning your minis makes them fall apart less for stubborn pieces. Glass marbles in your paints are excellent as an agitator to help stir when you shake. Flow Aid trying extender helps acrylics dry less quickly. 1 paint, 1 flow aid, 2 water parts. Future Floor Polish helps your minis seal and keep longer for table use, dip your mini in it a couple of times after you're done painting. Decoupage (sp?) and Modge-podge are also excellent sealants. Fine pens are excellent for eyes and detail lines. Citadel makes excellent, but expensive paints. As an alternative, try the following mix: Liquate Matte Medium Liquate Flow-Aid Distilled Water Matte Medium:Water: Flow-Aid 10 : 10 : 1 Then add ink to taste. As an example: Basic Black: 40 drops to 1 oz of above mix. Sepia: 40 drops to 1 oz of above mix. Paintbrush cleaners, needle-nose pliers, c-clamps, Popsicle sticks, toothpicks, a ribbed soup can for scrubbing your brush, acrylics from the hobby store for a dollar, bristol-board paper sketchbook for a table cover, a washcloth, a clean source of water in a dropper, and hand-priming your minis are all tricks I also use. Small drill bits, paper clips, mixing putty, Greenstuff (organic paint remover), wire or diagonal cutters, and a hand drill are also excellent for modifications and additions to minis. Rocks, sand, train-decals, train terrain, and other base materials are excellent for upgrades to your mini. Extra bases for wobbly minis are a good idea, and a pill cap makes an excellent cheap base that is sturdy while painting. The mobile painting rig was also a very nice feature, and leaves no excuse for not having space to paint. To extend the life of your brushes, use the right size brush for the right size job. Small detail brushes are great, but bigger brushes are more useful for mixing and basing, and "bad" brushes are excellent for dry-brush work. Blick, Hobby Lobby, Michaels, and Utrecht in Chicago are excellent sources for paint. Home Depot and even a few types of house paint are also an excellent source of cheaper alternatives. Tool boxes and Fishing Tackle boxes make excellent transport cases, both for painting materials and armies, and are also an excellent source of cheap foam, wood, and other parts/bits for your work. Best of luck in your painting endeavors, and feel free to post to this thread with other excellent painting ideas! - Warcry "

"Hey! If you're looking to sell stuff in order to buy new stuff, and haven't had any luck, you might want to try the Games Plus Auction. http://www.games-plus... Cheers, - Warcry"