Supplies – Rebuilding the modelling tool box

One of the issues I’m facing with my impending move to Australia is the need to replace/restock my modelling supplies once I arrive.

There’s little or no point in bothering to ship much of my existing stuff, for one thing it’s an absolute pain to package and frankly much of it is well overdue for replacement.

The good thing about all this is that I now have the opportunity to really get things planned properly. I’ve had a good browse through the ‘net looking at domestic Aussie suppliers of paints, tools and modelling supplies and I’ve pretty much been pleased with what I’ll be obtaining. I’ve been fortunate in that Evan A has been giving me lots of feedback on stuff he’s bought lately – nothing beats user reviews.

The first step is to sort out a decent workbench setup, and for that I could go no further than this:

The Painting Desk

I’ll probably end up buying the big set as both Kirsty and I can split it between us as needed.

Paints wise, I’ll be sticking with my trusty Vallejo Model Colours for the main part but will be supplementing them with the Derivan Minis range as an alternative to buying GW or Vallejo Game Colour. I’m also biting the bullet and grabbing a couple of sets of Foundry paints (despite finding the whole Dallimore painting style complete bollocks – there’s no subtlety and obviously wet blending is just that tad too difficult – don’t make me laugh) because the three stage paint system does have its uses. Other paints I’ll definitely be obtaining are some of the Privateer P3 and Citadel Foundation.

Airbrush wise, I’ve got to pick up either this @ $400 odd AUD:

or this version at $240.00:

Naturally there’s a lot of other stuff I’ll need to grab but between Micro-mark, Spotlight and a few local suppliers I should be able to assemble a very nice colection of tools in short orde – I do need to buy a decent fineline airbrush to match up with my Iwata Eclipse HP-BCS and Iwata Hi-Performance clone. Something with a .25mm or less needle might be in order but I dread the expense.

MIG pigments, Inks and almost certainly a period of experimenting with the Dip/Magic Wash probably for my ACW as that will be the fastest way to get them on the table.