When I started to get interested in roleplaying games back in the early 80's I found that I wanted to get involved with painting miniatures. But with so many different paints and companies to go with I felt abit overwhelmed. Now in 2003 Games Workshop has re-released their new Starter paint sets.. but are they worth the money?

Starter Sets:

There are two starter paint sets that are offered (just as in the past). There is a 40k set with space marines and a fantasy set with chaos warriors. Each set comes with five miniatures, six paints, a sable brush and a painting guide so you can pick up on some of the more advanced techniques like drybrushing and also the addition of decals to the 40k figures.

Miniatures:

While the miniatures are plastic there is still great detail in these figures. There was virtually no assembly for the chaos warriors (as you just had to mount them on the bases). The 40k figures require alittle bit of assembly (and while there is no instructions on how to put them together it is pretty straightforward). The figures are pretty much identical (except for one of the 40k minis that sports a rocket launcher instead of a bolter).

Paints:

The citadel paints that come with each set are beautiful and vibrant as they tend to coat the model evenly. The brush that is included with the set is great for all around work but you will want to pick up a smaller brush for more detailed work.

Comments:

Now comes some of the issues I had with this set. First, instead of getting full size paint pots as you did with previous sets you get smaller ones that have just enough paint to finish up the miniatures in the set. Also in the previous sets you were given a compliment of nine paints to explore the full options of painting the minis you got in the set, now you don't have that option. And the previous sets were available for around the same price as these.

Overview:

If you are new to painting miniatures and you want to try your hand at painting miniatures this is definately a product to pick up. But if you're a seasoned gamer that has already painted in the past and knows their way around a brush you should steer clear of these starter sets and spend a few bucks more for the Citadel Paint Set.