I had a friend start in the hobby miniatures painting and I put together a basic list of simple items that they should think about having in addition to paints and brushes. Some seem quite obvious, and some less so. I share it here with you.
Good brush set - you don't really need a lot of brushes. You can get by with three good brushes - a 1, a 000, and another brush for dry brushing.
Good paints - find a few that you like.
Liquid model glue - for styrene figures and models. I use Plastruct but Tamiya is also nice.
CA glue - for metal and resin figures and moddels. I used to buy Zap-a=gap but it always dried up before I could finish half a bottle. I'm currently using Gorilla Super Glue in regular and gel.
PVA glue - for basing. Most brands are fine.
Emery boards – for sanding. You can get a bunch in a pack at the dollar store.
Cheap brushes – for glue or terrain. You can pick up a pack at the dollar store.
Cheap paint – for terrain or bases. The Apple Barrel or Americana type paints at Walmart, or dollar store. At least a black, brown, and two tones for you bases.
Ziplocks bags – different sizes.
Reaper (or similar) dropper bottles with a medium mix - for thinning paint.
A few slick mats for gluing on. Like the kind stickers come on.
A few thick newspaper – for a drop cover to protect you r table from spills or splatters.
Plastic gloves - useful when priming.
Chip board sheets - like the back of a legal pad, or a cereal box. Useful for crafting terrain or bits.
Paper towels or facial tissue - to remove paint from brush when drybrushing, and to clean up spills.
Possibly also get the following:
A craft knife and cutting board
Toolkit - or pencil/shoe box. For holding your tools. A container or spot for your paints is also handy.
Small holders for tokens/bits - the dollar store has many different types.
Also needs:
more brushes - larger, smaller, extras.
Small wire cutters - for cutting models, sprue, and wire for bits and pinning.
Side/flush cutters – for cutting sprue.
Dedicated water holder - for cleaning brushes. Distinct enough to avoid drinking accidentally.
Tweezers - I don't really use them but some people really find the useful.
Clips/clothespins - for holding some pieces while the glue dries.
Toothpicks - for applying paint, glue, and for crafts in terrain.
Optional:
Wood rods/skewers
Silicon popit – for mixing paints
Bandages - have handy for when you cut yourself
Stir sticks, craft sticks (popsicle), wide craft sticks (tongue depressors)
Dollarama jewelry chains
Christmas hooks (instead of paperclips) - much easier to cut for use in pinning pieces together, or to replace hoses for the figures or terrain.
Later:
Figure holder – or blutac and cork or bottle to hold figure while painting.
Helping hands device - to hold pieces when gluing.
files - a flat, round, and half round.
Sharpener for craft knife - to extend the use of your blades.
Spare blades
Used blade holder
brush cleaner
Flashlight – for finding pieces that fall on the floor.
Nail polish remover – for fingers that get stuck by CA glue.
Cork sheets - for terrain.
Clip boards/hardboard - for bases for the terrain.
Foam core
Work tray? - to be able to move your setup easier if you don't have a dedicated spot to work.
Notebook – for marking down your paint mixes to match later.
This is only a start. You may find other essentials as you work. Good lighting is always helpful.
