Funny how one instance is the one everyone wants to defederate from.

It’s worse than just that. They argue that acknowledgement of Stalin’s atrocities is Holocaust denial.

They are so scared and insecure they will lash out against anything that slightly challenges their beliefs. If they post sources it will be misreadings of fringe groups, or conveniently ignoring facts. Like how they believe tiananmen square wasn’t a big deal because the China killed about 300 people a mile away. Or how Cuba is a utopia even though it’s citizens chose to get run over by the coast guard instead of living there.

I’m relatively new, and I’ve gotten a lot better over the course of a couple months.

My top tips:

1. The journey is the destination.

It’s trite, but true. You aren’t painting for anyone else. Paint a model then move on, improvement is slow and perfection is unattainable.

2. No matter how “bad” you think your paint job is it looks better than a bare mini.

If you doubt me, just slap some paints on a mini and put it on a table with a handful of unpainted minis. You’ll see how much better the painted one looks and how many more details you can see.

3. Don’t worry about mistakes.

No one will see that tiny bit of blue on wrong spot. Realistically you’ll only really see the top and back of the mini.

4. Highlight one more time than you think you need.

When you get to the point of “should I push this orange more yellow” or “is pure white too much here”? The answer is always one more highlight.

5. Try new things.

You’ll see different painting techniques, try them, worst case you don’t like it, in which case look at tips 1-3

6. Equipment you want

A #1, #0 and #00 brush. You can do fine with just a #1, the other two are bonuses.

Brush soap. It saves your brushes.

A wet pallet.

Paint, but specially a cheap artists white and black in addition to any mini paints. If you want to go crazy a mixing white is good too.

That’s it. Remember it’s fun and looks way cooler than an grey blob on the table. You’ll get better with practice.