Also pictured, Nolzur’s Marvelous Brush Set and Marvelous Miniatures (Image: Anthony Karcz)

It’s been a bit since I’ve looked at boxed paint sets, with my collection of colors growing organically as I’ve wended my way through various projects.

On the one hand, it’s been fun having lots of colors on hand to choose from. On the other, I now have so many paints that finding just the right one can be a chore.

Perfectly sorted! Except for the few dozen paints I still have in boxes. (Image: Anthony Karcz)

With the help of paint racks from GameCraft, I’m starting to get a handle on the massive amount of Citadel paint pots I’ve collected. They have paint racks for every type of bottle, they’re easy to assemble, and at only $25, they don’t kill your hobby budget. But every time I fill up a rack, I go and get more paint. It’s a problem.

That’s why when Army Painter reached out and offered to send me their latest official Dungeons & Dragons collections, I jumped at the chance. Army Painter is what started me off on miniature painting, and I’ve found their paint sets to be some of the quickest, most-easy-to-organize ways to build and store a paint collection.

D&D Adventurers Paint Set

Each of the official D&D paint sets has a nice range of paints, enough to get any burgeoning mini painter started. The D&D Adventurers Paint Set is the starter set, with eight base colors, plus brush-on primer and metallic silver. Also included in the set is a starter brush – great for applying primer and base coats.

The real star of the paint set is the exclusive Minsc and Boo miniature. The intellectually challenged adventurer and his miniature giant space hamster companion are rendered in some of the most perfect detail I’ve ever seen on a mini. Which makes sense. It’s by Gale Force 9, which consistently churns out impeccable D&D minis.

To give the set a proper test, I wanted to paint the mini using only the paints that came in the set.

Dry and ready (Image: Anthony Karcz)

I started off by giving Minsc and Boo a good scrub in warm soapy water – got to get rid of those chemicals from the factory – and brushed on a layer of gray primer with the Starter brush after the mini dried. (Yay not having to deal with Florida humidity!)

Gray is the new black (Image: Anthony Karcz)

I was pleased with how well the brush-on primer covered. I was a little concerned I was going to lose some of those finely sculpted details, but needlessly so. Within 15 minutes, I was ready to plow ahead!

All about that base…coat (Image: Anthony Karcz)

I switched to my Rosemary & Co Series 33 #2 and used a slightly thinned down layer of Flumph Pink for the exposed skin on Minsc’s head, arms, and hands. The first layer went on a little thin, but given the fine details, I was OK with having to retouch later. I then added some Kraken Blue to the trousers and applied Bugbear Brown to the grip of the sword and the boots.

Pretty in pink (Image: Anthony Karcz)

With three drops of Dragonfire Red (I’d forgotten how much I love Army Painter’s dropper bottles) and a drop of water to thin it, I covered the cloak, front and back. Then I used some straight Mithril Silver to paint the pommel and hilt of the sword as well as the bracers, greaves, and chainmail shirt, leaving the edges of the shirt gray to provide a bit of contrast.

Nothing like a pop of red to bring an outfit together (Image: Anthony Karcz)

With the mini mostly painted at this point, it was time to get creative and add some details. I painted the top of the sword straight Mithril Silver, then added a drop of Abyssal Black and painted the bottom half (I might go back and brighten the top up more).

That’s a nice miniature giant space hamster you got there (Image: Anthony Karcz)

Then it was time for Boo! I based the hamster with Lawful White, then mixed Dragonfire Red and Angelic Yellow until I got a shade of orange I was happy with. I freehanded some orange markings and then grabbed my smallest brush to give Boo eyes (that will mostly be invisible at tabletop range, but at least I know they’re there). I also added a little more yellow to the mix to get a pinkish color that I used for Boo’s feet, nose, and tail.

After that, I mixed Dragonfire Red and Kraken Blue to get a muted purple for Minsc’s facial tattoo. Thankfully, there are slightly sculpted guidelines on his head so I didn’t have to completely freehand the entire thing.

Once I was pleased with that, I added a little Lawful White to my remaining red and got a solid highlight tone to brush on the high points of the cloak. I watered down what was left for a little bit of pink shade for Minsc’s lips and mouth.

Usually, with the cobblestone base, I’d use a shade for quick detail, but there are no shades in the Adventurers Paint Set. (they’re in the Monsters Paint Set) Instead, I mixed equal parts black and Treant Green with a few drops of water until I had a mix that would easily flow into the cracks but wouldn’t run off completely. After that dried, I went over the tops of the stones with a very light layer of the Gray Primer.

Ready to charge headlong into battle! (Image: Anthony Karcz)

To finish, I roughed in a little bit of white on the eyeballs and dabbed in two quick dots of black to give the impression of eyes. Luckily the sculpt is generous and pretty much anything you do here will look good. In this instance, quick and dirty (or nothing at all) is better than laboriously working on your eye game.

Should I Buy It?

I highly recommend the Adventurers Paint Set. It gives you nearly everything you need in one box to start (or refresh) your miniature painting. The paints are top quality, the dropper bottles are second to none in the industry, and the Minsc and Boo miniature that’s included is a fantastic way to try out your new paints.

The inclusion of paint-on primer can’t be discounted either. Spray-on primers require ventilation for safety and low moisture to provide the best results. I’ve lost months of painting because I forgot to prime during the Florida “winter” (which is really just a break in the constant humidity). The Gray Primer circumvents all those issues and I’m thrilled to add it to my arsenal.

The starter brush included in the Adventurers Paint Set works for overall coverage, but you’re going to need to invest in some additional brushes for finer details and advanced techniques like dry-brushing. Luckily, Army Painter has you covered there as well. Their Nolzur’s Marvelous Brush Set includes a finer-point basecoat brush, a detail brush, and a flat drybrush. If you don’t have additional brushes already, this will be an essential purchase to get the results you want.

But what if you want more?

D&D Monsters Paint Set

While the D&D Adventurers Paint Set is the starter set, the D&D Monsters Paint Set is for when you’re ready to move on to the next level. It doesn’t contain any brushes or the wonderful paint-on primer, but it does give you 36 new paints to play with. In addition to new colors, you also get impressively shiny metallics, a vial of Glistening Blood effect paint, and, most importantly, washes!

What had me most excited about this set, however, was the exclusive Owlbear miniature. By Gale Force 9, just like Minsc and Boo, it’s insanely detailed and impeccably sculpted. There are some seriously goofy Owlbear minis out there. This is not one of them. It’s the kind of creature that you’re going to plop down on the table to make your players doubt every choice they made to arrive at that moment.

I followed the impressively thorough PDF guide on the Army Painter site to paint the Owlbear. For this, you’ll need to dip into the colors and supplies provided in the D&D Adventurers Paint Set as well as the Monsters Paint Set.

Level 1

You don’t think it will make a huge difference until you paint it on (Image: Anthony Karcz)

As with Minsc and Boo, the Owlbear got a scrub in warm, soapy water and a layer of gray primer once dry.

Well this is fortuitous (Image: Anthony Karcz)

After the primer dried, I grabbed the appropriately named Owlbear Brown from the Monsters set. While usually I’d use my Rosemary & Co Series 33 #2, the Owlbear is a big figure and you’re covering roughly 70% of it with the Owlbear Brown, so I switched to a Sable Series 402 #2 which made the work go much faster.

Maybe it’s too much Owlbear Brown? (Image: Anthony Karcz)

Once I was happy with the main color, I grabbed the Otyugh Brown (really more of a mustard yellow) and painted around the feet and hands. The Orc Skin gray is meant to be the base color for the dirty white face and chest.

Ah yes. Much better. (Image: Anthony Karcz)

That’s when I realized I’d gone a bit too far with the Owlbear Brown and needed to course correct, painting over the neck, face, and under the arms with the Orc Skin.

From the Adventurers Paint Set (Image: Anthony Karcz)

Next came the Abyssal Black from the Adventurers set. I used this to paint the beak, the talons on the hands and feet, and some detailing on its face and crest.

SQUAWK (Image: Anthony Karcz)

With that done, I painted the eyes with Lawful White to give the Firenewt Orange a chance to attain its full yellowey brilliance.

Do you even Owlbear, bro? (Image: Anthony Karcz)

A quick splash of Cambion Crimson on the tongue and mouth, some carefully placed pupils freehanded into the dryed eyes (don’t worry, they’re big enough that it’s very hard to end up with cartoon eyes), and the Level 1 Owlbear is complete. You could stop here if you wanted to just get the Owlbear to the table. But taking the figure to the next level is almost embarrassingly simple.

Level 2

He slimed me. (Image: Anthony Karcz)

For the next step, I covered the brown and yellow parts of the figure with Brown Wash and the white feathers with Flesh Wash. If you haven’t used wash before, note that it’s thinner than regular paint and has a tendency to pool. Which is good! Except when it’s not. If you see big puddles of wash in places that you don’t want darkened, use your brush to soak it up and redistribute.

It takes a bit longer for wash to dry, so this was all I did for the evening (well, that and painting the base with some Minotaur Brown). I needed my rest for the next part.

Tedious, but satisfying (Image: Anthony Karcz)

OK, so remember how I said wash was easy? This is the flip side of that coin. In order for all those lovely darkened areas to stand out, you need to brighten up your original colors on the raised areas. I grabbed that same Minotaur Brown I used for the base and drybrushed it on to the brown areas, focusing mainly on the top of the head, the upper back, and the tops of the arms.

Drybrushing is where you grab an old brush (or a brush specifically made for the task), dip it in the paint, then wipe most of it off on your palette. Using a swiping technique, you very lightly brush the raised portions of the figure. This helps maintain your newly darkened areas and provides some nice gradation of color, especially on fur and feathers.

Tediouser (Image: Anthony Karcz)

I continued by grabbing the original Otyugh Brown and Orc Skin and very carefully painting the hands, feet, face, chest, and underarms. The trick is to not cover up the recessed bits that you darkened. If you do, don’t fret, just wait until your layer is dry, then got back with a little more wash to touch up.

And that’s Level 2! This is a perfectly acceptable place to call it a day, seal the figure with some spray lacquer, and toss it in your bag of horrors.

But then you’d miss out on all the detailing fun.

Level 3

Tediousest! (Image: Anthony Karcz)

I came back to the figure the next day and grabbed lighter tones than the base colors I’d been working with: Fair Skin for the yellow, Lawful White for the gray, and Ruddy Skin for the Brown. Grabbing my finest-tipped brushed, I meticulously traced the edges of the brown feathers with the Ruddy Skin. I will readily admit to rushing this and getting sloppy once I’d done about half of the back and the arms. But at tabletop distance, it blends wonderfully.

Then I went back to my Series 33 #2 and painted the tops of the gray feathers white and added some pops of Fair Skin to the topmost raised yellow portions. I also added two dots of Lawful White on the pupils for a reflection effect. I also splashed in a bit of Pixiedust Pink on the tongue to highlight it.

Son of a Lich (Image: Anthony Karcz)

The last detail was thin lines of Lich Skin on the very peaks of the talons, the beak, and on its temples.

How about I slip into something even more fabulous? (Image: Anthony Karcz)

Bonus Round

Did I say last detail? I did. I should have said “last detail on the owlbear.” Because as nice as that sculpted base is, with just a little bit of extra effort, you can turn it into something that really stands out on the table.

Didn’t I already make an “all about that base” joke? (Image: Anthony Karcz)

I grabbed my Army Painter Battlefields Basing Set and covered the flat parts of the base in glue. Any raised rocks, I left alone. I used a pair of tweezers to place a couple of smaller “rocks” on the base, then dipped the entire base in a bowl of brown basing sand, shaking off any excess.

Only the best plastic grass (Image: Anthony Karcz)

Once that dried, I drybrushed the whole base with Skeleton Bone (carefully so as not to knock off all the newly glued bits), then glued on a few field grass tufts.

A quick touchup of the Abyssal Black around the base and the Owlbear was complete (really this time)!

Ready for his closeup…at a respectable six feet of tabletop distance (Image: Anthony Karcz)

Should I Buy It?

As you can see, you get a much more comprehensive toolset to bring to (owl)bear on your minis with the Monsters Paint Set. The wide variety of shades keep you from having to mix custom colors (which are always impossible to replicate the next session) and while I wish there were a green or blue wash in the set, the three provided satisfy almost every need.

As good as the Adventurers Paint Set is for beginners, just a few drops of wash from the Monsters Paint Set quickly takes your minis to the next level. Check out the difference between my Minsc and Boo!

Original on the left, washed on the right (Image: Anthony Karcz)

Army Painter’s quality is on par with Citadel. It flows well, mixes perfectly, and comes in a range of colors. The 36 paints you get in the Monsters set give you more than enough options to paint a whole host of minis. That is, until you go looking for that “one perfect shade” and then you’re down the rabbit hole of buying individual bottles.

Speaking of, I wish that everyone in the industry would adopt Army Painter’s dropper bottle method. There’s much less chance to spill, you can easily dole out exact measurements, and there’s practically zero chance of a poorly sealed paint pot drying out.

What’s that Boo? It’s right behind me? Don’t be silly! (Image: Anthony Karcz)

And not to repeat myself but the exclusive Owlbear mini is the best rendering I’ve ever seen of the beast. When the D&D sets were first announced, I almost purchased the Monsters Paint Set just for that.

Where to Buy

Are you ready to dive in and get an instant paint collection to splash up all those unpainted minis you’ve got sitting in your DM crate? The Monsters Paint Set is available for around $70 and is available right now on Amazon. You can also pick up the Adventurers Paint Set (for your base colors and that wonderful paint-on primer) on Amazon for around $30. The Battlefields Basing Set is $20 and is a great add-on if want to give your minis a little bit of extra pop.

I also recommend visiting Army Painter’s D&D Official Painting Series page for tutorials (both in PDF and video form) and more information on the sets.

But what if you just want to win the new D&D sets? Then stay tuned. I’ve got something coming very soon that you’re going to want to see.

You made it to the end! Here’s some Owlbear butt. (Image: Anthony Karcz)

(Thanks to Army Painter for providing materials for this review. Opinions are my own.)