# The Mini Workshop > Honest gear reviews, buying guides, and free finds for miniature painters. Covering brushes, paints, primers, tools, and STL files for D&D, Warhammer, and tabletop wargaming. > The Mini Workshop helps miniature painters at every level find the right tools and save money. Content covers product reviews (brushes, paints, primers, hobby tools), buyer guides, free STL roundups, and community deals. All recommendations are independently tested or researched. The site covers major hobby brands including Citadel, Vallejo, Army Painter, Scale75, Artis Opus, Greenstuff World, and more. ## Posts - [D&D Terrain: The Complete Guide for Miniature Painters (2026)](https://theminiworkshop.com/dnd-terrain-guide/): If you’ve ever run a D&D encounter on a blank table with some dice standing in for walls, you already... - [Warhammer 40K Starter Set 2026: Which Box Is Right for D&D Mini Painters?](https://theminiworkshop.com/warhammer-40k-starter-set-2026-dnd-painters/): If you paint D&D miniatures and you’ve been vaguely 40K-curious for a while, this weekend might finally be the moment... - [Loot Drop #7 - Free Chaos Painting Guides from Warhammer Community](https://theminiworkshop.com/loot-drop-7/): A lean one this week – just a single find, but a useful one if you’ve been wanting to push... - [Can You Paint D&D Miniatures With Markers? Army Painter Speedpaint Markers Review](https://theminiworkshop.com/speedpaint-markers-review/): The most common reason people leave their D&D miniatures unpainted is not lack of interest. It is the setup. The... - [Loot Drop #6 — A Free Painting Book, a Must-Bookmark Tool, and a Free Mini Starting Next Week](https://theminiworkshop.com/loot-drop-6/): A solid three this week — a free beginner painting guide from one of the hobby’s most respected painters, a... - [Dirty Down vs Green Stuff World Patina Paints: Which Is Better for D&D Miniatures?](https://theminiworkshop.com/dirty-down-review/): One of the fastest ways to make a D&D miniature look like it belongs in an actual dungeon is weathering.... - [Just Got the Warhammer 40k Armageddon Box? Here is Everything You Need to Start Painting](https://theminiworkshop.com/armageddon-box-painting-guide/): You just dropped $295 on the Warhammer 40k Armageddon box, the biggest launch Games Workshop has made in years. Sixty-one... - [Loot Drop #5 - Free Minis and a Reason to Subscribe](https://theminiworkshop.com/loot-drop-5/): Slim pickings this week, not going to lie. The hobby world has been heads-down processing the 40k Armageddon launch and... - [Best Miniature Painting Palette for D&D](https://theminiworkshop.com/best-miniature-painting-palette-dnd/): If you’ve ever sat down to paint a D&D mini and come back to a dried-out clump on your palette,... - [Loot Drop #4 - A Free Comic, a Free Adventure, and a Free Mini](https://theminiworkshop.com/loot-drop-4/): Three freebies landed this week, and all of them are worth grabbing. No subscriptions, no strings – just free stuff... - [Best Lamp for Painting Miniatures (2026): See Every Detail, Miss Nothing](https://theminiworkshop.com/best-lamp-for-painting-miniatures-2026-see-every-detail-miss-nothing/): If you’ve ever squinted at a goblin’s face for ten minutes trying to figure out if that’s a highlight or... - [Ravenloft Is Here: A Painter's Guide to D&D's Horror Miniatures](https://theminiworkshop.com/ravenloft-is-here-a-painters-guide-to-dds-horror-miniatures/): Ravenloft: The Horrors Within hits store shelves on June 16, and if you’ve been waiting for a reason to dust... - [Loot Drop #3: A Free Masterclass, a Free VTT, and Free Painting Guides](https://theminiworkshop.com/loot-drop-3-a-free-masterclass-a-free-vtt-and-free-painting-guides/): Loot Drop time. This week’s haul is a good one for anyone who’s ever stared at a mini and thought... - [Loot Drop #2 — A Free Masterclass That Actually Answers the Big Question](https://theminiworkshop.com/loot-drop-2-free-masterclass-miniac-dnd-beyond-warhammer-guides/): There are three flavours of Friday evening in this hobby: painting, planning to paint, and finding free stuff that makes... - [GW's Pre-Painted Terrain Is Here: What It Means for D&D Players](https://theminiworkshop.com/gw-pre-painted-terrain-warhammer-40k-dnd-players/): Games Workshop just confirmed that pre-painted terrain is real, it’s good, and pre-orders open tomorrow – Saturday June 6 at... - [Is Mini Colour Right for D&D Beginners? An Honest Look at the Artis Opus x Cult of Paint Range](https://theminiworkshop.com/mini-colour-paint-review/): This Mini Colour paint review cuts through the hype for D&D painters. If you’ve been anywhere near the miniature painting... - [Loot Drop #1: 2,900 Free D&D STLs and a Free GW Mini (While Stocks Last)](https://theminiworkshop.com/2026/05/31/loot-drop-1-2900-free-dd-stls-and-a-free-gw-mini-while-stocks-last/): Every week we dig through the community to find the best free and near-free resources for miniature painters and D&D... - [Artis Opus Series S Review: The Best Miniature Painting Brushes in 2026](https://theminiworkshop.com/artis-opus-series-s-review-best-miniature-painting-brushes-2026/): For the best part of a decade, the answer to “what’s the best brush for painting miniatures? ” was straightforward:... - [Best Spray Primers for Painting D&D Minis (2026 Guide)](https://theminiworkshop.com/best-spray-primers-for-painting-dd-minis-2026-guide/): Primer is the one step that can genuinely make or break a paint job. Get it right and your paints... ## Pages - [Start Here](https://theminiworkshop.com/start-here/): So you’ve got some minis sitting on your desk — maybe a D&D starter set, maybe a box of Reaper... - [Blog](https://theminiworkshop.com/blog/) - [About](https://theminiworkshop.com/about/) - [Home](https://theminiworkshop.com/): Your Miniature Painting Gear Guide The Right Tools Make All the Difference Whether you’re painting your first D&D mini or... # # Detailed Content ## Posts - Published: 2026-07-13 - Modified: 2026-07-13 - URL: https://theminiworkshop.com/dnd-terrain-guide/ - Categories: General If you've ever run a D&D encounter on a blank table with some dice standing in for walls, you already know the problem. The game works fine. But the moment you drop a few pieces of terrain on the table - a dungeon corridor, a crumbling archway, a chest half-buried in rubble - something shifts. Players lean in. They start asking questions about the room instead of just rolling initiative. Good D&D terrain doesn't just look impressive: it changes how people play. This guide covers everything you need to know about D&D terrain in 2026: the different ways to get it, what's worth buying, what's worth making yourself, and how to paint it so it actually looks like it belongs in a dungeon. The Four Ways to Get D&D Terrain Before diving into specific products, it helps to understand the four main approaches - because the right one depends entirely on your budget, your time, and how much you enjoy the hobby side of things. Buy pre-painted terrain. Games Workshop sells pre-painted plastic terrain that looks good straight out of the box. No work required. It is expensive for what you get, but if your priority is playing games rather than painting terrain, this is the fastest path. We covered the GW pre-painted range in detail in our terrain article here. Buy unpainted terrain and paint it yourself. This is where most D&D painters land. Companies like Battle Systems, Dwarven Forge, TTCombat, and Fat Dragon Games make terrain kits at... - Published: 2026-07-10 - Modified: 2026-07-10 - URL: https://theminiworkshop.com/warhammer-40k-starter-set-2026-dnd-painters/ - Categories: General If you paint D&D miniatures and you've been vaguely 40K-curious for a while, this weekend might finally be the moment to do something about it. Games Workshop just announced a new wave of Warhammer 40,000 starter sets going up for pre-order this Saturday, July 12, with retail release on July 25 - and for the first time in years, the entry-level option is genuinely compelling for painters who have zero interest in competitive Warhammer. Here's what's in each box and which one actually makes sense for a D&D hobbyist. The Full Lineup at a Glance Five products make up this wave. Prices confirmed so far: Introductory Set - $45: 12 brand-new minis, 6 paints, card terrain, game mat, brush, dice, 48-page handbook Paints + Tools Set - $45: 13 paints, brush, clippers, mould line scraper (no minis) Getting Started Sets (Space Marines or Orks) - price TBD: Full Combat Patrol force, 11 paints, brush, texture spreader, introductory booklet Starter Set - ~$130: Two full Combat Patrol armies, Core Rulebook, terrain, boards, dice, rulers Armageddon Box - $295: 61 brand-new minis, full rules, lore book, mission decks, transfers For D&D painters specifically, the conversation starts and ends with the first two. Let's break them down. The Introductory Set ($45) - The One Worth Talking About This is the box GW hasn't really made before: a genuine sampler that covers miniatures, painting, and a basic game in one $45 package. Inside you get a Space Marine Lieutenant, five Intercessors, an Ork Nob,... - Published: 2026-07-10 - Modified: 2026-07-10 - URL: https://theminiworkshop.com/loot-drop-7/ - Categories: Loot Drop A lean one this week - just a single find, but a useful one if you've been wanting to push your monster painting forward. Free Step-by-Step Painting Guides: Warhammer Community (July Edition) Warhammer Community publishes free painting guides year-round, and this month's content is themed around Chaos and Beastmen. The techniques covered - dark undercoats, grimy washes, contrast-style layering - translate directly to D&D dungeon monsters: corrupted warriors, orc warbands, undead, anything that should look like it's had a rough couple of centuries. The guides are Warhammer-framed rather than D&D-specific, but the methods are universal. Worth bookmarking if you've been wanting to push your monster painting beyond simple base coats. Browse the free painting guides → That's the drop this week. Not every week turns up a bundle - better a short honest list than padding it out with things that aren't worth your time. As an Amazon Associate, The Mini Workshop earns from qualifying purchases. Some links in Loot Drop posts may be affiliate links. Free resources are always free - we only pair affiliate products where they're genuinely relevant. - Published: 2026-07-06 - Modified: 2026-07-02 - URL: https://theminiworkshop.com/speedpaint-markers-review/ - Categories: Paints & Primers The most common reason people leave their D&D miniatures unpainted is not lack of interest. It is the setup. The brushes, the water cup, the palette, the primers, the cleanup. When painting feels like a project, it does not happen. Army Painter's Speedpaint Markers are designed to remove that friction entirely. Uncap. Shake. Paint. No other equipment required. Whether that is enough to actually get your minis painted is what this article is here to answer. What Are Speedpaint Markers? The Speedpaint Markers are acrylic paint pens loaded with Army Painter's Speedpaint 2. 0 formula — the same one-coat contrast-style paint used in their bottled Speedpaint range. Each marker holds 6ml of paint, features a Felt-Tech replaceable tip, and has a metal mixing ball inside so the pigment stays properly combined. The key thing that makes Speedpaint work is how it behaves when applied. Like Citadel Contrast or Vallejo Xpress, it flows into recesses on its own, creating natural shading without any technique. You apply it and it does the work. In marker form, that means you get the shading effect of a contrast paint with the convenience of a pen. No brush loading, no diluting, no palette. They require a white or light primer to work as intended. The translucent formula needs a bright base to produce vibrant results. Over dark primer, the colors come out muddy. If you are not sure which primer to use, our guide to the best spray primers for D&D minis covers the options.... - Published: 2026-07-03 - Modified: 2026-07-03 - URL: https://theminiworkshop.com/loot-drop-6/ - Categories: Loot Drop A solid three this week — a free beginner painting guide from one of the hobby's most respected painters, a browser tool that deserves a permanent spot in your bookmarks, and a free Games Workshop mini available in stores from next Friday while stocks last. Miniature Painting Made Easy V2 — Free PDF Guide by Angel Giraldez Angel Giraldez is one of the most recognized names in competitive miniature painting, and Redgrass teamed up with him to produce a free downloadable guide covering paint selection, brush handling, shading, highlighting, and color theory. It is written with beginners in mind but has enough depth to be useful further along too. To get the download link you need to follow @redgrassgames on Instagram — a one-tap trade for a genuinely useful resource. Get it free via Redgrass Creative Miniature Painting Forge — Free Paint Converter and Matcher If you have ever been halfway through a tutorial and hit a color you do not own with no idea what to substitute, this tool is for you. Miniature Painting Forge is a free browser-based paint converter that matches colors across Citadel, Vallejo, Army Painter, Scale75, Pro Acryl, Reaper, and more. No signup, no app download — just paste in a color name and get cross-brand equivalents back. Bookmark it now and thank yourself later. Use it free at Miniature Painting Forge Free Fellgor Beastman — GW Miniature of the Month (In-Store From July 11) Starting July 11, Games Workshop stores are giving away a... - Published: 2026-07-02 - Modified: 2026-07-02 - URL: https://theminiworkshop.com/dirty-down-review/ - Categories: Paints & Primers One of the fastest ways to make a D&D miniature look like it belongs in an actual dungeon is weathering. Rust on old iron bars. Green corrosion creeping across a bronze dragon's hoard. Moss clinging to a forgotten statue. The problem is that most tutorials assume you want to spend hours layering and drybrushing to get there. Patina paints skip all of that. You brush them on, they react, and the effect develops on its own. No technique required. Two brands have dominated this niche for years: Dirty Down, which has been the go-to for miniature painters and prop makers alike, and Green Stuff World, which released its own water-soluble patina range in mid-2026 and immediately invited comparison. This article breaks down both products so you can decide which one belongs in your kit. What Patina Paints Actually Do A patina is the natural discoloration that builds up on metal over time. Copper turns green. Iron goes orange-brown. Stone gets mossy. Patina paints are formulated to replicate those effects on miniature surfaces without the usual multi-step weathering process. The way they work is different from regular acrylic paint. You apply them like a wash, but instead of simply shading recesses, they oxidize as they dry. Pigments settle into surface texture and crevices, creating variation that looks organic rather than painted. Both Dirty Down and Green Stuff World use this same basic principle, but they get there through different chemistry and with some notable differences in the result. One thing both... - Published: 2026-06-29 - Modified: 2026-07-10 - URL: https://theminiworkshop.com/armageddon-box-painting-guide/ - Categories: General You just dropped $295 on the Warhammer 40k Armageddon box, the biggest launch Games Workshop has made in years. Sixty-one push-fit miniatures, two armies, a stack of books and cards, and absolutely zero paints. Welcome to the hobby. This guide covers exactly what you need to get those minis painted, how to approach your first one without losing your mind, and where to go once you have a feel for it. Whether you picked up this box as a lifelong 40k fan or you are a D&D dungeon master who has been curious about painting for a while, the advice is the same. First, the Good News The Warhammer 40k Armageddon box is push-fit, which means every single one of those 61 miniatures clicks together without glue. No pinning, no waiting for plastic cement to cure, no fiddly joins. Clip them off the sprue, push them together, and they are ready to prime. For a first project, this removes one of the biggest headaches before you even pick up a brush. The minis themselves split into two very different armies. On the Space Marine side you get 23 models including the Captain, Librarian, Chaplain, Ancient, 10 Intercessors, 5 Vanguard Veterans, 3 Eradicators, and a Land Speeder. On the Ork side you get 38 models: the Warboss, various characters, 20 Ork Boyz, 10 Gretchin, a Wartrakk, and the Big Mek Dakkarig. What You Actually Need to Start Four things. That is it. You do not need an airbrush, a wet palette,... - Published: 2026-06-26 - Modified: 2026-06-26 - URL: https://theminiworkshop.com/loot-drop-5/ - Categories: Loot Drop Slim pickings this week, not going to lie. The hobby world has been heads-down processing the 40k Armageddon launch and the Warhammer Summer Preview, so the free-finds calendar is a little quiet. Still managed to dig up two things worth your time. D&D Beyond Drops - The Subscription Perk That Keeps Growing If you're already a D&D Beyond subscriber, you may have missed that the platform quietly rolled out something genuinely useful back in May. Drops is a growing subscriber library that gives you weekly ready-to-play encounters with quickplay maps for the VTT, plus monthly DM tools and player options - spells, feats, monsters, maps, and more. The library launched with 500+ content listings including 125 maps and 250 image reveals, and everything is evergreen - subscribe now and you get everything released so far, not just new drops going forward. It won't replace your books, but as a DM prep tool it's genuinely useful week to week. Hero Tier starts at $2. 99/month. Check it out at D&D Beyond -> Cults3D Free D&D STL Library - 2,100+ Models and Counting We've mentioned this one before, but it's worth a repeat for anyone who missed it - and it keeps getting bigger. Cults3D's free D&D section sits at over 2,900 downloadable miniature files, everything from dungeon monsters to iconic character archetypes to terrain pieces. If you own a 3D printer, this is effectively a limitless free mini supply. If you don't own a printer yet, it's a great way to... - Published: 2026-06-22 - Modified: 2026-06-19 - URL: https://theminiworkshop.com/best-miniature-painting-palette-dnd/ - Categories: Workspace - Tags: Workbench If you've ever sat down to paint a D&D mini and come back to a dried-out clump on your palette, you already know the problem. Acrylic paints dry fast - sometimes faster than it takes to mix the right color. The right miniature painting palette solves that completely, and once you use one, you'll wonder how you managed without it. What Is a Miniature Painting Palette? A wet palette is a sealed container with a water-soaked sponge underneath a sheet of special semi-permeable paper. Moisture passes through the paper and keeps your paint workable for hours - sometimes days - instead of drying out in minutes. You mix and load your brush directly from the paper surface, and everything stays at the right consistency while you work. It's especially useful for D&D mini painters because you're often working on small, detailed surfaces that need multiple thin coats. Keeping your paint consistent matters a lot when you're picking out the eyes on a goblin or layering highlights on a wizard's robe. If you want to see exactly how to set one up, Tangible Day has a solid beginner guide that covers everything from first setup to avoiding the most common mistakes. Top Pick: Redgrass Everlasting Wet Palette Painter Lite The Redgrass Everlasting Wet Palette Painter Lite is the one every roundup, every experienced painter, and every YouTube tutorial eventually points to. It's the standard by which everything else gets measured. The Painter Lite is the 8. 9-inch version - the right... - Published: 2026-06-19 - Modified: 2026-06-19 - URL: https://theminiworkshop.com/loot-drop-4/ - Categories: Loot Drop - Tags: loot drop Three freebies landed this week, and all of them are worth grabbing. No subscriptions, no strings - just free stuff for D&D fans. D&D: Magefall (Free Comic from Dark Horse) Dark Horse Comics released a free D&D comic as a prologue to their upcoming Magefall series - and it's a straight PDF download, no account needed. It follows Mordenkainen getting knocked off his throne by Bahamut, which is as good an opening premise as any. Great lore read for a Friday night. Download Magefall free here → Borderlands Quest: Dagger Danger (Free Level 1 D&D Adventure) Wizards of the Coast dropped a free one-shot adventure for International Day of Play - a two-hour level 1 dungeon crawl built specifically for brand new players and DMs. All you need is a free D&D Beyond account to claim it and keep it permanently. If you've been waiting for a low-pressure excuse to paint those starter minis, this is it. Claim it free on D&D Beyond → Grab a D&D starter miniature set on Amazon to go with it. GW Free Mini of the Month: Saurus Warrior (June, In-Store Only) Your local Warhammer store is giving away a free Saurus Warrior this month while stocks last - a chunky fantasy lizard that takes contrast paints beautifully and works perfectly as a D&D swamp or jungle encounter piece. Call ahead before heading over to make sure they still have stock, as availability varies by location. Find your nearest Warhammer store → New to painting?... - Published: 2026-06-15 - Modified: 2026-06-13 - URL: https://theminiworkshop.com/best-lamp-for-painting-miniatures-2026-see-every-detail-miss-nothing/ - Categories: Workspace - Tags: Tools, Workbench If you've ever squinted at a goblin's face for ten minutes trying to figure out if that's a highlight or a dried brushstroke, this article is for you. Lighting is the most underrated upgrade in miniature painting. Not paints, not brushes, lighting. Bad light doesn't just make your desk uncomfortable; it actively lies to you about your colors, hides the details you're trying to hit, and has you hunching forward like a gargoyle by the end of the session. The good news: a solid magnifier lamp fixes two problems at once. You get proper daylight-balanced light that shows your paints as they actually are, plus built-in magnification that brings those tiny D&D faces into focus without needing to park your nose three inches from the mini. Here's our pick for the best lamp for painting miniatures in 2026, at two different price points. What to Look for in a Magnifier Lamp Before we get to the best lamp for painting miniatures picks, here are the specs that actually matter. You don't need to memorize these, just know what to look for when you're comparing options. CRI (Color Rendering Index)This is the big one for painters. CRI measures how accurately a light source shows colors compared to natural daylight, on a scale of 0 to 100. A CRI of 80 is fine for reading. For matching paint colors, you want 90 or higher. At CRI 90+, the difference between Ushabti Bone and Screaming Skull becomes obvious. Below that, you're guessing. Color... - Published: 2026-06-13 - Modified: 2026-06-13 - URL: https://theminiworkshop.com/ravenloft-is-here-a-painters-guide-to-dds-horror-miniatures/ - Categories: Paints & Primers - Tags: D&D, ravenloft Ravenloft: The Horrors Within hits store shelves on June 16, and if you've been waiting for a reason to dust off your black primer, this is it. The Domains of Dread are finally getting the official D&D treatment, complete with Lovecraftian horrors, gothic dread, and a Cthulhu that's apparently now a Dark Lord. For painters, this is the most exciting D&D content drop in a while, and it comes with a built-in shopping list. Here's what's coming for Ravenloft miniatures, what you can grab right now to start practicing, and the techniques that will make your minis look like they crawled out of the mist themselves. What's Actually in Ravenloft: The Horrors Within The new sourcebook leans hard into cosmic horror. Alongside returning Ravenloft favorites like Strahd, the book introduces Mythos creatures (Cthulhu among them) as new Dark Lords and monsters for the setting. WizKids has already announced a full miniatures line to go with it. Two pre-painted Icons of the Realms sets are coming this October: Maddening Monsters of Ravenloft (Gug, Yithian, Nightgaunt, and friends) and Eldritch Enemies of Ravenloft (Mi-Go, Elder Thing, and Shoggoth), each priced around $49. 99. There's also a standalone Cthulhu figure on a 100mm base with an iridescent "wet" paint job, priced at $79. 99 painted or $69. 99 unpainted. The good news for painters specifically: several of these creatures are also getting the unpainted treatment in the D&D Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures line, including a Shoggoth and an Elder Thing. Those are scheduled for... - Published: 2026-06-13 - Modified: 2026-06-13 - URL: https://theminiworkshop.com/loot-drop-3-a-free-masterclass-a-free-vtt-and-free-painting-guides/ - Categories: Loot Drop - Tags: loot drop Loot Drop time. This week's haul is a good one for anyone who's ever stared at a mini and thought "okay, but where do I actually start? " Free tutorials, free maps, and free painting guides, all queued up and ready to go. 1. MINIAC's Free "How to Paint a WHOLE Mini" Masterclass If you've been bouncing between five different "how to paint a base coat" videos and still feel lost, this is the one to bookmark. MINIAC put together a full-length, start-to-finish masterclass that walks through painting an entire miniature, no paywall, no email signup, just a straight-up free tutorial covering the whole process from primer to finished mini. This is the exact video to send a friend who just got their first D&D miniature and has no idea where to begin. If that describes you too, now's also a fine time to make sure you've got a decent beginner brush set on hand so you can follow along step by step. Watch the free masterclass here → 2. D&D Beyond's Free VTT (Yes, Actually Free) D&D Beyond has a free-tier virtual tabletop with quickplay maps, encounter tools, fog of war, and creature tokens, no subscription required. Worth a flag specifically because there's also a paid "Drops" program that sounds similar, so don't confuse the two: the basic VTT with maps and tokens is on the free tier. Why a painter cares: scrolling through the creature tokens is a great way to find out exactly which monsters are coming... - Published: 2026-06-06 - Modified: 2026-06-06 - URL: https://theminiworkshop.com/loot-drop-2-free-masterclass-miniac-dnd-beyond-warhammer-guides/ - Categories: Loot Drop - Tags: beginner, D&D Beyond, free resources, loot drop, painting guides There are three flavours of Friday evening in this hobby: painting, planning to paint, and finding free stuff that makes you want to paint. This week's Loot Drop is firmly in column three. MINIAC: How to Paint a WHOLE Mini (Free Masterclass) If you've ever stared at an unpainted mini wondering where to actually start, Scott from MINIAC just answered that question in full — for free. His April 2026 masterclass walks through an entire mini from bare plastic to finished paint job, no paywall, no sign-up, just hit play. It's the video I'd have killed for when I started out. If you're watching this and realise you want to follow along but don't have paints yet, the Army Painter Speedpaint 2. 0 Starter Set covers everything you need to get through a whole mini in one sitting. Watch it free here → D&D Beyond Free VTT — Maps, Tokens, Fog of War D&D Beyond's free tier now includes a full virtual tabletop: quickplay maps, creature tokens, fog of war, and encounter tools. No subscription required. It's not trying to compete with Foundry on features — it's trying to get you to the table faster, and it does that well. If you paint minis but your group plays online, this is worth bookmarking. Natural pairing here: physical D&D sourcebooks make great session prep companions, and painting the creatures you're running adds a lot to the table even virtually. Grab it free here → Warhammer Community Free Faction Painting Guides GW... - Published: 2026-06-06 - Modified: 2026-06-06 - URL: https://theminiworkshop.com/gw-pre-painted-terrain-warhammer-40k-dnd-players/ - Categories: General - Tags: D&D, news, pre-painted, terrain, Warhammer 40k Games Workshop just confirmed that pre-painted terrain is real, it's good, and pre-orders open tomorrow - Saturday June 6 at 1pm EST. If you've been following the 40k community this week, you've already seen the photos. If you haven't: power cables with actual black-and-yellow striping. Screen readouts. Glowing lamp effects. All of it straight out of the box, no brush required. It genuinely looks better than most player-painted terrain tables. But this is a D&D miniature painting site, so the question isn't whether it's impressive. It's whether you should care. What GW Actually Announced Alongside the Warhammer 40,000 11th Edition Armageddon launch box (pre-order June 6, street date June 20), GW confirmed a new line of pre-painted terrain. The manufacturing process uses UV printing at a level of detail that observers are calling unprecedented for commercially available scenery - actual production pieces, not marketing renders. Pricing hasn't been confirmed yet, but expect it to land in the same ballpark as current GW terrain kits, just ready to use instead of ready to prime. The terrain itself is Warhammer 40k-flavoured: industrial ruins, hab-blocks, the grimdark gothic aesthetic of the 41st Millennium. It is emphatically not a dungeon. You won't be dropping these ruins into your Curse of Strahd campaign without some explaining to do. Games Workshop Terrain: What D&D Players Already Use Here's something the wider hobby rarely acknowledges: Games Workshop terrain has been turning up on D&D tables for years. The reasons are straightforward - GW makes some of the... - Published: 2026-06-01 - Modified: 2026-06-06 - URL: https://theminiworkshop.com/mini-colour-paint-review/ - Categories: Paints & Primers This Mini Colour paint review cuts through the hype for D&D painters. If you’ve been anywhere near the miniature painting community in the last few months, you’ve seen the Mini Colour name. The joint paint range from Artis Opus and Cult of Paint raised over $510,000 from more than 2,000 backers, and with late pledges still open as of today, it’s still generating serious conversation. The reviews from Goonhammer, Tale of Painters, and Spikey Bits are broadly positive. But they’re written for experienced painters. If you’re painting D&D minis and wondering whether this is worth your money, the answer is more nuanced than the headline numbers suggest. Here’s our mini colour paint review — everything you actually need to know before spending your money. Mini Colour Paint Review: What Is It? Mini Colour is a joint project from Cult of Paint and Artis Opus — two of the miniature painting scene’s most experienced companies, specializing in class teaching and tutorial creation. Behind it are Andy Wardle and Henry Steele from Cult of Paint, and Byron Orde from Artis Opus. It’s a genuine labor of love — Byron first showed early prototypes to reviewers back in 2022, and it took several more years before the team were truly satisfied with the formula. The result: 63 colors in 17ml dropper bottles — 60 colors plus two blacks and one white — designed to work equally well with a brush or airbrush, on both dry and wet palettes, with a medium to long... - Published: 2026-05-31 - Modified: 2026-05-31 - URL: https://theminiworkshop.com/2026/05/31/loot-drop-1-2900-free-dd-stls-and-a-free-gw-mini-while-stocks-last/ - Categories: Loot Drop Every week we dig through the community to find the best free and near-free resources for miniature painters and D&D players. This week's drop has something for everyone — a monster free STL library that keeps on giving, and a free GW mini that's running out fast. Once they're printed, our beginner's guide covers everything you need to paint them, and our Paints & Primers section has the gear reviews. 1. Cults3D: Free Printable Miniature STLs for D&D What it is: Cults3D hosts over 2,900 free printable miniature STLs and terrain models for D&D from independent designers. We're talking adventurers, monsters, dungeon furniture, scatter terrain, bases — the full toolkit for building out a campaign's worth of printable minis without spending a penny. Why it's worth your time: The quality range is wide, but the top-rated models on Cults3D are genuinely excellent — detailed enough to paint properly, scaled correctly for 28mm gameplay, and organised well enough that you can search by monster type, character class, or setting. Owlbears, beholders, mindflayers, tavern furniture, dungeon doors — it's all there. The free section is a permanent part of the site, not a time-limited promotion, so there's no rush — but it's worth bookmarking if you have a printer or are thinking about getting one. New free models are added regularly by designers who use the platform to build visibility for their paid work. Find it: Head to cults3d. com and filter by Free under the D&D or Tabletop category. Best for:... - Published: 2026-05-31 - Modified: 2026-06-06 - URL: https://theminiworkshop.com/artis-opus-series-s-review-best-miniature-painting-brushes-2026/ - Categories: Brushes For the best part of a decade, the answer to "what's the best brush for painting miniatures? " was straightforward: Winsor & Newton Series 7. They were the consensus recommendation across forums, YouTube tutorials, and hobby store counters worldwide. That's no longer the case. In 2026, the community has largely shifted to the Artis Opus Series S — and once you understand why, it's hard to argue with the verdict. This guide covers everything you need to know about the Artis Opus Series S: what makes them different, who they're for, how they compare to the competition, and whether the price is actually justified. What Are the Best Miniature Painting Brushes in 2026? Looking for the full starter setup? Our beginner's guide covers everything you need, and our Paints & Primers section pairs well with a brush upgrade. The Artis Opus Series S has become the consensus #1 recommendation for miniature painting brushes in 2026, displacing Winsor & Newton Series 7 after nearly a decade at the top. That's a significant shift — W&N Series 7 held that position through years of YouTube tutorials, Reddit threads, and hobby store recommendations. The fact that community consensus has moved is worth paying attention to. What Is the Artis Opus Series S? The Series S is a range of pure Kolinsky sable brushes, handcrafted in England, specifically designed for miniature painting. Artis Opus launched via Kickstarter in 2018, with backing from several well-known professional painters including Angel Giraldez, Andy Wardle, and Jen Haley.... - Published: 2026-05-30 - Modified: 2026-06-26 - URL: https://theminiworkshop.com/best-spray-primers-for-painting-dd-minis-2026-guide/ - Categories: Paints & Primers Primer is the one step that can genuinely make or break a paint job. Get it right and your paints grip, your washes behave, and your highlights pop. Get it wrong and you're fighting the model all the way through. This guide covers the best spray primers for miniatures in 2026 - what to use, when to use it, and what to avoid. Looking for the full beginner setup? Check out our Start Here guide or browse all our Paints & Primers reviews. Why Primer Matters More Than Beginners Expect Bare plastic is smooth and slightly waxy. Paint applied directly won't bond properly - it'll flake off with handling, especially on the raised edges that get touched most. Primer creates a thin, porous surface that paint locks into. It also gives you a consistent colour base, which affects everything from how much paint you need to how accurately your final colours match the pot. For D&D minis specifically - which tend to be plastic or resin, often fairly detailed, and painted in small batches rather than armies - spray primer is the fastest and most reliable option. A good pass takes two minutes and sets you up for a much better result than brush-on primer applied inconsistently. The Best Spray Primers for Miniatures: Top Picks for D&D Painters 1. Colour Forge Matt Black or Matt Grey - Best Spray Primers for Miniatures - Best Value Pick Colour Forge has become the go-to recommendation for budget-conscious hobbyists, and for good reason.... ## Pages - Published: 2026-05-30 - Modified: 2026-05-30 - URL: https://theminiworkshop.com/start-here/ So you’ve got some minis sitting on your desk — maybe a D&D starter set, maybe a box of Reaper Bones — and you’re staring at them wondering where on earth to begin. You’re in exactly the right place. This page will get you sorted without overwhelming you or emptying your wallet. Here’s the good news: you don’t need much to get started. Seriously. Some of the best-looking minis have been painted with a cheap brush and a handful of basic paints. The gear helps, but it doesn’t do the work for you — and that’s actually pretty great, because it means you can start today. Let’s walk through what you actually need, what can wait, and how to set yourself up for a good first experience. The Bare Minimum Kit If you want to pick up a mini right now and start painting, here’s all you truly need: Your Starter Kit A few brushes — You need two: a medium brush (size 1 or 2) for larger areas, and a small detail brush (size 0 or 00) for faces and fine work. Don’t spend a lot here. A cheap set is fine to learn on. A starter paint set — Army Painter or Vallejo both do good beginner sets. They’re already thinned to roughly the right consistency for miniatures, which matters more than you’d think. A primer — This is a thin base coat you spray or brush on before painting. It helps the paint stick and makes everything... - Published: 2026-05-30 - Modified: 2026-05-30 - URL: https://theminiworkshop.com/ Your Miniature Painting Gear Guide The Right Tools Make All the Difference Whether you're painting your first D&D mini or building out a serious hobby workspace, we help you find the gear that actually works — without wasting money on the wrong stuff. Start Here — Beginner's Guide We research and review miniature painting tools and workspace gear — wet palettes, magnifier lamps, painting stations, brushes, airbrushes and more. No fluff, no filler. Just honest recommendations drawn from community experience so you can spend more time painting and less time second-guessing Amazon reviews. Browse by Category Find Exactly What You Need Brushes From starter sets to detail brushes. Find the right brush for every technique. Browse Brushes → Workspace Painting stations, magnifier lamps, wet palettes and everything your desk needs. Browse Workspace → Paints & Primers Starter paint sets, primers, washes and contrast paints reviewed and compared. Browse Paints → Tools & Accessories Clippers, hobby knives, sculpting tools and all the extras worth owning. Browse Tools → New to Painting D&D Miniatures? Don't know where to start? We've put together a complete beginner's guide covering everything you need — the essential tools, the best starter paints, and how to set up your workspace without overspending. Read the Beginner's Guide Why Trust Us Honest Reviews. No Sponsored Fluff. Written by Hobbyists We're tabletop gamers and mini painters ourselves. We know what actually matters at the painting desk. Thoroughly Researched Every recommendation is backed by deep research, community feedback and real-world Amazon...