(Part 2) Best products from r/KingdomDeath

Late comment but Yo I'm from Brissy & I can let you know what I did

I was in the Kickstarter and while I waited for the game to finally ship I spent ages devouring information from Gambler's Chest and Add-Ons tabs here.

For sleeves, I originally went for the official KD sleeves which were good, but availability for them had pretty much been once-off, so once the expansions came I was shit outta luck. I then went for Swan Sleeves, which are $3.95 USD per 100 Premium (pretty good price for really good quality, albeit shipping is a bit hefty and will change depending on number of packs ordered). 57x90mm sleeves are a perfect fit, but if out of stock then the 60x90mm are also a good fit. I just had a look, and both are currently out of stock, but just keep them in mind, 'cause AFAIK no one else stocks premium 57x90mm and they (imo) are undoubtedly the best fit for the cards.

As someone who's never sleeved before, it takes waay longer than you think it will, haha.

For gear cards, I personally went with the binder option; it's really convenient to be able to organise them like this. This was just using a 3-ring binder from Officeworks and a couple of these coin pages from Amazon.

For the making of the miniatures, while you can make do with a kitchen knife and some nail clippers for removing pieces from sprues, you'll make your life a lot easier investing in an X-acto knife and sprue cutters. By FAR the cheapest knife is from Bunnings, and at $2.50 it is of fantastic quality and comes with 3 extra blades. Sprue cutters you'll have to look around; best I could find was a cheap pair from Amazon that are fine. Finally, plastic cement is an absolute Must imo. Can't recommend it enough - instead of acting like an adhesive like superglue, it essentially melts the parts together and creates a very strong bond. Tamiya is pretty good and works great, but feel free to have a read around forums; people will have preferences for various brands, regular, thin, extra thin, etc. The making of miniatures is daunting at first, but it's not as hard as you might think (although you're like to make a mistake or two at first, but dw about it lol) and resources from https://build.kingdomdeath.com/, vibrantlantern.com/ and forum threads on https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/55690/kingdom-death-monster should see you through most of them :)

That's pretty much it. The storing or shelving of miniatures is up to you, as is whether or not a box insert is necessary.

Hope at least a couple of the things I said were useful. Have fun!

KD was my first time assembling minis. I definitely had some trepidation over the whole thing, but really it's not bad.

Now, I admit, I had some guidance from a coworker, but I'll pass all that guidance onto you right now. All you need are the following three items:

• Plastic cement. This stuff is great, and is the best thing to use for plastic models (even Adam recommends it--even this brand specifically, I believe). It actually melts the plastic together to create the bond. Now, this may sound scary, but the great thing about it is it doesn't act as fast as super glue, which means you have time to play with the join to get it just right (while it still dries fast enough to be convenient). Just be careful to not get it on your fingers while holding a join, or you may leave fingerprints (a little goes a long way, and this isn't hard to avoid).
  
• A flush cutter. That's the one I use and it works great. You'll use this to snip the individual pieces from the sprue (that's what the sheets of plastic that you get are called. A sprue represents what comes from a single mold, and has many pieces attached to it, which you will need to snip free to assemble). It's super easy--just take your time to make sure you don't cut off more than you need to. Many pieces come with extra plastic to assist with the join (kinda like puzzle pieces--they fit together, you just still need to glue them).
  
  
• A standard Xacto knife. I won't link this, cause honestly any will do. You'll use this to clean up your pieces. Primarily you'll probably use it to deal with the excess plastic left from where the two halves of the mold joined (also known as "flash"). I generally like gently scraping this away with the back side of the Xacto knife, almost like I'm sanding it. You can also use this to cut off any excess, if you don't get a joint snipped off quite clean with the flush cutters (better to cut off too little with those than too much!).
  
  Basically, the key once you have these tools is to take your time. Consult a guide like vibrantlantern.com, which another poster mentioned, and which was an invaluable resource to me.
  
  A mini takes me anywhere from an hour (really complex monster), to 20 minutes, generally. They can go much faster once you get the system down, but I like taking time to figure out exactly what the mini should look like (for the armor kits).
  
  Throw on some music, or Netflix (or whatever helps you pass the time without distracting you too much), maybe grab a beer, and make an evening of it.
  
  It's also worth noting that all you need to start playing is the White Lion, and the four Starting Survivors. These all come on a single sprue, and are really quite simple to assemble given the above directions and tools. That will get you through several hours of gameplay just by itself, and then from there you can move on to creating other monsters and survivors as you need or want them.
  
  Hope this helps!

First of all anything I say here are not absolutes and do have substitutes. Each painter has their own way of doing things. This is just my take.

Prepare Your Mini for Painting

Before you do any paint first you need to sand/trim, assemble, fill gaps, and prime your miniature. When you sand/trim your mini you are removing mold lines and areas that don't mesh well with the minis surface, your trying to get everything even. You can use an exacto-knife and files for this. Once you have all the pieces so that they fit together well next you need to assemble your mini. Take the time to dry fit everything before gluing to make sure it all fits together. The type of glue you use depends on what the mini is made of and preference. For plastic, I tend to use super glue 90% of the time since plasti-weld (a chemical that melts the plastic together) doesnt seem to make the joint any stronger, though I could be using the wrong type. You can also pin the mini joints together for added strength. After your mini is assemble now we need to fill those gaps that can ruin a great paint job, I see it all the time and it makes me sad. There are many different types of putty that you can use but I go for green stuff. I mix 1:1, yellow to blue, and using a damp toothpick I wet my hands and smoosh it into gaps until it seems filled. This can be hard to tell sometimes since you cant get a sense of depth. If you want to make sure I will usually brush on some Gesso and check to see if it even. Finally we can prime our miniature. This is required or acrylic paint wont stick to the plastic. Application can be done via airbrush, rattle can, or brush. Since I haven't done much with a brush, but FYI you can use the Gesso above also for priming, and I cant assume everybody has an airbrush I will talk about the cheaper option, rattle can or spray paint. There are many available like those made for miniatures (though I don't think they have a real difference), and brands like Rustoleum and Krylon. Make sure you get a can that is for just priming and not the "prime and paint" type and is for indoor/outdoor use, sometimes the outdoor only stuff can be a bit thick. The brand doesn't matter as much as when and how you apply it. Humidity and temperature are Very important when priming a miniature, if it is to hot and dry the paint will crack and to humid you can get dripping and that terrible fuzzy look. Make sure you read and FOLLOW the directions on the can. When applying the paint do wide sweeps across the miniature with a constant spray. Keep the sprays short and the motion consistent.

Painting

Now you are at the fun part. Again, there are different mediums to paint in, oil, acrylic, pigment. Acrylic is a good place to start. The brand of paint you use is really up to you. You can go to a hobby or art store to get these paints. Don't get the paints that are to cheap the results are not good. Blick is a good store to visit because mini painting is an art that uses artistic mediums. That is what Blick is all about and you will get a wide range of brands there, you don't have to use the mini makers brands. Brushes are very important and if you get the cheapest kind you'll find that they tend to fray and leave little bits of bristles on your mini. For starters stick with the mid range synthetic ones and take care of them, theyll last awhile if you do. Make sure you wash them in your water pot (just a jar of water) often so that the paint doesn't dry on them and clean them every so often. So when you sit done with your brush and begin make sure you thin your paints or they will end up thick and goopy. You can thin with distilled water or you can use an acrylic medium. There are many special mediums but the most useful ones are matte and glaze medium and are used for different painting techniques. Always give your paint time to dry before applying more or youll mess up the prior coat and things will look rough.

Sealing

After you are done painting and have let your mini dry for a few days its now time to seal and protect it by giving it a few coats of finish. This will keep scratches away from your wonderful paint job. Application and selecting is similar to picking a primer but there are 2 options, gloss and matte. Think about what type of finish you want. Most go for matte and some use a mix but few do only a gloss finish.

Stripping

So you messed up. What now? Well you can strip the paint off and try again but you got to be careful here because this process can make the mini brittle. A common used item is Simple Green. Though it does a good job on the acrylic paint it will not remove the primer very easily. To do that I have found Super Clean to work best. But do note, only soak a mini 10 minutes at a time sink Super Clean works by sucking the moisture out of the paint, and the mini. So do a 10 minutes soak, then take a toothbrush and try to brush off the paint, then return to the solution and repeat.

Since most of the others have given you the right answers to your questions, I thought I would elaborate more on how you could store your game as well as bling it out. I have around 6 completed campaigns at this point (so maybe 500ish hours in…holy crap that’s a lot more than I expected)


Here’s what my setup looks like: https://imgur.com/a/VMV0NqY


Card Storage and Organization: I found the broken token card organizer (https://www.amazon.com/Broken-Token-Horizontal-Organizer-Wooden/dp/B00OKRAVX0/ref=sr_1_4?crid=IC1XTR4UEYH6&keywords=broken+token+card+organizer&qid=1570577802&sprefix=broken+token+card%2Caps%2C169&sr=8-4) in a hobby lobby art supply case (https://www.hobbylobby.com/Art-Supplies/Storage-Organization/Storage/All-Media-Artists-Supply-Sketch-Box/p/5227) works awesome to store the cards. Hobby lobby routinely has coupons for 50% off of one item. I think I spent $20 for my case. One case will hold all of the non-gear cards for the base game (sleeved) and all of the current expansions. I bought a second one of these cases to store all of the terran, settlement events, settlement locations, gear grids, rulebooks, etc. I no longer use the original box at all.
For the gear cards, I use a coin sleeve sheet (https://www.amazon.ca/20-Twenty-20-Pocket-Collecting-Supplies/dp/B002KDNAU2/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8) in a three ring binder.

For sleeves, I primarily used FFG Grey sleeves but I did back the Mage Sleeves kickstarter so I used those for the gear cards, settlement events, and settlement locations (there are likely other places to get them)

For tokens, I used these (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073RBB3NM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) 28mm coin holders.
For holding them on the table, I used (https://www.etsy.com/listing/611349741/token-holder-vii-for-kingdom-death?ref=shop_home_active_49&frs=1)

Highly recommend having these survival action tokens for each player as well, because it makes it very clear if you have already used the survival actions or not – There are not tokens for this in the game, these are purely helpful addons. (https://www.etsy.com/listing/663667985/survival-action-tokens-for-kingdom-death?ref=shop_home_active_13&frs=1)
Colored rings around the bases is also really helpful for remembering which character is which. The ones I purchased are no longer for sale but something like this (https://www.etsy.com/listing/579130465/identification-rings-for-kingdom-death?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=kingdom+death&ref=sr_gallery-1-7&organic_search_click=1&frs=1)


To hold the gear grids together, these are awesome but pricey (https://www.etsy.com/listing/548000611/kd-gear-grid-for-card-management-updated?ga_search_query=kingdom%2Bdeath&ref=shop_items_search_1)

I would also use these remaster card sheets printed on thick paper (https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/124496/kingdom-death-remastered-sheets) - Your first campaign will be people of the lantern - I would recommend starting off with around 12 of the character sheets.

It takes a lot of time. You need the right tools. Id' have an exacto knife, some clippers, some files, a good glue, and probably some gap filler. Oh, and a cutting board to work off of.

I linked some examples to give you an idea, you can feel free to find a particular product that works for you, although I do really like the Tamiya glue. There are a lot of little pieces so some people might like some tweezers as well. I use cupcake wrappers to help keep the pieces in one place as I'm assembling and keep them from getting lost. I'd recommend not working over carpet as a dropped piece might get lost forever in there.

As others have said, Vibrant Lantern has some great build guides, which are probably required for more complex models like the Phoenix.

Otherwise, don't let the amount of sprues overwhelm you. Pick a miniature to assemble and finish it before moving on to the next one. Most of them are fairly straightforward. I would really recommend you take your time in assembly, as getting the edges filed and gaps filled will pay off in the long run - nothing worse than a well painted model with gaps and mold lines showing. There are plenty of videos out there on how to do this if you aren't sure or just want some additional instruction.

Start with the White Lion and starting survivors. The Screaming Antelope and Butcher will be the next ones to tackle. All of these are fairly easy to assemble.

Once you get past assembly (the advice here already is great!), you'll want to look at paints. Do yourself a favor and get a good primer (around $15, I use Army Painter flat black primer), and then 3 brushes (kolinsky sable is the best, but regular sable works fine too). Get a size 0, 1, and 2. Do not get super cheap brushes, but you don't need way out expensive brushes either. $8-12 a brush should be your target.

Then you've got to choose paints, and this will boil down to personal preference. Vallejo makes great paints, as does P3 and Army Painter. I'm not wild about Games Workshop's paints.

This is a great value, if you decide you like their paints.

I know some people are getting Wave 2 Soon, and with it the Spidicules. The spidicules is one of my favorite showdowns, and unfortunately due to a unwieldy model, doesn't get as much love as it should in my opinion. So I wanted to encourage everyone to try something like this to help them out.

Tools Needed:

• cooking pot
  
• Tongs
  
• Salt
  
• Water
  
• Superglue
  
• A base (mine was the small one of these 3 from: Amazon
  
• Optional: 2-3mm Drill and headpeg: Also Amazon (putting a headpeg and base on the body isnt needed for the final product but it really makes assembly much easier)
  
  I thought this was going to be much harder than it ended up being.
  
  Simply add salt to water(increasing boiling temp), bring it to a near boil, Submerge midsection of the leg you want to alter, then use the tongs to bend it slightly. Be sure not to submerge for too long, and try to keep the part that slides into the body out of the water.
  
  Keep refitting the leg back into the main body and then adjusting it until its about how you want it, then glue it all together.
  
  I previously showed my modded spidicules (sans a pair of legs and paint) but I wanted to help anyone whos getting the model new to have a more enjoyable experience with them.
  
  Feel Free to ask any questions!
  
  Edit: If anyone want to do the headpeg thing. I drilled a hole throughthe assembled body (without Face.) put greenstuff over the hole from the inside. then just glued the flightstand stick into position.
  
  Edit 2: in case anyone tries this, i should mention that the headpeg actually uses 2 of the flight stands glued together.

Just wanted to share my current display case setup.

I used this Ikea cabinet ($169) with this LED light strip ($15).

I originally bought a different LED strip, but it wasn't nearly bright enough. This one gets super bright and comes with a dimmer, so you can play with the lighting level.

Bonus feature is the rack at the bottom that perfectly holds the game box!

Edit: forgot to mention that you'll need to drill a hole in the steel plate at the bottom to feed your power cord through for the LED strip. I used a drill bit designed to cut through metal, and then added a little poster tack to the sharp edges so I don't accidentally fray the power cord.

I haven't had to move it yet (other than just around my house) but we use
this storage cabinet and I would imagine with some foam strategically placed it would be just fine to move around with


we did happen to find an old overhead projector whose case fit around this storage cabinet perfectly which I would use if moving with all my minis

we also store things other than minis in ours like terrain (both the original cardboard and these stone ones) and tokens in this style holder

The 3 things you need are:

• something to cut the pieces off the sprue -- an exacto knife will work, but flush cutters are easier to work with.
  
• an adhesive -- super glue works, but plastic cement is better.
  
• something to remove sprue nubs/mold lines from the plastic -- an exacto knife can work again here, but I prefer needle files. Much harder to make an error than when using a knife.
  
  That's pretty much it. If you want to dive in really deep I have a massive post that lists other tools and touches on a lot of customization that people have done. But none of that's mandatory, you can very easily forge ahead with just the 3 tools I linked above.

I use Paladin's standard sleeves and also perfect barrier sleeves.

The perfect barrier sleeves are amazing value to price, and they're a lot easier to get than the paladin sleeves

Edit: also in case anyone is interested I use these coin sleeves in a trade binder for easy gear and settlement item management

To add to the good info above: for KDM miniatures you are pretty much guaranteed to need to use putty/epoxy for the gaps on them if you want them to look good painted. Most of the big monsters will have some very noticeable gaps when put together, and it is fairly common on some of the armor kit survivors too (especially the unarmored kit mentioned above - serious issues with "ken doll" arm sockets).

For larger gaps, I prefer milliput superfine white. It is firm enough you can shape it (add water to help change consistency if needed).
https://www.amazon.com/Milliput-Superfine-2-Part-Hardening-Putty/dp/B002CNEWAM

For smaller hairline graps, I really like Vallejo Plastic Putty. It doesn't require pre mixing and is easier to work with if you just need to get it into a tiny gap. Usually apply it then wipe off with wet cloth.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PHCNLC

I'm pretty certain OLFA is the manufacturer for Tamiya knives so you can probably save a few bucks by buying from them instead (see Amazon). I think the hobby knife in particular is important because you'll want something your absolutely comfortable with. They can be very dangerous.

This is the knife I use:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006SJAXE/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I opted for plastic because I didn't like the cheap aluminum Xacto uses on their handles. I also believe the entire knife (blades and handle) is manufactured in Japan and I trust their manufacturing practices more than others. The blades I ordered over a year ago are still rust free.

If you're a new painter, you're going to want a 3/0 or 2/0, there isn't a huge difference between the two, a #0, a #1, and a #2. use the biggest brush you can get away with for whatever you're working on. You want that #2 to become your workhorse brush, and you want to get to the point where you're only using the tiny brushes when you have a specific reason for it.

Don't worry about buying expensive brushes when you start, but do pick up some brush soap and practice using good brush maintenance habits. Your starter brushes will wear out, and if they're synthetic, they'll curl, and replace them with better brushes as you need to once you have the hang of things. (hold on to your worn out brushes though, they're useful for heavy wear tasks like painting metallics, washes, spreading PVA glue, etc)

It is an improvement!

If you are interested in learning more about this topic, Thinking With Type provides a useful foundation. I'm sure that, in 2016, there are other publications that have eclipsed the popularity of this one; I just haven't gone book shopping in a while.

Plastic is fairly soft. As long as you're not trying to cut too close to the model anything with a sharp edge will work. Just make sure the blades are thin enough to work in between pieces. I'm using a Xuron.

Here's a big fat messy shopping list I made for someone a while ago. You might find it useful too.

http://www.amazon.com/Quickshade-Ink-Warpaints-Army-Painter/dp/B00HC8D80W
Amazon.com: Quickshade Ink Set Warpaints Army Painter

http://www.amazon.com/Pacer-Technology-Zap-Zap-Adhesives/dp/B00SXJJ2QI
Amazon.com: Pacer Technology (Zap) Pacer Technology (Zap) Zap-A-Gap Adhesives, 1 oz

http://www.amazon.com/General-Pencil-Company-Masters-Preserver/dp/B0009RRT9Y
Amazon.com : General Pencil Company The Masters Brush Cleaner & Preserver 2.5 0z. : Brush Soap

http://www.amazon.com/Army-Painter-Wargame-Starter-Paint/dp/B01BJ55UDQ
Buy Army Painter Wargame Starter Paint Set - PLUS Promo Undead figure

http://www.amazon.com/280715-American-Accents-Primer-12-Ounce/dp/B00KZ6LLZW?
Buy Rust Oleum 280715 American Accents Ultra Cover 2X Spray Paint, White Primer, 12-Ounce

http://www.amazon.com/TEKTON-6655-Needle-File-10-Piece/dp/B000NPUKYS?
TEKTON 6655 Needle File Set, 10-Piece

http://www.amazon.com/Xacto-X3311-Precision-Knife-Blades/dp/B0000DD1N4?
Buy Xacto X3311 N0. 1 Precision Knife With 5 No. 11 Blades

http://www.amazon.com/Most-Wanted-Wargamer-Set/dp/B007H4YR8S
Amazon.com: 1 X Most Wanted Wargamer Brush Set

http://www.amazon.com/Xuron-170-II-Micro-Shear-Flush-Cutter/dp/B000IBSFAI
Xuron 170-II Micro-Shear Flush Cutter: Wire Cutters

http://www.amazon.com/Milliput-Standard-2-Part-Hardening-Yellow/dp/B011BO9R5W
Amazon.com: 2 X Milliput Standard 2-Part Self Hardening Putty, Yellow/Grey

Edit: Of, and I used this guide for making my Thinner. http://www.reapermini.com/Thecraft/15 But I'm going to experiment more, because this is not perfect.