Miniature Painting Kit or Buy Separately?
A complete kit is one purchase and one compromise. Here is exactly which compromise, and when it stops being worth taking.
The short answer
Buy a complete kit if you own nothing: the Citadel Warhammer 40,000 Paints + Tools Set is the only common box with paints, a brush, clippers and a scraper together, so one purchase gets you to a finished model. Assemble your own once you know your scheme — the included brush is always the weakest part, and a proper brush costs less than the kit saves.
The quick version
| # | Product | Best for | Score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Citadel Colour: Warhammer 40,000 Paints + Tools SetThe only starter set that hands you paints, a brush, clippers and a moldline scraper at once, so nothing else is needed to finish a first squad. | The most complete single box | 9.0 | Check price on Amazon |
| 2 |  The Army Painter Warpaints Fanatic Starter SetEleven 18 ml dropper bottles plus a primer, a brush and a practice miniature. More paint than the Citadel starter for less money, and dropper bottles that do not dry out. | Best value complete kit | 8.8 | Check price on Amazon |
| 3 |  The Army Painter Wargamer Brush SetSynthetic brushes covering detail, regiment, drybrush and basecoat in one box. Not the best brush of any type — the right set to learn on and not grieve over. | The upgrade the kits need | 8.3 | Check price on Amazon |
| 4 |  Redgrass Games Everlasting Wet Palette Painter LiteA sealed, mold-resistant wet palette small enough to live on a crowded desk. It keeps thinned paint usable for days instead of minutes. | What no kit includes | 9.3 | Check price on Amazon |
Scores are our own editorial read against the criteria stated below — not a lab measurement and not a user rating. Tap a row for the full write-up.
What “complete kit” actually means
The phrase is used for three quite different products, and the difference matters more than the price does.
A paint set. Paints only. Most “miniature painting kits” on a marketplace listing are this. You still need a primer, a brush, a palette and something to paint.
A paint set plus a brush. The Army Painter starter sets add a brush, a primer and a model, which is genuinely most of the way there.
A paints-and-tools set. Paints, a brush, clippers and a moldline scraper. Citadel’s Warhammer 40,000 box is the common example, and it is the only one of the three where nothing else is needed to finish the model in the box.
Read the contents list, not the word “kit”. The ranked comparison of the sets themselves is in the best miniature paint sets for beginners.
The four things no kit includes
- A good brush. Every included brush is a size 1 or 2 synthetic that holds a point for about three models. It is enough to learn with and it is the first thing you will replace. See the best beginner brushes.
- A wet palette. No starter box contains one, and thinning paint without one means your mix dies in about two minutes. This is the single most under-sold purchase in the hobby — here is why.
- Decent lighting. Painting under a ceiling bulb means working in your own hand shadow. Free to fix badly, cheap to fix properly.
- Enough primer. Where a kit includes primer it is usually a small bottle, good for a handful of models. The primer roundup covers what to buy next.
The arithmetic, honestly
A complete kit is almost always cheaper than the same contents bought separately — that is the point of a bundle, and the manufacturers are not pretending otherwise. The saving is real.
What a bundle costs you is choice. The paints are the colors the manufacturer picked, which suits the army on the box and nothing else. If you are painting Orks and the box is built for Ultramarines, half the set sits unused and the saving evaporates. So the test is not “is the kit cheaper” — it is “will I use most of what is in it”.
Our cost-to-start breakdown puts realistic bands on both routes, and how many paints you need is the question that decides whether a 13-bottle box is generous or wasteful for your scheme.
A straightforward decision rule
Buy the complete kit if you own nothing, do not yet know what you are painting, and want one purchase that gets you to a finished model this weekend. Buy the kit whose box army is closest to what you actually own.
Assemble your own if you already know your color scheme, if you already own any brushes or primer, or if you are painting something the kits are not built for — Gunpla, historical, or a non-Games-Workshop game. In those cases the curated palette is a liability rather than a shortcut.
Either way, add two things immediately: a wet palette and one decent size 1 brush. Those two purchases change your results more than any paint upgrade, and no box includes them.
The buy-separately shopping list
If you are assembling it yourself, this is the minimum set that produces a finished model, in the order it gets used:
- Primer — brush-on or spray, gray if you cannot decide.
- Six to ten paints — the colors your scheme actually needs, plus black and white.
- One wash — a brown or black shade does the shading for you.
- Two brushes — a size 1 for most work, a size 0 or 00 for detail.
- A wet palette.
- A matte varnish if the model will be handled or transported.
That list, with specific picks, is your first army shopping list — and the wider inventory is in miniature painting supplies.
The picks in full
Citadel Colour: Warhammer 40,000 Paints + Tools Set
The only starter set that hands you paints, a brush, clippers and a moldline scraper at once, so nothing else is needed to finish a first squad.
What it gets right
- Covers all five Citadel paint types, so tutorials that name a Citadel color just work
- The clippers and moldline scraper mean you can go from box to painted without a second order
- Agrax Earthshade and Armageddon Dust are in the box, so shading and basing are solved on day one
Who it is wrong for
- Wrong buy if you are not painting Space Marines or Tyranids — the 13 colors are chosen for those two schemes
- 12 ml pots are the most expensive way to buy paint per milliliter
- The starter brush is a starter brush; you will replace it
Scored against this page’s criteria
Specs from the manufacturer: Citadel product page
We do not publish prices. Amazon shows the current one, which is the only one that is ever right. #ad · how this is funded
The Army Painter Warpaints Fanatic Starter Set
Eleven 18 ml dropper bottles plus a primer, a brush and a practice miniature. More paint than the Citadel starter for less money, and dropper bottles that do not dry out.
What it gets right
- 18 ml dropper bottles — half again the volume of a Citadel pot, and no skin forming on a lid
- A primer in the box means you are not blocked waiting on a second order
- The included miniature gives you something to ruin before you touch your actual army
Who it is wrong for
- Color names do not match Citadel tutorials, so you will need a conversion chart at first
- Droppers need a shake and a squeeze; some painters find pots faster to dip into
- Eleven colors is a narrower palette than the 13-plus-tools Citadel box
Scored against this page’s criteria
Specs from the manufacturer: The Army Painter product page
We do not publish prices. Amazon shows the current one, which is the only one that is ever right. #ad · how this is funded
The Army Painter Wargamer Brush Set
Synthetic brushes covering detail, regiment, drybrush and basecoat in one box. Not the best brush of any type — the right set to learn on and not grieve over.
What it gets right
- Covers every brush shape a beginner needs without research
- Synthetic survives the abuse new painters inflict — dried paint, scrubbed drybrushing, standing in water
- The drybrush in particular is a shape you should never buy sable for
Who it is wrong for
- Synthetic points go soft and splay within months of real use
- The detail brush is outclassed by a single cheap sable
- You will replace the detail and layer brushes long before the drybrush
Scored against this page’s criteria
Specs from the manufacturer: The Army Painter product page
We do not publish prices. Amazon shows the current one, which is the only one that is ever right. #ad · how this is funded
Redgrass Games Everlasting Wet Palette Painter Lite
A sealed, mold-resistant wet palette small enough to live on a crowded desk. It keeps thinned paint usable for days instead of minutes.
What it gets right
- Paint stays workable for days with the lid on, which is the entire point of a wet palette
- Small footprint — it fits beside a model rather than replacing your desk
- Membranes and foam are sold as refills, so the palette itself is a one-time buy
Who it is wrong for
- Too small for batch-painting a whole regiment's worth of colors at once
- Refill membranes are a recurring cost you should price in
- Still molds if you leave paint and water in it for two weeks — nothing fixes neglect
Scored against this page’s criteria
Specs from the manufacturer: Redgrass Games product page
We do not publish prices. Amazon shows the current one, which is the only one that is ever right. #ad · how this is funded
FAQ
Questions people actually ask
Is a miniature painting kit worth it?
What comes in a miniature painting kit?
What is missing from every starter kit?
Is it cheaper to buy a kit or buy paints separately?
What should I buy first if I skip the kit?
More in Miniature Paints and Paint Sets, or start from the beginning with what to buy first.
Sources
- Games Workshop / Citadel Colour — paint range informationchecked October 2026
- The Army Painter — Warpaints Fanatic and Speedpaint rangeschecked October 2026