Get the very best products to stock on your hobby table in this rundown of our top 17 best miniature hobby products we use every day!
After years of hobbying, Rob has got his hands on tons of hobby products and after careful review, these are what he recommends and uses even today.
If you missed our first hobby essentials post or our one on Storage, make sure you check it out after you scroll through our list here! We guarantee these will help you at some point during your hobby endeavors.
Tamiya Cement Glue
This extra thin cement glue is a solid to keep your models together and get those tricky bit connections to stick. Perfect for those tiny plastic character models, and units.
Testors Plastic Cement
In the same vein, Testors has its own spin on plastic cement that also works great!
Hobby Holder’s Miniature Holder
This neat little contraption is easy to hold and gives you 360-degree access to your miniature while you paint.
Metallic Sharpie Markers
Metallic-colored sharpies are great for putting a gold/silver trim on the lining of your armor. You can do two quick passes and not have to worry as much as you normally would on control. It’s a lot quicker than doing things with a brush!
Microsol & Set Decal Setting
Microsol and Microset are two chemicals needed for applying decals. You get a smooth finish on your decal without the plastic filmy glare you can sometimes get if you just use water.
Small Wet Pallete
Keep your paints from drying out so quickly with this awesome wet pallete. It’s small, transportable, and packs up nicely for neat storage. This will save you a ton in paint.
Vallejo Chipping Medium
If you’re going for a paint-chipping effect on your models, this medium was made for it! While there are tons of technical paints out there, this is a great option for weathering and scratches.
Shapers Brushes
These brushes are a bit different from your standard-issue ones. They don’t absorb paint and are mainly used to push material around. It’s the perfect tool for helping you fill tricky games with your putty filler.
Mr. Hobby Polisher Mold Line Remover
If you’ve got models with mold lines stacking up, this electric tool scrapes them off in a jiffy. while the manual tool is good, this thing gets the job done quick, fast, and in a hurry. Especially if you’ve got bit after bit to clean up.
Refilling Paint Water Pot
If you’re going to be hobbying for a hot minute and you’re using a bunch of different colors, keep yourself from having to get up and dump your water every two seconds. This refillable paint pot is awesome for giving you a clean slate for colors!
ELO Easy Lift-Off Paint Stripper
If your painting skills grow and your minis start to look cruddy, you can strip the paint and decals and start fresh. All without having to shell as much money towards another figure.
Vallejo Airbrush Flow Improver
Coming in a 200mL bottle, you won’t be blowing through this bottle any time soon. If you want to make sure your paints keep coming out smooth as water, just mix a touch of this in and start spraying to prevent any future clogs!
Vallejo Airbrush Thinner
Keeping your paints thinner than normal is paramount when you’re airbrushing. Why not do it the right way with a hefty body of Vallejo’s 200mL bottle of thinner? You don’t want to put junk in your airbrush. Use it for the really chunky paints in conjuction with your flow improver. Don’t cut corners and grab a bottle of this before you start to work on your next masterpiece.
Vallejo Plastic Putty
Let’s get this out of the way. This is WAY better at filling gaps and crevices than your run-in-the-mill Green Stuff. It’s thinner and can fit into the cracks seamlessly. Definitely a necessity.
Cheese Cloth (For Camo Cloaks/Ghillie Suits)
If you’re wanting a new level of detail on your minis that don’t look like plastic, you can make your own capes, ghillie suits, and cloaks with cheesecloth and a little hobby know-how. It’s perfect for making Scout Snipers with cloaks and bringing them to a whole new level of “realistic”.
Lusterless Flat Lacquer Clear Coat Testors
Once you get your models painted up you need to protect them. That’s where the lacquer flat clear coat comes in. You just shake the rattle can a bit and spray this onto your finished model to create a protective barrier for your paint job! Best of all you can use it in humid and dry conditions alike!
15mL Dropper Bottles or 24ml for Contrast
If you’re tired of your Citadel paints drying out in the pots they come in, you can order a bundle of dropper bottle and make sure they’ll never dry out! Another upside is that you can better control the amount of paint that comes out and you also don’t have to punish your brush by scooping globs of paint out like you normally would with the Citadel pots.
Overall, this list is full of hobby goodies that you really can’t go wrong with. Remember, use the right tool for the right job! Have you used any of these hobby supplies before? Which one can you not go without?
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About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
