eBay Miniature Rescues is back again with another video tutorial, and this time he’s giving awesome tips on buying used Warhammer armies!
eBay Miniature Rescues is a unique channel that shows you how to take beat-up, damaged minis, and restore them to their fullest potential! It’s a relatively new channel on YouTube and it’s super fun to watch what Casey is able to do with some once hopeless miniatures. Be sure to check out all his stuff here!
This week, he’s giving us a ton of tips if you want to follow in his footsteps and start buying pre-loved minis on the secondary market. If you’ve been looking to save some cash, this is a great video as long as you’re willing to put in a little extra work.
Tips on Buying Used Warhammer Armies: eBay Miniature Rescue
He breaks this down into pretty easy-to-digest steps, so we’ll be doing the same! Let’s get into the best way to successfully buy your minis from eBay and make them awesome once again.
Part 1:
Anything, to get on the cheap, generally falls into the “lots of work” category. So, the first thing you do is type Warhammer army lots into eBay. Next, put in the filters of; buy it now and price. This gives you a quick way to filter out your searches. If you don’t put in any filters, it will give you the auctions with the soonest end date. Just be sure to check often so when you see the army you want, you can grab it right away.
Check out these types of Warhammer army deals on eBay here.
He also recommends saving your searches for later viewing. You can also narrow your searches if you’re looking for something specific, such as a certain faction.
Part 2:
When buying a used army, you want to make sure your initial purchase actually has the models to create a core of your army, you can always fill out the fun details later. Next, you have to look at the paint job. If you have a Sonic Cleaner, you want to make sure the paint isn’t too thick and nothing isn’t too broken. Keep your expectations in check, these are generally not going to be tournament lists.
So, when looking at the lots, make sure they have usable units and are something you can build upon to actually make a list you want. If you get it for cheap, but will only be using a unit or two, it’s probably not worth it.
Part 3:
Once you have your army bought, you need to start stripping the paint. If you don’t have a sonic cleaner, you can let the models sit in a paint stripper for about a week or so. (or you can use the 1 minute Easy Lift Off by Testors that is amazing!)
Then, take a toothbrush (not one you’re using obviously) and get off the rest of the primer and paint. Once they are stripped, it’s time to fix the broken minis. Most lots have the extra parts which is nice. After that, be sure to fill all the gaps on the models so your paint jobs will look better once finished. Once the paint is stripped and fixed, it’s time to reprime them.
Part 4:
This section is all about testing. If you’re using the models to just expand your existing army, you should already have your paint scheme ready to go. If not, you don’t want to just go all in willy-nilly. He takes about 4 models and tests what scheme he likes the most. He tries a combination of colors until he is happy.
He does all four before deciding. This is super important because once your army is painted, you don’t want to have to go back and do the stripping all over again. Once you have all of them painted, just decide what you like the most and start painting the rest in the same scheme! It takes some work, but it will save you money and give you a really close connection to your new army.
What tips do you have for buying used Warhammer armies?
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
