Every year, I buy myself a little something for my birthday as well. This year, I acquired a few things from my wish list after attending ReaperCon 2014: a cutting mat, micro shears, parchment paper & primer.
So far, I've been using my Masterson's Sta-Wet Palette and recently I was told that parchment paper works much better than the paper it comes with-- mostly because it doesn't shed fibers that muck up your paint. Also, it holds the moisture better so your glazes aren't absorbed too quickly into the sponge below, leaving you with thicker paint than you originally mixed.
The primer, Tamiya Fine Surface Primer, was recommended by several professional painters at the Con. I found it on Amazon and bought it in the Light Gray color. Many people swear by this primer, and while I used to prime with GW's Chaos Black and dusted with their White Primer, I found the light gray to be a good compromise. So far, it's been wonderful with quick, even coverage that doesn't muddle any details of the original sculpt. In fact, it's been so light & clean that I've been finding more mold lines that I've missed! To fix it, I'll sand it down and cover it with some brush-on primer.
While I make a habit of cleaning off any extra pewter flash and filing mold lines down before priming, I always seem to miss at least one when using this primer. I'll have to pay even closer attention to make sure I spot those areas beforehand-- I'll be using these mini files even more now it seems!
