Paint Dipping - New Product from 'The Army Painter'

Well... MAYBE it is not a new product... but it is certainly new to me!

I have tried for more than 5 years to capture the holy grail of speed painting, dipping. No matter how much I try, I fail miserably. Some of the reasons could be the paint I get to test the technique. Tutorials are from different countries (and even different regions within USA) so I can never get the same product. Most paints I try have thick pigments and or an insane amount of varnish. I have never seen a paint made particularly for miniatures... until now!

The Army Painter is a small enterprise in Denmark, spearheaded by two guys (who claim) to been heavily involved in the industry: Bo Penstoft (who worked for 10 years for Games Workshop, the last 6 years as their Northern European Head of Marketing) and Jonas Faering (a former Games Workshops ’Eavy Metal team master painters.)

Among other trinkets (like brushes, static grass, 'army size' glue, color spray primer, etc) they sell a paint specifically designed for dipping. It is called QUICK SHADE. They have several videos demonstrating how to use it. VIDEO SPOILER... base coat model, base paint model (basic colors, no detailing), dip, shake, set aside to dry... next model! Worth a look anyway!

Now... I have NOT tried Quick Shade! Why the plug? Well, I wanted to ask if anyone has used it and what was your experience. Also, I email the owners (Bo & Jonas) yesterday with some questions and suggestions (they need high resolution before and after pics!)... and guess what? The bastards actually responded in less than 12 hours!! Holy S@#$! Last time I got a response from someone in the industry (GW) was a canned threatening email of 'cease and desist or we send our lawyers after you' to take down The Mordheimer's Information Center back in 2004... and we know how much THAT happened! Anyway, pretty nice responses from them... I think I can get my local store to order the product for me. Well... since I have a Tyranid Army to paint, I wanna try Quick Shade's Strong Tone.

Comments and experience welcomed!

Here is something-something from their site... GHOULS!




PS: Tom... again, I apologize if this is the wrong section. Feel free to move it and place a 'DUNCE' hat on my head!

hi there,

I know the product, but never used it. Saw great results though (in the flesh, not on images) if you're not looking for display quality.
I think there are 3 different shades of the dipping sauce.
The product is not cheap though.
I also read that people use the same technique, but they use woodstain products. (doubt if those are much cheaper though.)
In both cases, I think a can will last you almost a lifetime. Or at least a medium sized army...

these might interest you :

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Dipping_Tyranids

http://www.dysartes.com/model/painting/Dipping1.php

http://www.dysartes.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2056&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

@Mordheimer: This would be an appropriate place for the thread...at least, from this Mods perspective.
My vote on the technique is "I think I'll pass on this." "Different (brush) strokes for different folks" is operative with moi.

It's a good way to get miniatures quick on the table, but there's a few downsides to me. First of all it's really messy. The minis have to be shaken a lot (preferred you do this in a cardboard box) and there's occasional uncontrolled splatter, so you better wear some worn out clothes you aren't afraid to get dirty (seriously, it's really tough to get off your clothes). Sometimes the dip clutters on parts of the model and doesn't shake off easy or you didn't pay as much attention to it and you only notice it once it's dry. The models need to have a matt varnish at the end unless you want them to be really glossy.

Other than that it's pretty effective and quick. You could get similiar results with a brown wash I think, but I haven't really tried/compared that much. I've seen some people on the internet paint the stuff with a brush getting a nice, well controlled effect.

EDIT:
Also as a side note: I find their spraypaints to my liking. GW's sprays are too expensive and some good-for-all spraypaints have messed my models too often. Their's are reasonably priced and so far they haven't let me down.

Thanks for the comments... keep 'em coming!

One of my early War Games acqaintances, Wierd Wayne aka Blind Baby Clavin, perfected a variant "dip" technique. He dipped his minis directly into pots of enamel paint...dark blue for the tunics, white for the trousers, etc.. Since he didn't wait for the different colors to dry before the next dip, there was a tendency for the colors to run together. The end result was a surrealistic effect reminiscent of Salvatore Dali's work.

Hi there.

I have used the dipping method on quite a few of my minis.

The dip I used was the older version of "The Army Painter" called "Fanatic army painter".
I haven't tried the new stuff - but it is supposed to be better (thinner).

I made a tutorial, which you can see following the link below.
https://boringmordheimforum.forumieren.com/tutorials-f18/tutorial-using-fanatic-army-painter-t753.htm

If used correctly you can get some pretty decent results fairly quickly (which also protect your miniatures). I don't swing the minis, but glue them on a bigheaded nail, which I then spin in a box with my Accu drill at around 2000 RPM - the minis might fall of if they are to big or not balanced when glued on the nail.

After the minis have been spinned (both ways twice for about 10 secs each way) I use an old brush to remove any excess dip from the mini.

However I don't like the shine the dip leaves, so I give all my miniatures an extra layer of varnish "Model Master Dull Cote" (from Testor), which I paint on with a brush (no spray).

Also - IMO dip doesn't look to good on blue (looks great on yellow, red, brown, green) - so if a mini has a lot of blue on it, I won't dip it. Also black requires shading predip and pure white will turn to dirty white. It is however possible to paint on a mini after the dip has dried.

You can see some of the results in my gallery below (most minis are dipped in Fanatic Army Painter (the old product))
https://boringmordheimforum.forumieren.com/miniatures-f2/alexbware-s-miniatures-t751.htm

As I consider myself a bit of an expert "dipper" let me know if you have any questions.

I find that the dipping is to messy, and that it leaves a lot stains on the model even after using a brush to remove the excess dip. Therefore I splash the dip on with an old brush. In other words I brush it on.



I agree with Kaptain Dedgob that their spray paints are brilliant!!!

I don't really fit perfectly in to any of the poll choices, so I'll just explain. I think dipping is a great way to get a table playable army very quickly. It looks nice and does a decent job of emulating more advanced shading techniques. I still would never use it for myself, because I believe you can get much better results by spending more time and doing things the old fashioned way and I'm not in a hurry anyways. So to those who dip, more power to you.

I love "dipping", and recently became a convert. I consider myself an okay painter and really just want quality table top paint jobs.

I don't "dip", I brush it on. I just painted an entire 2250 WE army in under three weeks. The key is to not allow too much pooling, and then hit it with a matte spray. The matte kills the shine and blends in the highlights very well. You still must paint the basecoats on the figs.

I use the Army Painter Leather Brown primer and that allows you to skip painting boots, belts, and sometimes hair.

Painted an Undead warband this week and I will try and get photos up.

Does painting the traditional way work best? Yes, but I don't have time to paint that way anymore. Most people cannot tell if my army was dipped or not. Even after I tell them I dipped it they find it hard to believe. I doubt I will paint the traditional way ever again.

Here are some alright photos of a WE Glade Rider, but you get the idea. It was dipped using the AP Strong tone.

I would love to see the dipped undead warband.
Been thinking about doing the same with the undeads that I am starting.

WOW!!! You have me excited Powerposey! NOT on THAT way... pervert!

I mean, I have a Tyranid 40k ARMY to paint! GASP! I have 64 Hormigaunts and 96 Gaunts... that are 'basic' troop choices and I don't have time to paint 160 cannon fodder troop choices. If you add all other units, my army reaches 250 models (EASY!)... I have over 5,000 points. This means that any way I can knock out 90% of the force, so I can concentrate on 'show' pieces will make a great difference.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I will comment on your models on the other thread... they are AWESOME!!!

I've tried actual dipping (as in, dipping the model into the can, not just painting it on) and for me this has turned out a bit too thick for the end result. However, I'm intrigued by your shots, Powerposy, so I may try "dipping," or painting the shade on, again with some rank'n'file troops at some point and see how it comes out.