Dipped Undead Warband (Updated Tutorial Oct 20th)

Here is my current warband I have been working on. The pics were rushed and under bad lighting, but I am about to go get married this weekend so I won't have time for a couple of weeks to post better ones. Sorry for the large pics, they don't want to shrink.

All these were dipped using Army Painter Strong Tone.

Here is the group shot.

Some ghouls. Ignore that mold line

One of my dregs, more of a thrall/assistan to my Vampire. Converted from an old DE hydra handler.

A Zombie

My Necromancer and Warlock (love that empire wizard sprue)

My Vampire Queen using the DE Lord w/additional weapons. This is the one model that didn't come out that well. I will probably repaint her. The Black tone would have been better for her than the Strong Tone

Great stuff! The gouls look awsome and your painting is sick with great higlights!

The only critique I can give you... MORE PICTURES!!

You know, when I checked The Army Painter site I though... "Crap, these guys worked for years as part of the 'eavy Metal Studio.. of course their models will look awesome!" By seeing YOUR pictures (even at their tiny diminutive scale) I can only conclude that either:

a) You are lying and you work for 'eavy Metal Studio
b) Dipping (with the correct practice) does yield good results.

Your models are AS good as those on The Army Painter website (except that mold line that I can't seem to ignore!) I have a favor to ask... no pressure. Can you make a step by step tutorial of what you do? I mean, few large pictures of the same model; no priming, primed (black or whatever color you use), colors and details before dipping (in your case brushing), one after dipping, one after details (if any), one after sealing the model (if you do that) and one after basing (finished model) . This way we can all see the progress.

Regardless if you do it... THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR PHOTOS! Before I embark on my dipping adventure, I need all the help I can get!

Thanks for the compliments. The pictures don't do them justice as it shows every imperfection, like that mold line which also drives me nuts Mold lines will pop out if you use the dip method. Under normal lighting you can't see the mistakes and the blending looks better. At arms length they look flawless. This technique is so easy to do that I have been painting like a madman.

I will do a step by step in a couple of weeks as I will be away. I know people say a wood stain would do the same, but the AP stain flows so much smoother. I don't recommend actually dipping the model in the stain, brush it on. The can from AP is good for 20 armies if brushed on. I have done about a 100 figs and used about 1.5 cm of the stain in the tin. It says on the AP website to wait a minute before removing any pools of stain, but I would recommend doing it after 10 sec. After 1 minute the stain has started to set and when you remove the pool you get streaks from the brush.

The ghouls were done as follows:
Primed white
Rotting flesh - skin
Skull white - bones and teeth
Adeptus Grey (the darker foundation grey) - fur
Desert yellow - straps/rope

Zombie
Primed Leather Brown from AP
Kept boots the prime color
Space Wolf Grey - skin
Dark Flesh - pants
Enchanted Blue -shirt
Desert Yellow - Belt

One more thing. Wait overnight before hitting it with a matte spray. Make sure it is completetly dry or else your matte spray might get cloudy. The matte spray is the key to the blending. I use the AP matte, but I am sure any matte spray would work.

My first fig after dipping looked all shiny and bleh, but once I hit it with the matte it was like "wow".

Good luck, and here is a pic of the whole gang.

VERY GOOD LOOKING Living Impaired War Band! I LOVE the Vampire & the Dreg Babe. The Spell Slingers are a FINE example of JUST how versatile the Wizard boxed set is... a treasure trove of pieces & possibilities. VERY WELL DONE!

One more question... sorry to be a pest...

What I'm afraid of brushing the tint is that I may 'remove' too much from the pools. Was that a problem for you? Did you had to 'learn' by experience (like when one used ink/wash on models) or was it really that easy?

Thanks for your help... and post BIGGER pictures! I wanna see you great work!

Less is more in my opinion, but try it out. I don't leave any pools if I can help it. It works just fine, trust me it is easier than you realize.

Thanks for the info... I will be ordering some Strong Tone. I will keep you posted... maybe I will be doing the Idiot's Guide to Dipping Models! Again... THANKS!

Part 1

Here are step by step instructions on how I painted my ghould using the dip method. These 4 ghouls took less than 20 minutes to paint, then after dipping I let them dry overnight before hitting with a matte spray. In fact it would have been quicker per model if I did a larger batch as I had to wait for the paint to dry.

Here are the ghouls and zombies after being assembled. I put the gravel/flock mix on before priming. I will do the zombie tutorial later as I used a brown primer on them.


Here are the ghouls after being primed along with the paints used. Notice my ultra fine sharpie pen. Works gret for eyeballs and any freehand work.


Ghouls being basecoated with Rotting Flesh and the bases painted with a watered down generic black paint. I think AP has a Rotting Flesh primer if you want to skip painting it on.


Hair was painted with the dark grey foundation paint adeptus grey (i think)


Bones, teeth and eyeballs were painted skull white. Eyes dotted using Sharpie Pen.


Straps painted Desert Yellow (which I really like when using the stain)


Chain painted grey, then Boltgun Metal

Part 2

Then AP Strong Tone was brushed onto the ghouls. I use a thin coat, as anymore just pools up.


A dipped ghoul next to one I finshed previously


Ghouls were then based and hit with a Matte Spray. Photos were taken outdoors in natural light which shows all flaws.


The whole warband

My painting philosophy is whatever works best for you IS the right technique; AND your methods DO produce some EXCEPTIONALLY WELL DONE pieces. SO...keep it up...whatever it is.

Thank you. I still think the normal way of painting gives much better results. This is just an alternative to those who want to play with painted figs but don't have the time or the patience to paint the regular way.

LOL! I'm just writing a dipping tutorial too! Like your models... larger pictures would be nice... so we could appreciate your work!

Now that I have tried it... I like the technique, but works on certain items/models best, and other do not. Will comment when my tutorial is up. Anyway GREAT undead man!

EDIT: I finished my writings on dipping. Please read the article at the Death Squads Forum... register and comment. The article has LOTS of high-res pictures... although I like the ones here better (love to see your workbench!!!), the ones there show the effects of the dip.