Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hey folks. Looking for some opinions. I've been experimenting with dipping, and my first result is almost finished. There were a couple of learning points for me to improve upon (any bits of white showing through, AREN'T masked like they are with a wash, the dip pigment can make different shades a bit samey, such as the bone and light leather straps). I'm wondering if folks think its an acceptable standard overall, or a bit too plain? I love spending hours painting a mini, but I also want to get my greenskin army done as quickly as possible, and there are a lot...

Definitely an acceptable standard. The whole point of dipping is to get models ready for the tabletop with minimal time and effort, while having them look reasonably good. There are only so many different surfaces/colors on a model like this, so I wouldn't worry too much about it looking plain - as long as each one is distinct from those adjacent to it and has a bit of depth (as these do - especially the skin, which is the dominant feature), you're doing just fine.

As for the "same-iness" of the bone and light leather, I honestly don't think it'll be a sticking point for the average viewer. If you really want them to be distinct, then don't base them in the same color! Whether moved to the darker leather brown or left as it is, I think it will look fine. Your scheme is simple and the model doesn't demand anything more - I wouldn't worry about it, overmuch.

Really, I think you're right on the mark for a quick but not too dirty army. A single model may feel a little boring to you, especially if you usually paint at a higher standard, but I think you'll be happier with the look after you rank a few of them up.

Thanks man, I was pretty surprised at how effective the dip is. The leather and bone looked reasonably different to my eyes as a base coat, but because the same pigment shaded both, it made them a bit too similar. I'll use a slightly darker brown for the next one. I think you are right about the ranking up thing. Seeing a bunch of minis all ranked up always gives me a giddy glow.

Think I'll blitz up the rest of the unit, and get a bunch of night goblins done and see how I'm feeling.

Looks to me like you've nailed the simple RnF dip

Paint your characters to a higher standard so they can stick out more, if you like, but after you tidy up the base that guy is ready for some wargaming.

When I tryed dipping I didnt do any highlighting, just slapped the paint on, not leaving mistakes, then went over it with a brown red wood stain, as I brushed it on heavy in areas I wipped it away in areas I didnt want over done, like choppas and what nots, Then I hit it with Krylon Clear Flat Varnish.
Ill post a pick if you'd like to see a before and after.

It cut down my time by 35min per group of 5 from start to finish.

Sounds good. I'd be grateful to see the outcome!

Hi, i'm consedering in investing in some quicktone for space marines, this ork looks fantastic, and is just the level of added definition i was hoping to see.

Any other exaples of this technique would be great! thanks!

I'm painting up another 3 to go in the dunk tank over the next couple of days. I'll post up pics once they are done for you.

So do you actually physically "dip" these miniatures, or do you brush the dip on? I think the example you posted looks great.

I dipped it right in there. When I took it back out, I let the excess drip back into the tin before giving it a good hard flick. Hardly any wastage to be honest.
Then I just waited for it to pool, and used an old brush to soak up any dip that was too much. It was a pretty damned efficient workflow, so I'm going to use it for a 3000k greenskins force.

I use the drill method, where you glue the underside of the model's base to a nail or something, and use a drill to spin it around. Works alright, up to ogre-sized models, anything bigger I have to brush it on.

An old brush eh? I take a paper towel or napkins of some kind and tear them into little squares which I roll up tightly, so its got a point on either end. I use minwax polyshades which gets really hard so it would kill a brush, even with mineral spirits it seems. The army painter stuff is probably a lot more user friendly (but not as rock-solid protective ).

I dunno, after 24 hours, it was a rock solid shell. Pretty confident it'll take plenty abuse!

I've been pretty impressed with the army painter stuff to be honest. So much so that I'm toying with the idea of getting some dark tone to use with my eldar and dust axis models.

I too use the minwax polyshades on my nids, and it works great.

One note: while I use old brushes to remove excess (or to paint it on bigger models that don't fit in the can) they clean easy with paint thinner.

keep it up!

I can't believe how shiny the dip makes them, but all sorted with matt varnish. I agree orks are a pain to get done but fun at the same time.

For my nids, I actually wanted and like the "shiny" look - combined with my color scheme and basing, makes them look very "covered in alien slime" like they just hatched out of some icky alien protoplasm (which, ironically, they did!).

While I don't think it would work for my tau, I think dipping has its uses, and depending up the shade, thickness, undercoat and final treatment (matte spray or not) can give a lot of cool affects.

thanks for sharing, and get us some more pics when done!

Some wanted to see further pics of my adventures in dipping, so I've put up the next three, with a slightly tweaked palette, to try and make the scheme work better with the dip pigment. I'm fairly happy with the end result,, conidering the speed at which it can be achieved, and can see me being able to bang out 10 night goblins an evening when I get onto them. The rest of the savage orcs are almost ready for the dunk tank too, so I should have a complete squad soon enough.


There are a few flaws here and there - mostly where the flesh 'wet drybrush' got onto other tthings, and I never noticed before they went for their swim. But for rank and file, I think I'm happy enough with the standard achieved, and will be dipping about 2500 points of Orcs and Gobbos in the near future. In particular, I'm liking the way the bones turn out.

Orc 2


Orc 3


Orc 4


Ranking up....

If you want to brush on polyshades, it's best to use cheapo disposable foam brushes from the hardware store or similar.

I'm dipping my tau right now. I just posted some older pictures in the streetdar thread. I still don't have enough done to make a thread just for them yet, though.

I'm just dunking them right in. Seems to be working, and there is surprisingly little wastage - probably less than drybrushing the skin wastes.

 Eggs wrote:
I'm just dunking them right in. Seems to be working, and there is surprisingly little wastage - probably less than drybrushing the skin wastes.

Any time I can get away with dunking, I do so. I like to wick away excess with the edge of a shop towel. If you are fast enough, you can very easily control the amount that stays on each part of the model.

The problem comes in when you are doing models larger than the can. I'm going to have to either brush or disassemble my riptide for instance.

Yeah, I know what you mean. Even the standard bearer for this squad is too tall a model, but at least I can dunk both ends in. Not sure how I'll tackle my wyvern etc.

I was thinking I might get a second can and just pour the dip back and forth over the different parts of the model. With a big funnel in the middle, I could minimize waste effectively.

That's a pretty good idea actually.You could just stand a model in the funnel and drench it.

 Eggs wrote:
That's a pretty good idea actually.You could just stand a model in the funnel and drench it.

Exactly.

Use one of those giant automotive funnels. Start the model upside down, get the hard to reach places first, then flip it right side up and finish it. You'll be wicking away a LOT of excess, but that's fine.

I recently found this thread about washes -- and no basecoat -- as a speed-painting technique. No repainting over stray basecoat paint! (:

http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?209588-More-fun-with-washes

Interesting. Might have to give that a go.

Another few out the dunk tank. If I can get the standard bearer done tonight, then I should hopefully have a based group pic tomorrow. Got some remedial work to do on the stabba too.

So, my first attempts at dipping have come to a close, and I'm mostly pleased with the end results. I was hoping to have them based by now, but I had my first accident last night. I accidentally launched my standard bearer across the garden, where he broke into three bits in a flower bed. :/

I managed to get most of the soil and fluff off it, but it will need a touch up here and there. Other than that though, I'm amazed - I've painted up ten minis to a tabletop standard, in a week. That's unheard of for me. I'm now going to try and refine the process using dark tone and Zenithal undercoating with my Eldar Guardians.

Anyway, apologies they aren't based yet, but this is them more or less done. C&C is very much welcome.