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Hi dakka,
I've been looking for a cheap alternative to Army Painter Quickshade, but without much success. I've seen good results (Or at least I thought they were good) from using minwax, but is this a reliable alternative? I'm not keen on paying $23 for a small can of quickshade. (If it helps, I want to dip a large amount of skaven clanrats and such.)
I'm referring to this: http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Dipping_Tyranids
What are your thoughts?

You could use washes, gets you pretty much the same. -or- what I do, using slightly thinned out east indian ink the colour is naturally kinda brown-ish, between badab black and devlan mud... if you fill a mug with ink + water, you can use it as a dip. I havn't tried this yet myself, but it makes sense to me, and I will try it myself some time soon. Maybe if you feel a bit experimental and have some spare models lying around?

I was under the impression that most wood stainers should suffice

Albeit a little thick if you actually dip though, it'd probably be better to apply via brush

Maybe there's a way to thin it out a bit? I'm not sure what those substances are based on, seeing as I havn't lived on a wooden floor for maybe 10 years. XD

I am under the impression that would stainers would work. It's just that I'm not sure if the results are really that good.
@Amphsix: Aren't washes expensive? I've got 100+ rats to paint.

You can thin out minwax with some odorless mineral spirits. Probably only takes about one cap full of the stuff.

Washes are expensive yes, but indian ink is certainly not... I use it as an alternative wash for my models and it works as well as any "real" wash. One container costs only a couple of dollars and since you have to thin it out, you get a lot more out of it. Not sure how well it works for dipping, but for a general wash it's definitely won me over.

Minwax is what the 'cool kids' were using before Army Painter came along. You typically get about 4x the product for about half the price.

I don't dip often, but the can I picked up a while back is still going strong. Not at home right now, but I'm pretty sure the color I use is walnut, it's a medium brown color, but it comes in darker and lighter flavors as well.

I'll have to check out what my nearest store has then. Does it need a dullcoat sort of thing to reduce glossiness?

I use water-soluble varnish from Wilkinsons (a store that sells lots of different things).
A small pot (more than enough to start with) costs about £4.
Here's an example of how it turned out:

I need better pictures though

Why would you not be keen on getting the quickshade? It'll most likely cost you more to experiment then to just go with the tried and tested goods.

I've doing the dipping for my own skaven using the mid-tone of quickshade: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/30/388105.page#3278335

It's a small pot, but I aply it by brush. So far, well over 100 models dipped and a few large models done, and I still have well over 3/4 of the can leftover. I can see value in cheaping out on some bits, like hobby tools... but at $23 for a can, you're going to be looking a looooong time to squeeze a few pennies out of your wallet, mainly because you really don't need guargantuan amounts of this stuff.

It says 200 miniatures on the pot, but in reality, I reckon you can get more then double that amount if you just aply it by hand instead of swinging the model around like a madman after your dunked it in the pot.

just my 2c

Minwax® Polyshades® One-Step Stain & Finish.

http://www.minwax.com/wood-products/onestep-stain-finishes/minwax-polyshades

susejo239 wrote:I'll have to check out what my nearest store has then. Does it need a dullcoat sort of thing to reduce glossiness?

Yes, and the Vallejo Matte Varnish is less aggressive to quickshade than the army painter one.

Elmir wrote:Why would you not be keen on getting the quickshade? It'll most likely cost you more to experiment then to just go with the tried and tested goods.

That's what I was wondering, too. Guess after spending 1000 $ on the models, he wants to save 3 $ on paint.

you mean the minwax, which people have been using for military figures for well over a decade isn't 'tried and tested'?

Here's an article from 1997 about dipping with minwax http://www-personal.umich.edu/~beattie/dip.html and in the article, the writer mentions that even then it wasn't a new technique, mentioning older wargamers have distinct patterns of minwax on their garage floors from years of dipping.

I'm not saying that Army Painter is bad at all, but that you can get the 'original recipe' of the product for a lot cheaper and still get great results.

Im my experience, the Quickshade seems to work a little better. Better enough to justify the dollar amount. I usually thin it and brush it on and it lasts forever. It doesnt really change the color of my paint and I like the end result. I have only used the mid tone.

Minwax has a water-based formula now.

http://www.bing.com/shopping/search?q=minwax+water-based+stan&FORM=HURE

I'm with Norsehawk here. I tried a Minwax and it worked well.

Kroothawk wrote:

susejo239 wrote:I'll have to check out what my nearest store has then. Does it need a dullcoat sort of thing to reduce glossiness?

Yes, and the Vallejo Matte Varnish is less aggressive to quickshade than the army painter one.

Elmir wrote:Why would you not be keen on getting the quickshade? It'll most likely cost you more to experiment then to just go with the tried and tested goods.

That's what I was wondering, too. Guess after spending 1000 $ on the models, he wants to save 3 $ on paint.

Lol @ Kroot...

Hey hey, I have a tight budget. I'm saving more like $15.

Minwax is great and comes in more varieties than quickshade anyway. Plus you can resupply at any hardware store at 10 at night on a tuesday.

Minwax walnut is quickshade medium, thin is with the appropriate thinner and you can get it at 8 times the volume for less then half the price.

Jack

What would you substitute for dark quick shade?
I use it to do my Orcs, lovin the results.

Coat d´Arms Super Shader. Army Painter has some stuff in it you do not want to ahve on your brush or your lungs.

I use both Army Painter and Minwax. Army Painter is better but the minwax (I use a antique walnut color) gets the job done. If I am gonna use a dip it is to get figs painted to a gaming standard quickly and I feel the minwax does this.

I would say just have some paper towels ready when you dip so you can dab off excess varnish. Especially look out for large areas such as plate armor or shields.

@Warmastersolon: I used a Minwax Wood Stain, Regular Walnut color. The results look just as good as quickshade.

Edit: @Carl: I have a jury-rigged drill-driver bit that made to clip models to, dip in the Minwax, and then spin in a cardboard box. It works really well without accidentally wiping too much off of the model.

Sorry I'm a bit late to the party. Here's your Minwax Polyshades to Armypainter Quickshade comparison chart.

Pecan = Soft Tone
Antique Walnut = Strong Tone
Tudor = Dark Tone

I've used all three shades with good results using the brush-on, dab off method.

I've read elsewhere that the water-based version is not as effective so I stick to the traditional variety. Also, I hightly recommend Tudor for greens and other colors where you dont want any brown tint (tudor has black pigment) However it is sometimes harder to come by. Ace Hardware always seems to have it, and your smaller hardware stores can usually order it if they don't have it in stock.

Like Quickshade even the satin polyshades dries shiny so you will need a matte or flat finish. This can be Dulcote, Generic matte spray (use very light coats) or brush on matte varnish.

I'm working on a massive horde of orks and have been experimenting with minwax polyshades. I tried the Atique Walnut first and it was way too brown for my liking. The tudor is great though. Nice black color that shades all of the recesses on the models very well.

I put the model on the bottom of a flying base with some sticky tack. The stem of the flying base goes into a power drill. I then dunk the model and spin the excess dip off in a bucket. Works great!

I use Quick shade itself. So far I have used it on over 200 28mm figures and 8 vehicles and still have over 3/4 of a tin left. The trick is to paint it on, not actually dip them...

Mick

Mick A wrote:I use Quick shade itself. So far I have used it on over 200 28mm figures and 8 vehicles and still have over 3/4 of a tin left. The trick is to paint it on, not actually dip them...

Mick

Agreed on that front. I'm certainly a 'painter' rather than a dipper. I did over 50 guardsmen with minwax and couldn't even see a dent in the amount of product left in the can. Plus with painting it on and dabbing off the excess, you really get a ton of control over the result. I kind of use it like a full body devlan mud wash.