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Hello Dakka!

I was just checking out The Army Painter primers for the first time and noticed their simple yet effective (looking) guide to painting models in a very short time
This one: http://admin.thearmypainter.com/files/downloads/pdf/space_marine_guide.pdf

I watched the tutorials and all looks well, but i was just wondering if anyone had any experience with these techiques and products. I would love a fast and effective way to knock out some marines, specifecally BLOOD ANGELS and ULTRAMARINES, and maybe some ELDAR. Any advice would be great, as would any tips to using these methods if you do think they are effective. I know army painter products are fairly popular among Dakka users so it would be great to know what you guys have to say.

Thanks!

 stargasm wrote:
Hello Dakka!

I was just checking out The Army Painter primers for the first time and noticed their simple yet effective (looking) guide to painting models in a very short time
This one: http://admin.thearmypainter.com/files/downloads/pdf/space_marine_guide.pdf

I watched the tutorials and all looks well, but i was just wondering if anyone had any experience with these techiques and products. I would love a fast and effective way to knock out some marines, specifecally BLOOD ANGELS and ULTRAMARINES, and maybe some ELDAR. Any advice would be great, as would any tips to using these methods if you do think they are effective. I know army painter products are fairly popular among Dakka users so it would be great to know what you guys have to say.

Thanks!

Their paints are fantastic. I use their color primer and a main highlight color to the army. I don't like the quick shades and I still use mostly GW paints to finish but thats mostly due to having so many of them.

Yes, dipping works. I did my entire TK army with Minwax water based walnut color wood stain.
Note this is the stain only, i don't use the kind with the varnish already mixed in.
You'll still have to basecoat your models first with their main colors, so it still takes some time to do. But done well it makes a minimum standard paintjob look like something that took forever.
First time you do it, use just a few figures before throwing in the whole lot. You will have to blot off some extra stain that may pool too much in some areas.
And stir the stain thouroghly. Do not shake it up.

Rather than dip, I suggest brushing it on and then cleaning the brush with mineral spirits. Also, make sure the lid for the quickshade or it will turn into jello.

All of the figures including the Deff Dread in my gallery have quick shade on them.

Thanks! Has anyone tried a combination of Army painter Primer and Army painter quick shade? i'm thinking of updating my ultrmarines, whom i feel need a darker look. I don't wanna spend forever repainting though, so a primer, dip, and some highlights would be great.

i have army painter strong tone. i dont mind it.

it makes a decent wash. I thin it out alot with mineral spirits. straight from the tin it's pretty goopy and nasty and it even fills in details so i would avoid using it straight.

cons it takes forever to dry, smells bad, extreme gloss. The shading it can do is fairly impressive tho.

Thanks, On the website it shows a bunch of marines painted by simply priming them (eg: ultramarines blue) Then dipping them in stong tone, shaking the excess off, leaving to dry, then adding a couple of highlights before applying some anti-shine varnish.

Would this actually work, or do you think it would just end up a real mess?

Would the same technique, but swap dipping in Army Painter Quicktone for slapping on some Nuln Oil work?

What i'm looking for a quick and simple way to get ultramarines to a good tabletop standard.

Thanks!

I use a brush to apply the dip. It take a bit longer than dip and shake, but when the setup and cleanup of the shake method is taken into account it's not much different.

I use "Minwax Polyshades" a product that is very similar to army painter and is what folks used before there was army painter. You can read my tutorial here:
http://chicagoskirmish.blogspot.com/2012/01/with-liberty-and-brush-dipping-for-all.html

You could use army painter and get the same results. I'm not sure what other smilar products you get in the UK, but what you're looking for is a stain-plus-polyurethane product.

You can use just stain, but it will function slightly differently than Armypainter Quickshade or Minwax Polyshades as it lacks Polyurethane which makes it settle differently on the model.

I have had usually bad experiences when using products outside GW but i'm glad to hear the dipping technique is reliable!

I take it that these products are alot different GW washes? I have found a local stockist of Army Painter stuff so i can try it out myself soon.

 stargasm wrote:
I have had usually bad experiences when using products outside GW but i'm glad to hear the dipping technique is reliable!

I take it that these products are alot different GW washes? I have found a local stockist of Army Painter stuff so i can try it out myself soon.

Very different from a wash. A GW wash is a water-based suspension.

AP Quickshade and Minwax Polyshades are a combination of oil-based stain and polyurethane.

They function similar to a wash, but also...
-their thicker viscosity causes them to settle differently on the surfaces, resulting in a "shading" effect
-The product settles away from edges resulting in a faux-highlight effect when the under-colors are bright enough.
-The Polyurethane is a very strong protectant

Also note that they end up satin or glossy after drying so you have to apply a matte varnish of some sort and since they are oil based, you have to cleanup with paint thinner (mineral spirits/turpentine).

Its really the multiple-effects-in-one that makes some people (like myself) really happy with dipping. It's not going to win you a GD, but it's a very effective way to quickly get an army to tabletop standard.

I like to spend more time on my characters, but when i have 50+ models who are almost identical it is nice to think i could power through the painting while still looking good on the table. As it stands i went for a quick method with no washes/ dips etc and they just look a bit messy.

thanks for the advice, i will be looking to pick some quickshade and blue primer soon.

I did my entire Tyranid army using spray paints and Quickshade, plus a few details by brush.

I used the paint on, paint off method for the Quickshade. In some cases I did a layer of Quickshade, let it dry, then did another layer to get heavier shading. I was using the lightest tone of shade.

I sprayed everything matte at the end.

I painted the army in effectively two long bank holiday weekends. There are four large Monstrous creatures, about 23 medium sized creatures and 66.6 Termagants.

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

Love the name of your hive fleet. Couln't really see much detail in the pics until that bad-ass trigon! surprised such simple techniques work on monsters so well!

Yes.

I have used many dipping products - form theirs to just plain old minwax.

I have also used their color primers, and they work decent as well.

Get a $4 can of minwax polyshades stain, and try it out.

Best of luck

I will look around local hobby shops for that kinda stuff. There is an Army Painter stockist but its fairly ecpensive, being in Nottingham its fair to say GW has the monopoly on miniature supplies, everywhere else is just model railways and scalextrick.

 Eilif wrote:
Also note that they end up satin or glossy after drying so you have to apply a matte varnish of some sort and since they are oil based, you have to cleanup with paint thinner (mineral spirits/turpentine).

These two things are important. And surprisingly, the Army Painter Varnish seems to react badly with Quickshade. A Varnish without solvents like Vallejo works though.

 stargasm wrote:
I like to spend more time on my characters, but when i have 50+ models who are almost identical it is nice to think i could power through the painting while still looking good on the table. As it stands i went for a quick method with no washes/ dips etc and they just look a bit messy.

thanks for the advice, i will be looking to pick some quickshade and blue primer soon.

50+ models is a lot in your mind? oh, to be a 40k player (just kiddin around)

But seriously... try playing WHFB as a skaven player.... you'll have 50+ identical models in one unit.... and try painting them.... :~\

 stargasm wrote:
Love the name of your hive fleet. Couln't really see much detail in the pics until that bad-ass trigon! surprised such simple techniques work on monsters so well!

You can do a lot more by really careful and detailed painting, but my objective was to get an army done and ready for the table with the least effort and time.

I use the "three feet rule", which is that I don't care about details that won't show up when you are standing three feet away from the table.

I don't use the stuff myself, but a friend of mine swears by it, and both his armies (dwarves and high elves) look great, you wouldn't think they were 'dipped'.
If it's any help he reckons the method that has given him the best results in a short time is to satin varnish the models, quickshade them, let it dry, then gloss varnish over the top.
Once that's dry apply a black oil wash (a bit of normal black oil paint mixed with white spirits or equivalent) to the models to deepen the shadows in the fine lines & creases, let that dry then satin varnish to finish.

 caledoneus wrote:

 stargasm wrote:
I like to spend more time on my characters, but when i have 50+ models who are almost identical it is nice to think i could power through the painting while still looking good on the table. As it stands i went for a quick method with no washes/ dips etc and they just look a bit messy.

thanks for the advice, i will be looking to pick some quickshade and blue primer soon.

50+ models is a lot in your mind? oh, to be a 40k player (just kiddin around)

But seriously... try playing WHFB as a skaven player.... you'll have 50+ identical models in one unit.... and try painting them.... :~\

I have dwarfs too but i they are gonna have to be as labour of love. I do feel for skaven players though.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Kilkrazy wrote:

 stargasm wrote:
Love the name of your hive fleet. Couln't really see much detail in the pics until that bad-ass trigon! surprised such simple techniques work on monsters so well!

You can do a lot more by really careful and detailed painting, but my objective was to get an army done and ready for the table with the least effort and time.

I use the "three feet rule", which is that I don't care about details that won't show up when you are standing three feet away from the table.

Thats pretty much what i go by with fantasy, especially rank and file models, tuched away among 50 other, identical models. It is a great looking horde!

 Kroothawk wrote:

 Eilif wrote:
Also note that they end up satin or glossy after drying so you have to apply a matte varnish of some sort and since they are oil based, you have to cleanup with paint thinner (mineral spirits/turpentine).

These two things are important. And surprisingly, the Army Painter Varnish seems to react badly with Quickshade. A Varnish without solvents like Vallejo works though.

The Army Painter Anti-shine? I pretty much use it exclusively after dipping using Quickshade, as I found it's the only spray varnish that works 100% of the time, never a failure. Remember, the AP Anti-Shine is less of a varnish and more of a matte spray, the Quickshade is already a varnish and so protects the model. Used perfectly on 200+ orcs and 200+ goblins plus various other models... 2 cans of quickshade and I think I'm on my 4th can of Anti-shine in the last year and a half.