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Do you think the army painter method (basecoat, quickshade, that's it) produces a minimum table top quality standard?

What is "tabletop quality"? Good enough to put on the table? In that case, some people consider black primer tabletop quality.

It really comes down to what you're happy with vs the time and effort you want to invest. Is the AP method better than playing with unpainted minis? Sure. Could the paintjob be better? Yes.

If painting is a part of the hobby you enjoy or want to get into, I think you're probably better off aiming a bit higher.

If you want to take it a step further, the single most effective thing to add would probably be a drybrush highlight.

Definitely.

Minimum tabletop was traditionally defined as 4 colors, but now it's expanded and some folks consider it to be base colors, plus a shade or wash.

As long as you base the minis, quickshade over base colors gives you the following effects:


-Gives a progressive shading effect to the model
-Darkens the recesses of the model like a wash or ink
-Creates a pseudo-highlight as it settles away from the edges of the miniature leaving it lighter than the rest of the model.
-Provides an extremely durable protective coating on the figure.

All that said, I would recommend skipping quickshade and going to Minwax Polyshades. Virtually the same thing, it's what folks used to dip before "quickshade" hit the market and it's about 1/4 the cost. I've got a whole tutorial about it (pictures start down a bit) here:
http://chicagoskirmish.blogspot.com/2012/01/with-liberty-and-brush-dipping-for-all.html

Still, the proof is in the pudding as they say. These models of mine are all brush-dipped over simple block colors, with a single layer drubrushed highlight (mostly just fur or weaopn) on some of them. Whether or not they are "Tabletop Quality" is -in the end- up to you.







As an aside, I'm an admitted fanboy for the dip. I brush-dip almost everything now, and it learning the process (it does have a skill set). has brought painting for me from something that feltd like a chore and gave results I wasn't happy with to now being something that I can do relatively quickly and consistently achieve results that please me.

I think its a great TOOL. and a relatively thin polyurethane coat does help protect the model.

But you still need to do plenty of work to make it table top quality at least.

There is still base coat colors that if you do sloppily will look sloppy, Basing and stuff as well. and Mold lines will pop out crazy if you do it wrong still.

After that there is still finishing as above.

Waethion wrote:
What is "tabletop quality"? Good enough to put on the table? In that case, some people consider black primer tabletop quality.

It really comes down to what you're happy with vs the time and effort you want to invest. Is the AP method better than playing with unpainted minis? Sure. Could the paintjob be better? Yes.

If painting is a part of the hobby you enjoy or want to get into, I think you're probably better off aiming a bit higher.

If you want to take it a step further, the single most effective thing to add would probably be a drybrush highlight.

I like painting, but since I am a beginner, I thought it would be better to go with a simpler method.

If you love painting, don't do a cheap option, invest into each model and learn from every model you have done in the past. That is the only way to become better and if you don't push you won't become better either.

It can work but an experienced painter will spot what you did with just a primer and shade from a mile off. They will be happy there is paint at least though.

Bunkerbob, I don't think anyone's talking about just a "primer and a shade". As Desubot says, you've still got to clean the fig, apply neat base colors, scenic basing etc. and -like any technique- dipping is a skill that improves with time.

Beyond the talk about cheap, invest, learn, better/worse, etc it's worthwhile to really consider how much time you want to put in and how much painting you have to do, and how much of a priority having painted models is to you.

I hear alot of people talk about investing time, and doing it right (whatever the heck that means), and yet when I go to the FLGS, 60% or more of the 40k and WM minis are bare.

If you really like painting and enjoy the time you spend on it and will enjoy putting that time and effort into every mini, then by all means do so. However, if you've got a good amount of minis and would like to get them painted up sooner rather than later, then a fast-painting method might be up your alley.

I've never received negative comments about my dipped minis and I get alot of positive feedback for only fielding painted armies/warbands/etc. However, it is also the case that I have limited time for hobby, but quite a few different painting and terrain projects for the multiple over the course of a year. Even if I wanted to, spending alot of time painting each mini just isn't going to work for me.

Now, this last is very much my opinion and others may feel differently, but a fully painted dipped army looks alot better than a half-and-half grey horde and well-painted army. I take a bit of pride in always being the guy with the fully painted army.