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I used their product and lived it at first. Have a dark black finish to everything. But it turned to a brownish tint halfway through. Does anyone have better/cheaper alternatives they gave used? Looking for a darker finish.


Thanks

How do you use the quick shade? I haven't tried it yet? Do you dip the whole mini in it? or do you paint it on?

If you're not against just painting it on, Secret Weapon has some pretty cool washes. I've used a couple in conjunction with an airbrush and have gotten great results. I'll try to dig up some pics for you to see.

EDIT:

Before wash:


After wash:



Hmmm now that I think about it... it doesn't look so dark does it?

If you're willing to paint it on - and control of the brush can help push the ink away from smooth areas, one of the bigger causes for deliberate staining, army painter does a large variety of shades, not just soft and strong tone, which have the brown tint. If you're looming for black, dark tone is what you want. There are also green, red, blue, and purple tones that have some great effect.

I recommend Minwax polyshades and brush dipping. My brush dipping tutorial has all the minwax/polyshades equivalents and step-by-step for the whole process. Minwax is what folks used for dipping before there was army painter. See the link in my sig.

 Eilif wrote:
I recommend Minwax polyshades and brush dipping. My brush dipping tutorial has all the minwax/polyshades equivalents and step-by-step for the whole process. Minwax is what folks used for dipping before there was army painter. See the link in my sig.

This is basically what I use and am pretty happy with it.

I'm not a fan of dipping at all, unless your goal is just to paint as many models as possible in as little time as possible. If nothing else, applying the same shade to the whole model is rarely optimal.

My preference is to either paint on washes (for control and to choose the right shade for the right area of the model), or really, to paint it just into the crevices.

 Talys wrote:
... unless your goal is just to paint as many models as possible in as little time as possible.

I think that's exactly the point of dipping (or brush-dipping as I do). Dipping is the way to get tabletop-quality results in much less time.

 Eilif wrote:

 Talys wrote:
... unless your goal is just to paint as many models as possible in as little time as possible.

I think that's exactly the point of dipping (or brush-dipping as I do). Dipping is the way to get tabletop-quality results in much less time.

You're right. But I think the amount of time you save by dipping versus just brushing it on is tiny. If you're just washing 1 color, it takes a few seconds to do with a brush, and you don't over-saturate everything. Yeah, you can dunk a model in a second, but really... who is THAT pressed for time?

If you use the full set as some work better with different colours. Paint it on, does not take long with abit of practice you can achieve very nice results quite easily.

Blue makes cold steel colder, red can enhance gold, soft also works nicely on metals at times, right one at right time is very effective

Two suggestions:

- Vallejo make tub-sized versions of their 'Lavado" wash which can be used to dip miniatures or brush on. It's a huge saving compared to using GW washes and has the same result.



- Make your own with oil paints. I started doing this last year with my renegade army and its really speeded up painting - not only can you use oil paint and white spirit as a all-over wash, you can do the highlighting in one sweep by waiting til dry, then removing the excess from the raised areas with a cotton bud. There are plenty of Oil Wash tutorials online, but I like this one - http://youtu.be/_fdN_2YuSN4


.

 Green is Best! wrote:
Have a dark black finish to everything. But it turned to a brownish tint halfway through.

Halfway through... meaning it dried lighter (more brown) than anticipated or earlier models were black and later models were brown? If the latter, the can may just need a good stir.

In any case, I'll second the recommendation for Minwax Polyshades. I have a can of Tudor Satin I picked up to try and the test model came out quite well (at least, considering that it was a "basecoat, dip, matte down, done" job). Wouldn't recommend the same color for you, as it's definitely a brown, although quite dark. I believe they do have a black version, as well.

Yep. According to their website they have a "Classic Black" color.

 Talys wrote:

 Eilif wrote:

 Talys wrote:
... unless your goal is just to paint as many models as possible in as little time as possible.

I think that's exactly the point of dipping (or brush-dipping as I do). Dipping is the way to get tabletop-quality results in much less time.

You're right. But I think the amount of time you save by dipping versus just brushing it on is tiny. If you're just washing 1 color, it takes a few seconds to do with a brush, and you don't over-saturate everything. Yeah, you can dunk a model in a second, but really... who is THAT pressed for time?

This +1000. Dipping is a mess, it takes very little extra time to brush on and reduces the per model cleanup time to zero. I've seen guys dipping models and then spin drying them with a cordless drill to avoid the gloppiness problem. That is a whole lot of extra headache to avoid just putting the stuff where you want it in the first place ;->

Just to clarify with folks comparing dip to other kind (oil, etc) washes. Oil washes (or magic dip with future) are indeed faster, but they don't give quite the same "shade" effect as you get with a polyurethane based product like Quickshade or Polyshades. The thick viscosity of the Poly is what gives it the faux-shade and the faux-highlight effects (as it settles away from the edges) that set it apart from other kinds of washes. Not to say these are as nice as a painted on shade or highlight but it's this ability to give many effects (or "nearly" effects) that makes it a good one-step product for fast tabletop painting.

Ghaz wrote:Yep. According to their website they have a "Classic Black" color.

Watch out for Classic Black. It is nearly opaque and NOT suitable for dipping as-is. It might be ok with some thinning, but if you want a black colored dip, you're best off going with Tudor. There is some debate over whether it is a black or a very very dark black-brown, but it's the logical replacement for "dark tone".

Antique Walnut is the shade that's closest to strong tone and Pecan is close to soft tone, though I rarely use light dips like that anymore

 Talys wrote:

 Eilif wrote:

 Talys wrote:
... unless your goal is just to paint as many models as possible in as little time as possible.

I think that's exactly the point of dipping (or brush-dipping as I do). Dipping is the way to get tabletop-quality results in much less time.

You're right. But I think the amount of time you save by dipping versus just brushing it on is tiny. If you're just washing 1 color, it takes a few seconds to do with a brush, and you don't over-saturate everything. Yeah, you can dunk a model in a second, but really... who is THAT pressed for time?

Even if say the amount of time you save per model is tiny (I wouldn't know, I haven't tried dipping.... yet), I would imagine it would become huge if you're doing, like, 50-100+ models.

I'm seriously considering dipping when I make my undead KoW army. I think I spend too much time on every single model and it would take me one million years to finish an army with 150+ models. So dipping it is.

I personally think it's worth it to brush dip, but it's the only way I've ever done it. There are folks who do the emerse and shake method and are perfectly happy with it and get good results. However, there's additional setup and cleanup time, and having to be outdoors. Thus, overall it doesn't seem like there will really be much saved time compared to just using a brush to apply the dip at one's desk.

Either way, the key to success is going to be checking the models after the dip is applied and removing excess dip before it dries in pools. I do it with an old brush and a piece of paper to daub it off on, but some folks use paper towel. Brush or emersion, the dip is a massively time-saving technique.

 heartserenade wrote:

Even if say the amount of time you save per model is tiny (I wouldn't know, I haven't tried dipping.... yet), I would imagine it would become huge if you're doing, like, 50-100+ models.

I'm seriously considering dipping when I make my undead KoW army. I think I spend too much time on every single model and it would take me one million years to finish an army with 150+ models. So dipping it is.

Really, it's just whatever makes you happy during the process and when you're done. Just try both, and compare the results and the amount of time. I mean, if you have 150 models to do, it's not like you're going to finish them all in one sitting

Also, I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, but an airbrush may assist you greatly in priming and basecoats, with that many models. With priming, it will also probably be cheaper.

1:1 FLO AID & SOFT BODY BLACK WASH