"Army Painter" alternative coming from Coat d'arms

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**Ghaz**

From The Miniatures Page:

Mike Lewis of Black Hat Miniatures writes:

We have released a new range of shading products called Super Shader

These are acrylic-based stains which enable you to block paint your figures, and then shade them quickly and easily simply by painting Super Shader over the whole figure, producing highlighting and shading. They are designed to enable you to paint a whole army very quickly.

The three tones are:

420 Super Shader - Light Brown
421 Super Shader - Dark Brown
422 Super Shader - Black

They come in 60ml pots for £4.00 a pot.

Unlike existing solvent-based "dip" products, Super Shader is an acrylic stain and you can clean your brushes with water.

We will be producing example tutorials on using these and our new Super Washes, but in the meantime, there are a few sample photos of figures painted with Super Shader here.

These will be available at Warfare this weekend.

US customers will be able to get these and the Super Washes (an alternative to GW's new washes) from Scale Creep Miniatures, a reputable online retailer.

**LordRavurion**

mm, not sold on them. Might be better to have some before and after shots..

as it is I know what my GW-washes do, but not what these super shaders do...

**Salad_Fingers**

I think for that price i might give them a try just to see what they are like

**Korthu**

"Supershader" sounds like a method we use called 'Goop'. Goop is a wood sealer we add a very small amount of black paint to and apply to a miniature after all the base colors have been added. What they called block painting. I do add some highlights to the miniature but no shading. The goop does all the shading and a good job at blending for me. If these supershaders work that will save me a lot of work by not having to worry about getting the mix just right. And I like the idea of multiple colors. I can't wait to try them. -K

**Commisar00**

Any Idea on the availability? Also I have been intrigued by the Army Painter's line of dips but live in an apartment complex and don't have anywhere to fling my dip so being able to brush on this super shade stuff will be a plus. First, we need pictures of before and after.

**r_h_knight**

I think I'll stick to Minwax Polyshade for the Dip/Shade effect. $8 CDN for 236ml from my local Hardware store. You can dip and shake or brush it on... I do the latter.

If you want to see the results then check this link: The Dip

**Polonius**

I'm with Commisar00 in that I live in an apartment, and I cant' really set up the dip. A brush on shader would be valuable to me, but without some before after pictures and/or local availability I'll just stick with what I have.

**insaniak**

Between these and the matte washes they announced a while back (and simply the convenience of having all of my old colours back) I'm getting more and more tempted to give Coat D'arms a try.

I'm still using some of the original Coat D'arms GW paints... some of my pots are more than 10 years old now, and still fine...

**sonofruss**

Mine too I love flesh wash.
as to shaking off dip www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Dipping_Tyranids
haven't tried it but it might help you apartment dwellers

**Agamemnon2**

The pictures shown look weak, but there's nothing to compare to. Being acrylic-based would be a boon, definitely

**GMMStudios**

Really all it is, is repackaged wood varnish and spray paint primer. Not to knock it though, if you want quick painting you might try it.

Still, it would be faster and probably cheaper to just go to Wal Mart and get a can of polyshades and some spray paint.

If it werent for GW washes I would recommend the above for those who cant paint, dont have much money and want it done yesterday.

**Agamemnon2**

I didn't know you could get acrylic wood stain. I've always used the smelly brain-melting stuff and washed brushes afterward with something even worse.

**JohnHwangDD**

Wow, CDA cut a deal with minwax to sell Walnut and Tudor by the half-ounce? Awesome!

**Mattlov**

Might be good. Anything to speed up Gaunt painting...

**Ghaz**

Army Painter and Minwax are solvent-based products. Super Shader is a water-based product. Super Shader is not a wood stain. It is a completely different product.

**JohnHwangDD**

@Ghaz - there's acrylic wood stain, too.

**Kilkrazy**

An acrylic semi-transparent coat is presumably thinned acrylic varnish with a bit of pigment added.

I saw some product intended for weathering AFV models. I don't remember the name. It looked like a very thin ink or stain and came in pale, medium and dark grades. That might be worth investigating.

**mikhaila**

I've been using the Army Painter stuff for a couple of months now. While the 'dip' looks a lot like a can of minwax, the results are much better. I also don't have to do the 'dip and flick' method. It just paints on very nicely. I've used about 3/4" off the top of the can, to do over 100 models. It goes a lot further when you aren't throwing away a ton of it.

**Bodichi**

Would you be so kind as to provide pictures of the before and after of using the army painter? Also could you send out a link with prices and ordering info forthe US?

**Ghaz**

JohnHwangDD wrote:@Ghaz - there's acrylic wood stain, too.

And Super Shader is not a wood stain at all. Check your facts before you say it's just repackaged Minwax.

**Savnock**

They have also released colored spray primers that look like they do the old GW spray colors (minus DA green, goddarnit) but maybe with better coverage. As long as they're not grainy, looks like a timesaver.

**mikhaila**

Bodichi wrote:Would you be so kind as to provide pictures of the before and after of using the army painter? Also could you send out a link with prices and ordering info forthe US?

http://www.thearmypainter.com/gallery.php

This is a gallery at the armypainter website. If you're in the Philadelphia area, you can pick it up at my stores, Showcase Comics. Other than that, try the Warstore. I know Neal stocks it, and you can try and convince your local store to get it in. ACD may be carrying it in the near future, and I get mine from E-Figures distribution.