If you want to "go the extra couple of kilometers" you can trim the mould line with a sharp hobby knife of file.

The dip/ink/shading will tend to settle in grooves in the model and moulding lines give you shading where you don't really want them.

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I have to ask: Is there any difference, paint and technique wise, between the hard plastic minis, and the soft plastic minis (like in Runebound)?

Not a stupid question at all. I've used this technique on both soft and firm minis (for example, the minis in Space Hulk which are stiff, and Descent minis, which are mushy). Seems to work equally well on both.

Black is much, much easier to paint than white as very small patches that happen to be missed, don't matter as much. You have to watch out though it isn't very good for light colours, but on stuff like Orcs and other dark stuff it will save you a lot of time and also look better, if you aren't that good or new. Good painters to my knowledge prefer white (generally), as the model can look better, but for some one of my level black was a much better option, I painted way to many miniatures with a white undecoat. If you are a beginner or want to paint an entire army I heavily recommend black as long as you are painting something reasonably dark.

I used to paint WWII for FoW and unless you do stuff from the desert it was almost always much better with a black undercoat.

I used one of the 'big name' hardware store brands of plastic primer for my Shadows Over Camelot figures. It worked well, and was significantly cheaper than hobby brands. Read the label, shake the can FOREVER, and err on the light side (that goes double for sealant at the end of your project).

The tips and guidelines everyone stated above are great. For brush painting (as I did), I would suggest the black (of course, this could be project dependent). Using white primer takes a lot longer, as you HAVE to get every little detail.

If you're a beginner and painting with brushes, you probably want black primer. It'll add 'shadows' in for you anyways and make the colors pop. =)

As stated above, this advice may not hold true for the method detailed by this geeklist...

I've used everything from the expensive Games Workshop primer to the cheapest available (99 cents at Wal-Mart) and found that the cheap stuff works just fine. The only thing is, only the black and white cheapo stuff works. If you want to prime in another color (a dark green for orks, for example) you will want to go with one of the better brands to get good results.

I didn't see anything as low as 99 cents, but found that the standard Krylon designed for plastics was about $6 at my local hardware store. It's basically the same price as Armoury primer or Board to Pieces. Even the sorts not specifically for plastic were all in the $5 range or so.

Hey that looks like my yard!

But be careful about it...

I was wondering when someone was going to point that out....

.......waiting the required 3 minutes before sipping on mine that's been freshly pulled. AAAHhhhhhhh....now that's a beer.

Guinness is a traditionally called a stout... I do prefer mine as cold as possible when outside Ireland...

Could we get back to the painting, please?

I assign a washcloth to permanent duty. I can wet the washcloth, set it to the side and wipe brushes all day long on it.

Then when I clean up the washcloth can also be used to wipe cups, paints, etc.

Rinse and saved for next use.

Find it much more convenient in the long run.

So I have a quick Noob question, is it better to use a Flat paint or a standard paint? Is their a significant difference between the two?

Cool ... that is really helpful!!! One other thing that popped up as I was reading this for the tenth time today, is it better to use Acrylic paint or enamel and do either need to be watered down or do they get used straight outta the pot?

It's obvious that you know this, but I thought I'd add the following for anyone unfamiliar with the dip technique:

Paint your first colors in large, simple blocks of color. There's no need to try to be very detailed. In fact, that's the beauty of the dip method. The dip will take care of the detailing for you.

Just a note on undercoat.
Wash your plastic minis in weak detergent prior to undercoating, as this gets rid of any oil from the manufacturing process.
Undercoat in black allows the DIP to really accentuate your base coat.
When painting the basecoat, leave a thin black line of undercoat between edges of colour. This is equivalent to the ancient art of 'blacklining' and saves you having to do it later!

Great List Cleitus!

I found a great way to hold your figures for painting is to cut the top off a broom stick.

You need to make the cut section the width of your palm, with a small amount of overhang. A broom stick is perfect because it fits comfortably into your hand.

Cut both ends flat.

Grab a big blob of Blu-Tack and stick it to the top of the handle.

Grab the base of the figure and push it into the Blu-Tack.

Voila! You now and a handle to hold your figure, which you can twist & turn to any angle, and you don't rub any of the paint off.

So could someone comment for me about a problem I'm having?

Just bought some WK40K Space Marines (the current starter set with Orcs, etc.). I prepped and primed them exactly as shown here, except I used black Citadel spray (instead of white).

Anyway, my problem arose when I went to put on my foundation colors. The colors "smear". I don't know exactly how to describe it, but in spots where the bristles of my brush passed through, you could see the black primer coming through, but in other spots, the paint would be thick. I had no end whatsoever of evening out the color. It looked pretty "spotchy", but the best descriptive term I can think of is "uneven"--the coat of paint did not spread evenly.

So, on the next figure, I tried to dilute the paint a little bit, with water, but that only compounded the problem.

I am using a Citadel Starter Brush and the color was Citadel Sunburst Yellow. Any help?

Thanks.

Chris

PS--In case this thread is no longer monitored, I'm going to paste a copy of this message and start a new thread. If you already answered in the other thread, ignore this message. Thanks!

The reason for the 'splotchyness' is that you're not putting enough on. For some reason the Warhammer minis (and especially the Space Hulk minis) the paint coats very thinly. I've put on a first coat with thinned paint (ie. 25% water, balance paint for acryls) and it coats well.

Essentially, the paint's surface tension is too high for these very smooth models.

The problem is with the sunburst yellow. Citadel, and most other hobby paint makers, use yellow pigments that don't do a good job of covering anything that's not white. I'm told it's due to toxicological reasons. Whatever the reason, sunburst yellow definitely doesn't do a good job covering black.

You should paint the bits you want yellow with white first, let it dry, and then overcoat the white with yellow.

The same goes for most shades of red.

This works great with the standard range of 'stains' for warm colours.
However, over a blue or violet or green mini, things can get a little 'murky' (which is great for orcs, but not pointy-eared flower sniffers!)

So, my tip is to use just plain clear polyurethane varnish with a few drops of ink into it.
The colour of the ink is dependent of the primary colour of the figure.
Yellow figure - orange ink
Red Figure - dark brown or dark purple ink
Orange figure - Red Ink
Blue figure - purple ink
Green Figure - Blue ink
Brown figure - Dark brown ink
Purple figure - dark red, blue or purple ink.

I know this means a little or prep time, often with the varnishes in 'stages', but if you are doing batch units the extra effort can look cool.

Just keep painting!

Of your chosen stained varnish (usually). Thus an easy and efficient way to add shadows to a whole batch of base-coloured minis, and protect them all in one step!

Yep, Future is a clear, non-toxic, polyurethane varnish that appears to be very popular for a variety of uses when painting miniatures. Check here to find the equivalent brand name for your territory (with pictures) and more than you probably wanted to know about any floor wax that isn't also a dessert topping.

Is doing the Dip equivalent to using, say, the Citadel Washes sold by GW? I'm starting to paint my collection of Descent figurines and it's the first bit of miniature painting I've done. I've picked up primer and paint, but haven't gotten around to washes/varnish or sealants.

Cheers!
-M.

No washes are different. They take a lot more skill to use than the dip technique.

This is the "manly" way to dip ... and it takes guts to plunge your carefully-painted figure into that dark maw for the first time ... but when the dip dries on your figure, you'll be a new man. It's like a baptism for miniatures painters. Everything is different after that first time.

I dip everything now. I'd dip my cat if he'd sit still for it.

Russ - I'm glad you gave it a shot, but sorry you're a bit disappointed by the results.

I think the problem is the black primer - you might want to try a figure or two with white primer with the walnut stain before you change stains.

Also, try just doing a simple coat of paint - even if the coverage is less than perfect, once dipped you may find (as I do) that those slight inconsistencies are not noticeable but simply appear to give the figure more depth.

I just managed to bollocks an entire set of Space Hulk 3ed Genestealers by Dipping and Dripping.

I attached hangers to the bases of the figs (wire and a dot of super glue), dipped them and did the brush/shake/hang method, and they all ended up with the darkest parts being on the undersides and on their heads. Total cluster!#@$.

So, I would NOT advise dipping and dripping - just brush the material on the figures, or alternatively brush them off if you do the dunk-tank method. I've used this method before, but never with a dark stain, only with clear or 'yellowish' polyurethane, which can create 'nipples' on their head if you're not careful about removing excess, but with a dark stain...bollocks.

Yikes, sorry to hear that.

No don't let it drip! You have to shake the snot out of it. Take it outside, grab the base with your fingers or (better) a pliers (don't worry, you won't damage anything). Dip the whole thing in and then shake off the excess (VIGOROUSLY) into your lawn. You'll end up with the same amount on your figure as brushing it on, and will actually (in my opinion) yield a more natural-looking distribution. And no need for cheap brushes to buy and throw away. Also, let the dip flow downward, so let them dry standing upright.

Just dipped 12 miniatures, used Minmax polyshade Antique walnut as recommended. I also used a power drill to shake the excess dip out of them, as someone else recommended, with great results.

I have a few words of wisdom that I would like to share, perhaps someone else can learn from my experience?

1) The power drill is a great idea. However, make sure you get a big nail, with a big enough head, and make sure that the base of the miniature is well glued with crazy glue to the head of the nail. Also, make sure the miniature is well glued to its base. On my first attempt, I glued the base of the mini to the head of the nail with silicone, and it didn't work, it detached as soon as I turned the drill on. After that, I began glueing them with crazy glue (which works great and is easy to detach later -much easier than I thought), but one of the minis was not properly attached to its base, and again, it detached when I turned the drill on. on both occasions, I had to shake the excess dip inside, and by trying not to make a mess, ended up with very dark minis with too much dip on.

2) The great thing about using a drill is that you can end up with a mini with the exact amount of dip you want in it. So dip the mini, and turn the drill on for one second. Then, check it out. if too much dip is still on, turn the drill on for another second. Keep checking the mini until you achieve the desired effect. Went too far and now your mini doesn't look like it has been dipped at all? No problem! Just dip it again, and begin the whole process from scratch. That way you'll end up with just the amount of shading you want, not more, not less. You can see how your mini looks like with different amounts of shading, and experiment a bit, until you achieve the result you want, and if you mess up, you can always start again.

3) Have a small, cheap brush, and some thinner (a small bottle of nail polish remover will do just fine, and its probably cheaper). This will allow you to clear parts of the dipped mini that you don't want covered with the dip (as the dip is brownisn, white cloth or blonde hair will end up looking dirty). Just put on some thinner in the brush, and clean (or minimize the amount of)the dip on those areas. if you want to create highlights, use a similar technique to dry brushing, with a brush wet with thinner. It will clear the dip from the raised parts of the mini, creating highlights. Also, it will help clean the parts of the mini that are now too dark (eyes, mouths).

After three days, my trial miniatures are still "tacky" to the touch, especially on the base, which received most of the dip after standing up right overnight.

Is there any way to speed up the drying process?

Bake in the oven at 150° for a few hours, maybe?

Hair dryers at 15 paces?

I followed the suggestion somewhere in this geeklist to use a power drill to get the excess stain off the mini once it's been dipped. After every 6th figure is dipped and "drilled" I go over them with a brush to mop up any excess stain. Works like a charm and dries in 24 hours.

how did you attach the drill?

I read somewhere that you have to be very thorough in shaking the can of minwax before dipping, otherwise you might end up with "tacky" miniatures.

Seems like if the stuff isn't well mixed, the tackiness might never go away.

Sorry for the late reply. I mount the minis on flat-headed nails with a little glue and stick them into a piece of styrafoam. The nail doubles as a handle while painting. When I'm ready to dip, I attach the nail to the drill like it was a bit.

You're mileage may vary, but I don't think there's such a thing as "too matte".

I think Dullcote is God's gift to mini painters.

It's a satin or semi-matte finish so it really depends on how glossy or matte you want the figures. Testors Dullcote is, AFAIK, generally regarded to be the most matte sealant you can apply, but it can be a tad pricey. It runs about $5 for a 3 oz. can, compared to the fairly expensive GW Varnish which is $15 for 11 oz., when you're more expensive than GW you're either really working at it or make a really good product that can actually sell at that price. Apparently Dullcote is both.

Thanks, I'd get that if possible, but I'm not sure that's sold here (or sold by an obsure name, it took me 4 days to find the local equivalent of wood stain), and the local wargamer's store sells the GW purity seal spray (but not the GW matte warnish showed on the pictures here), so that's why I'm asking if that's ok as well.

I could only get GW purity seal as well. I read somewhere that it gives a satin finish (slightly glossy, but not as glossy as the dip), I too prefer my minis with a light gloss instead of totally matte.

Anyway, I am going to try it on a few minis after the dip, I'll take some pictures of the minis after Dipping them in Minwax Polishade Antique Walnut, and then after applying GW Purity Seal. I might not publish them here, but drop me a line and I'll send you a link to them.

Everywhere I've read, they recommend applying the PuritySeal after thoroughly shaking the can (this seems to be very important), and in non-humid, non-cold environments, not too much, and from the right distance...otherwise you'll end up with "dusty", or "milky" minis... just thought it might be important to bring it up here in case other readers are thinking about applying an additional coat after dipping.

After using a generic walmart matte finish on most my figures I gave in and bought Testors Dullcoat....that is definitely the best thing that ever came our for miniature painters. I am hooked and never going back...lol.

One of my first dip projects was to paint everything from Battle Cry. I've been tossing those figures loosely in the box for nearly ten years now, and have experienced little or no chipping of finish thanks to the mighty dip!

Anyone interested in this method that wants to pay the little bit extra for a product that is "more suited" for this type of job should check out this site:

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

I've seen and used both methods. I spend the little extra scratch on The Army Painter because I personally think it gives me a little better final result plus they sell an entire line of products.

However, the method above is perfectly suitable.

Well done article.

I really like the idea of using a colored primer to paint a base coat quickly. If I were to just go to Home-Depot or Michaels, would I need to look for any particular brand/type to make sure the primer wouldn't melt my minis, or would any primer due?

What scalre are these in? 25s? 32s?

Looks brilliant.