Saturday, October 15, 2011

Dip or not to Dip!

Sorry for that lack of posts, I know I spoke of more posts in the fall, but that did not work out. My Son needed a coach for his first real season of soccer, and I stepped in to help him out. He is six, and is a sports nut (I on the other hand am not a sports nut). So here I am 6 games in with only one win, and that win my son scored 5 of the six goals for a 6 to 1 win. Then their is my Girl. She is in here second year of soccer, and I am supporting her as well, but not as a coach.

Ok now to the reall meat.

Over the last few months I have been thinking how am I ever going to finish my Praetorian Guard army, and how do I stop from painting my 15s like I paint my 28s. Well the first thing to come to mind is the Dip method. I am sure you have heard of the dip method of finishing off miniatures. Well if not it is a fast way to block paint you minis and then dip them in some stain plus sealer. This will fill the shaded areas and seal the mini. Now I went back and forth on what dip should I use. Should I go with the floor wax and ink, one or the Minwax, or the Army Painter dip. So I looked at the floor wax, and this was not so cheap and I would have to go to a few stores to get all the components. So this is not for me. Next was Minwax, ok what shade should I use????? I have no clue, as the one most talked about is not a US color. So I am not going to spend $12.00 to guess the color. Then the Army Painter one. This looks just right, right? No it is not I do not have $30.00 for a jar of sealer form my minis. Please remember I an cheap. I am sure AP dip is the one of the best out there I just do not have the $30.00 for it.

So What do I do??? I went through my house paint shelve and found what I think is it. Cabot Ploystain. This is a stain and a sealer, and it is water based. I picked it up to stain my son's bedroom door, and only used 1/4 of a quart. The color is dark oak, and looks right, but it is a bit thick. So I fill the quart back up with water, rolled the can a few time with out shaking it, and I dipped my first minis. I will post some photos later, as the minis are drying now but I am sold on the dip method for speed painting. I think the dark oak was a great shade to use for my minis, and it is a great arm work out. I have to shake the heck out of the minis to get the excess off. I think I can still thin out the can a bit more, and still have a great Dip.

Noel

8 comments:

Kaiser said...

I recommend brushing the dip on as opposed to actually dipping it... the risk of dropping the figures in the tin itself is pretty significant and you'll get a more even coating. I've been using the Minwax Polyshades Antique Walnut to good effect (US color).

comstar said...

I agree Brush not Dip and shake.
Also use a heck of a lot less of the dip and it doesn't go everywhere as well!

Cheers Matt

Wes said...

Thanks guys for the feed back. I have dipped my tanks, and have dipped my mass based dwarfs. I will try to brush on the singles and see how it looks.
Noel

Luckyjoe said...

Looking forward to seeing how the tanks came out. Got any pics, yet?

Wes said...

Hi Joe, Sadly no I have not had time to take any photos. Soccer Sat, and Sun, yard work, not feeling great. But they look great. Also I ended up whipping two of the tanks across my garage doing the shake. I have to remember at 6am and only 1 cup of coffee I should not be in the garage
doing this!!!!
Noel

Brigadier Dundas said...

If you have a True value hardware near by you can order the MinWax English Tudor Polyshades. I use the gloss. Brush it on; I blow across the figure to release any surface bubbles.
I have a short tutorial up on my blog now.
Good luck, you'll appreciate the Dip on your bigger projects.

Don

Brigadier Dundas said...

I just caught the link to the Dipped figs; looks like the shade your using works well. So, again I'd recommend brush and the blowing the Dip to lessen the chance of damage.
Good luck.

Don

Wes said...

@ Don,
Lesion learned lesion learned. My arm is still hurting me. I will try you method out this week. The three tanks I used fro the before have not gone through the ringer (sotaspeak).

Noel