""ARMY PAINTER" Quick-Shade: Worth the $$$?" Topic

Looking at Inquisitor Rex's swell Perry ACW minis, I was intrigued by the results he got from AP's "quick shade". After looking into it, I see that it is a) very expensive, and b) not stocked by the usual lot I buy from. But primarily, it's expensive.

I am a bit of a dinosaur, and have never tried a 'dip method' (just plain inks of various consistencies), so does anyone out there feel this comes out any better than the famed 'Minwax method'? $40 USD better? Please enlighten me. A decent quick-shading method could rekindle the flames under my various and sundry army projects. My "work in progress" minis closet is beginning to look like the last scene from "Raiders of the lost Ark".

I have heard (don't know) that Army Painter is pretty much the same as Polyshades Minwax (a floor stain and varnish combined), which should be cheaper. I used to use Minwax (the darkest color, Tudor Satin) but have since changed to Future floor wax and black Windsor-Newton ink.

Interested to know why you switched to Future/Windsor-Newton? Better look? Easier to work with?

I'd say cheaper Fifty4 – the Minwax stuff is still by comparison fairly expensive $8 USD plus per can and it is a solvent based product versus the water based ink/Future mix. You can also mix up your own strength of Future/Ink and you can get various shades based upon what you want to do with the figure.

I've not tried the product mentioned – but at first blush with the Minwax dip method – I was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked and what it did. Others were not impressed and did not like it – it changed certain colors too dark (especialy the flesh tones), but I can see now that with a bit of practice and thinning a bit that you could get some rather impressive quick results on shading and the like. I've tried the Future/Ink method as I didn't want to fork out the cash for an untried product – but since I had a project with wood-working – I finally had to get some to do it right and then the leftover became a dip test product. Worked well for what it did – just a few modifications on color choices and all will be good.

I can assure you from my limited experience that the Future/Ink it is easier to work with.

"Interested to know why you switched to Future/Windsor-Newton? Better look? Easier to work with?"

Easier to work with, faster drying, no chemical smell.

You do have to mix your own.

I agree with both Jovian1 and Vincent, and also:

"You do have to mix your own."

This is a plus in my book. I use both Winsor & Newton inks, and even better, Winsor & Newton Brilliant Watercolours (which unfortunately ceased production a few years ago). Other artist's inks, such as Dr. Ph. Martin's, work equally well.

With a range of colors to work with, you can make washes to best fit the colors over which they will be applied. A wash to go over a white Austrian Napoleonic uniform is not the same as one to go over Confederate butternut or Colonial khaki.

And then there's true India ink, such as Vincent's W&N black, which works a little differently because it's shellac-based, but which is terribly useful.

I don't like to have just one tool in the toolbox. If all you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail.

Allen

Just as a note, I found that if I gloss coat the mini before I apply either minwax or future it does a great job of shading without darkening the underlying colors too much. This works very well if using it over light colors or flesh. You do have to Dullcoat it once finished, but I do that anyway.

Jeff

Have you had any problems with the Future mix yellowing over time? I told a friend of mine that runs a game store that I used it as a shaing medium. He said that he read on th Vallejo site that too much exposure to lite causes the future to yellow. Ive had figures on display that have the Future mix on them with no problem after many years.

Same here. From "The Complete Future" page:

link

" There have been a few reports by modelers that yellowing has occured with all white finishes. I have investigated several of these reports of yellowing and have found in each and every one that it was the underlying paint that had yellowed and not the Future. White paint contains a resin pigment that will yellow under long-term exposure to direct sunlight and there is no clear coat that I am aware of that will prevent this occurrence."

One has to ask oneself: why would Vallejo--who just happen to produce acrylic varnishes--say something like that about Future?

Allen

And if exposure to sunlight is a concern, there are quality artist's acrylic varnishes, such as Golden's, which include UV protection.

Allen

Thanks, everyone. I'll get hit the grocery and art stores tomorrow and get started.

Any general wisdom on the ratio of future to other medium to get good wash results?

Also any suggestions on what other mediums to use to shade which colors(i.e. black ink to shade blue or the like)?

THANKS!

James (color challenged – I still think Granimals were a good idea)

Beast – I've been using the Army Painter product recently. It is pricey (possibly less so in the UK since it is a European made product) but thus far it looks like the pot will last for ages and many hundreds of minis.

It's an oil based gloop with brown stain in it. If you're already familiar with uing future to make your own washes/dips it probably won't rock your boat. I guess what you pay for is convenience and that fact it is ready formulated to work well on minis. Since the stain is brown it works well on off-whites, reds, browns, yellows etc. and less well on blues, greys.

I guess what you pay for is convenience and that fact it is ready formulated to work well on minis.

And boy do you pay.

I'm with humwawa here.
Army painter is a bit pricey but I think that it is all worth it.
And after using it for some years now I would gladly pay those extra bucks for a product that has only given me success and that keeps amazing me every time I dip something in it :-)
Heck! it has now come so far now, that when I consider a new project I start by considering if it is "dipable"

regards
Thomas

I guess what you pay for is convenience and that fact it is ready formulated to work well on minis.

And boy do you pay.

Yeah but what's £16.00 GBP these days? A box of plastic romans? And if I were to assign, say, minimum wage to my time (and really I would value it a lot higher than that!) then my pot of dip has paid for itself MANY times over in the month since I bought it in time saved.

I'll reserve judgment until I've compared the results from identical figures done with Army Painter and others done with my own home brew.

Anyone seen any comparison pics?