"Anyone tried Vallejo "wash" dip formula?" Topic

I got six 200ml jars of the sienna and six of the black. I tried dipping some plastic soldiers (army men). The stuff is FAR too strong to use neat. Certainly it isn't for dipping.

Anyone else tried it, and how did they end up using it?

Try brushing it on you get alot more control.

I know that quarks-bar.co.uk is using it over a grey undercoat on his models now to bring up the detail before painting

Yeah, I was a bit disappointed with it – as a "dip" it just turns everything brown and dull. Now I use the black as Steve W says – over a white undercoat to show up detail and pre-shade. Also the other colours are useful BUT you really need to dilute them (50/50 or more), add a speck of washing up liquid to break the surface tension and then they're much more useful.

I tried it and was not impressed at all. It was far too dark, even with a brush. I was looking for something I could use out of the can without needing to thin it.

Jeff

They should change the description of this stuff. The bottle is labeled as being wide necked, so you can dip the figures. I'd hate to plop a couple of hundred of my finest troops into this gloop and end up destroying them. When they call it a dipping formula you should really be able to do that without trashing the figures.

Very interesting idea to use this stuff over undercoat, before you start the main event. I just bought some of their air brush primer (white, black, grey) and so I can give it a go.

I will dilute the "dip" in water, future and flow aid (which is magical stuff) before using it.

Actually someone just contacted me about doing his Austrian Nap infantry over grey air brushed primer. So this could fit in nicely.

I'm some accustomed to using Vallejo washes.

Perhaps a key tip is to dillute the selected wash mix (either pure black, or black + brown, or that of your choice) into a similar proportion of water. At 50%, more or less. Consistency should be like milk.

I always apply Vallejo washes dilluted this way --either when washing with dip only, or with a mix of regular paint and wash.

I use the sepia wash all the time now and really like the result.

Here is an example:

There are many images on my blog: link

Just to be clear, I'm talking about the stuff in the 200ml wide mouthed containers – the dipping formula. Not the regular wash you get in 17ml containers. That is totally different.

Nice figures, scrivs.

Seal figures with clear acrilic before dipping to reduce tooth of the paint. Same for magic washes

I just tried the Vallejo dipping formual sepia tone on a Games Workshop Finecast dragon.

An unfortunate side effect of diluting it (with normal tap water) was that it dried a light grey in the recesses- not the desired effect!

Using it neat produced the effect I wanted- brown in the recesses- but not sure how you'd thin it to get a less strong effect- distilled water perhaps?

Anyone else had this happen when diluting the Vallejo dipping formula?

As Chortle said, when experimenting with any new technique, Army Men figures are your friend: a Buck/Pound/Whatever for a bag with 20-50 figures, at the Dollar/Pound Store, and there is no loss if the technique doesn't work out for you. If the technique fails on a valued figure, there is a good chance the only resolution may be to strip the figure, and start over.

Plastic Army Men figures will take paint, and the various Dip/Wash chemicals well enough, until you handle them. Depending on what chemicals you use, they may last, or they may rub off quickly, but either way, they'll work to give you an idea of what the results will look like on your miniatures. You can always strip the Army Men figures, if need be, and re-use them. Or you could donate them to youngsters, and possibly start them on a new hobby. Cheers!

Good points. I've rescued the dragon now with using the Vallejo wash neat, but I'm still not impressed with it as a dip- it turns everything quite a muddy brown. It's still excellent value as a really cheap alternative to GW's Devlan Mud wash, and I'll use it for bringing out details on tanks etc, but not as a dipping or brush on formula for shading.

I've ordered some Army Painter strong tone to experiment with as I'm hoping it will work well on a load of GW plastic goblins and orcs that would be mainly green and brown anyway- will post on how I get on! :O)