Simon J Kidd | 16 Oct 2014 1:58 a.m. PST |
Hi all, My little guide to using quick shade. miniaturesblog.wordpress.com Hope it's of use. Basing tutorial and then full unit coming sons. Simon |
Cardinal Hawkwood | 16 Oct 2014 3:00 a.m. PST |
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JimDuncanUK | 16 Oct 2014 3:53 a.m. PST |
Good work, I think you are heading in the right direction. I find that I spend less and less time and effort doing hooves and feet as when you add texturing, static grass and tufts you can't see much of them anyway. It will save you a little time. Also, basecoating in something than black or white will save some time too. For example a brown shade all over for a mounted figure, horse and rider, or a red brown for a red coat infantryman. Light grey for a white coated figure. Certainly no harm in experimenting a bit. |
steamingdave47 | 16 Oct 2014 4:54 a.m. PST |
Used Army Painter for a while, but I found that the liquid skinned very quickly, even though I took care to seal the lid. Whole can was pretty well useless after a year, with more than half left. At around £18.00 GBP a tin, that's not a great bargain. I have turned to "Magic Wash", much cheaper, can make your own versions according to block colour you want to shade. I find it works well with smaller scale (I mainly work in 10mm and15/18mm). Best to use gloss varnish BEFORE applying dips, prevents muddying of lighter colours. Point you make about flash on AB figures is a good one, I imagine it results from old moulds. |
Marc the plastics fan | 16 Oct 2014 4:59 a.m. PST |
Interesting to see as I have some dragoons of my own and I have just primed them at present – horses brown, men green, as I will be "dipping" them (well, with a brush etc). What caught my eye was you say you highlight after the dip – any particular reason or did you find the dip too dark in places? I have used light browns and green (similar to your green) in the hope that the end result would be a reasonable mid green And +1 to JD there – I am tending to less detail around hooves these days as they are often hidden. |
ordinarybass | 16 Oct 2014 5:56 a.m. PST |
Nice work! Your figure looks quite good. Good call on the white undercoat as the dip tends to dull colors a bit. However, if you chose to use a darker undercoat (grey, brown, etc) you can still keep the colors popping by using slightly brighter shades than normal to counteract the dip darkening effect. I often use various camo-colored spray paints from the hardware store to even more quickly finish my minis who are then dipped. Yours is about the same process that I use. The main difference is that I use Minwax Polyshades. It's a stain plus polyurethane product that is nearly identical to army painter and what folks used to dip with before army painter came around. It's also about 1/4 the price, so if/when a can goes bad it's not a big deal. I've used it on hundreds of minis with great results. I'm not sure what similar products you have across the pond, but any paint store should be able to point you in the direction of a stain and polyurethane in one type of product. |
skipper John | 16 Oct 2014 6:27 a.m. PST |
"by using slightly brighter shades than normal to counteract the dip darkening effect" Made me smile. I've been using Polyshades Tudor stain for years and the figures do tend to be darker when completed. I've countered this by using brighter and lighter colors. Works out quite well. Except my pre-dipped figures look more like clowns than killers…. but once dipped all is well. I find that the florescent greens, blues and orange make for a much better end result. |
skipper John | 16 Oct 2014 6:29 a.m. PST |
Oh… and your test figure looks great! |
ordinarybass | 16 Oct 2014 7:43 a.m. PST |
Skipper. I feel the same way. My block figs look like brightly and amateurly painted childs toys until I put the dip on, whereupon they suddenly look like wargaming miniatures. I just tried neon green tube details on some Van Saar figs a week ago and it really did look good post-dip. link I'll be going even brighter than I have been on future figs. |
deadhead | 16 Oct 2014 8:38 a.m. PST |
@steamingdave47………..fascinating. I love this forum for the tips you pick up every so often. "Best to use gloss varnish BEFORE applying dips, prevents muddying of lighter colours." I imagine this applies as much to washes and is so obvious….now that you have mentioned it! Brilliant. thanks |
von Winterfeldt | 16 Oct 2014 9:03 a.m. PST |
I do my own glaze by just using water colours and adding Vallejo Matt Medium, I paint the coat bright green and leave the deep shades of the priming colour undpainted, on top of that the "glaze" of water colour (very dark green) with Vallejo, then with a wet brush I take off highlights, varnishing at the end is a must as well. this works well up to 18 mm. |
IronDuke596 | 16 Oct 2014 9:26 a.m. PST |
steamingdave47; re the army painter quick shade, I used to have the same problem until a friend recommended that after cleaning the lid and tin and tapping the lid onto the tin it with a hammer, (which I had done) simply store the tin upside down. I guess this seals the lid area so that no air can seep into the tin causing the skinning. Since I have used this method I have not had any problems for a couple of years. It is a good product and I use it all of the time. |
paulalba | 16 Oct 2014 4:20 p.m. PST |
Nicely done, I think white base is the hardest to use with AP unless the uniform is all white like Saxons or Austrians. A brown sounds like a good bet. |
ordinarybass | 20 Oct 2014 7:39 a.m. PST |
Paulalba, A white base can actually be quite useful for the dip. Not only does it brighten up the colors that the dip darkens it can also help to give a pseudo highlight effect. When painting over a white base, translucent or watery paints can be used, or even sometimes just a heavy colored wash. The color will be then lighter on the high points as the white base shows through more. After the dip those points will have a highlighted effect without any additional effort expended. |
Littlearmies | 21 Oct 2014 5:01 a.m. PST |
Surely it depends upon the uniform and the dip chosen? If I was painting Austrians I'd be inclined to go with the mid-tone but something like British or French dark tone. Touching up the white bits with a dash of white paint helps and awful lot – so effectively you are doing a three tone "system" – base coat, stain, highlight. But then I use white undercoat for everything – I can't be doing with black undercoat as I find it hard to see the detail and just very trying all round (although typically, when I've painted stuff over black I've received far more positive comments than my normal stuff). |
Sho Boki | 21 Oct 2014 5:13 a.m. PST |
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mysteron | 21 Oct 2014 5:33 a.m. PST |
I've used Quick shade now for many years. As regards skinning over then the best way to prevent this is: 1) To keep the lid lip free of the dip. 2) If the dip starts looking too gloopy then add thinners 3) Store in tin upside down .Disclaimer make sure you lid is sealed properly before doing this ! :) I have never been totally happy in all the times I have used it in using it over white uniforms. I prefer to use a grey type wash over a coat of Johnsons Klear and then use the dip just for faces ,backpacks, boots etc . |
paulalba | 21 Oct 2014 3:25 p.m. PST |
I guess everyone has there own way of painting that is great for them. Cheers Paul |
Eclipsing Binaries | 23 Oct 2014 7:01 a.m. PST |
I'm working through an Austrian Hungarian unit just now using AB figures and its more of a speed paint than the best I can do, and I'm seriously considering using dipping, although I worry that changing the painting style half way through an army may not be the best idea. |