"Dip/Varnish issue" Topic

Hi

I've used army painter strong tone dip (the oil-based stuff in the can not the dropper bottles)slightly thinned with turpentine as a brush on shader. It looks great – not as heavy as an undiluted dip. But my attempts at brush-on matt varnish are being thwarted by the surface 'resisting' the varnish. It runs into pools and does not cover. Any ideas why? And how I can fix this?

Hi

I've used army painter strong tone dip (the oil-based stuff in the can not the dropper bottles)slightly thinned with turpentine as a brush on shader. It looks great – not as heavy as an undiluted dip. But my attempts at brush-on matt varnish are being thwarted by the surface 'resisting' the varnish. It runs into pools and does not cover. Any ideas why? And how I can fix this?

Hi

I've used army painter strong tone dip (the oil-based stuff in the can not the dropper bottles)slightly thinned with turpentine as a brush on shader. It looks great – not as heavy as an undiluted dip. But my attempts at brush-on matt varnish are being thwarted by the surface 'resisting' the varnish. It runs into pools and does not cover. Any ideas why? And how I can fix this?

Hi

I've used army painter strong tone dip (the oil-based stuff in the can not the dropper bottles)slightly thinned with turpentine as a brush on shader. It looks great – not as heavy as an undiluted dip. But my attempts at brush-on matt varnish are being thwarted by the surface 'resisting' the varnish. It runs into pools and does not cover. Any ideas why? And how I can fix this?

Hi

I've used army painter strong tone dip (the oil-based stuff in the can not the dropper bottles)slightly thinned with turpentine as a brush on shader. It looks great – not as heavy as an undiluted dip. But my attempts at brush-on matt varnish are being thwarted by the surface 'resisting' the varnish. It runs into pools and does not cover. Any ideas why? And how I can fix this?

First, wow – I don't think I've seen the bug create 5 copies in a post. Too funny.

The cans of the Army Painter shades have lacquer as a flow improver. This gives the glossy shine. I found, that for me, I have to use a spray on clear coat of sealant that dries matte. It's the only way, again for me, to get around the pooling.

Matthew

Agreed, use a matte clear spray.

If/when you run out of the Army Painter product, buy a can of Minwax Polyshades Royal Walnut (dark, muddy brown), or Tudor (NOT Black!… Tudor; Tudor is black, but the Black urethane stain is more like paint, than a wash -- learned the hard way). It is 1/2 to 1/3 of the price of the Army Painter products. I've seen some folks claim the AP is a better product, but I could not see it in their videos, and for the price, it is not worth it, to me.

Both AP and Minwax are oil-based, so turpentine will thin both. I recommend if you have a lot of figures to Dip, at once, buy yourself a Slow Cooker/Crock Pot at Wal-Mart ($16.99 and up; size according to your needs, but bigger is always better), and set it on Low (170 F). Put your mini's in it, with the lid on, out in the garage, if you have one, and bake them for 30 minutes. There is no spark, no danger of ignition of the fumes -- the fumes will vent into the room, however, so raising the garage door, or opening a window, is recommended, even in the Winter. Then spray the mini's with matte clear coat, and done! Cheers!

I use the Minwax dip, Tudor Satin, undiluted, and brush it on and then brush a lot of it off. (You can lighten it up more or less by not shaking it up as much before use.)

I try to use it on a sunny day. Humidity is an issue too. But outside in the sun dries the figures just fine, in a couple of hours. Then next day I spray on Dullcote.

Another +1 for a clear coat before applying wash/dip. For clothing I prefer matt, for vehicles (planes, tanks, etc ) I prefer satin. If I were to be really picky, I would probably satin or gloss all the metal objects before dipping (helmets, swords, armor, etc.) but I've never used two different clearcoats on a figure before dipping.

I stopped using Minwax as a wash+clearcoat because polyurethane yellows over time. I've started making my own dip by tinting Future with acrylic inks. It doesn't smell, it dries pretty quickly, it cleans up with water, and I can tint it any color I want, as heavy or light as I want. And, it's really cheap.

- Ix

Yellow Admiral, you are correct. Pledge Revive It Floor Gloss/Future is acrylic medium, basically. Just add whatever Acrylic paint you want your wash to be the color of, and it will tint up. The trick is that you must mix it, every time, or tint up larger batches. Precision is possible, and writing down your mixture volumes will make it easier, and reproduce-able.

I guess most of us Dip'ers prefer Minwax for its ease of usage: no tinting, just shake it up and apply. I use Magic Wash (Pledge Revive It Floor Gloss/Future), but it is not my go-to… It should be my go-to, however. It dries in 15 minutes, fully curing within a couple of hours. I've heard that the Pledge Revive It Floor Gloss yellows with age, as well as your comments on Minwax. I have not noticed any yellowing on mini's I've used both techniques on, to date, and I've been using The Dip Technique, since 1998, and I learned of Magic Wash around 1999-2000. Most of my mini's have been Dip'ed over brown colors; I use Royal Walnut (dark brown) rather than Tudor (black), so maybe that has camouflaged the yellowing? My Magic Wash'ed mini's do not seem to have been yellowed with time either. Still wondering about those claims, 23+ years later. Cheers!

Yeah, we've been using the Minwax for at least 20 years and haven't noticed any yellowing.

Thanks, folks for the tips – I'll go for the varnish cans.
And thanks for all your other suggestions – only I'm in the UK, so Minwax is more expensive here than Army Pinter!