of Next, it was time to apply the Army Painter Quick Shade Strong Tone.
I prefer to apply with with a flat, synthetic, brush - a brush with the head about 8mm across - rather than actually dipping the figure into the tin. It's simply a matter of painting it on, all over everything, and moving it around to get what seems like the 'right amount' in each place.
Get too much on, say, the face, and you end up with the eyes as mere black holes - not enough and they don't show up at all on the finished figure - get the right amount and the detail 'pops out' as The Dip dries.
The problem with actually dipping the figures in it is that you have no control over where it pools, giving a less satisfactory result. Painting it on is slower - but it's hardly slow - I doubt if it takes as long as a minute for each figure.
Once it's had time to dry (overnight), the result looks like this - awful!
The first time I got to this stage, it was hard to believe the figure was even salvageable - I nearly threw it straight in the paint-stripper. Some people leave their figures like this - but I believe we can do much better!
A swift coat of a decent matt finish (I prefer Testors Dullcote) improves things dramatically.
