Dipping Deathwing

[MajorSoB]

I have a question and would like some feedback from some of the guys here. I have been stripping and rebasing all my old metal terminators, making a deathwing army. Rather than painting them the conventional way, I was thinking about dipping them using water based varnish. I recently ran across these PDF on Fanatic Army Painter and I like the results.

armypainter.fanatic.dk/UserFiles/File/40k_sm1.pdf
armypainter.fanatic.dk/UserFiles/File/40k_sm2.pdf

I was wondering...

-Can you paint over the drip once you do it to improve highlights, etc?
-Has anyone tried dullcoating afterward?
-Would it look decent? ( I know it is not as good as conventional )

I know both Matt and Courtney has some experience with this technique, please share your thoughts and ideas. Thanks!

[doc]

Dipping is great.... for some things!
Organics; tyranids, kroot and to some extent Orks look good when dipped. I've only used MinWax Polyshades for my two dipped armies. MinWax is solvent based, a bloody site cheaper than the "Fanatic Army Painter" and comes in MANY shades. I believe there is also a water-soluble one that can be tinted with Inks - Marc Robson (WE player) has used it.

Those marines look impressive for a dipped army, but I'm not sure it is the best method for painting armour!

yes - you can DullCote after wards, to be honest it is a must with MinWax
yes, you can THEN re-highlight the figures
looks great on bugs!
These were some test pieces (before DulllCote)
www.40kforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=29214&highlight=tyranid
the final choice... and I have a ~2500pt army in this scheme now - including a Trygon I'm dipping next week!

[thatguyjames]

My first impression is that it would be very hard to convincingly re-highlight a dipped piece. I say this because the dip provides a naturally super smooth transition from dark to light. You can't see brushstrokes at all on the finished pieces (naturally, as there aren't any to see). A highlighted layer would have to be at least as smooth in order to blend with the look you've already created. All in all, you might end up spending more time on a model just to get it to blend right.

I'm sure there are some people out there who complain about dipped mini's. But in my mind these people are in the same category as the schmucks who moan at Scibor on CMoN for using machines to assist in his sculpting. I personally couldn't care less what people do with their own mini's. If it looks decent and they are happy with it then so am I.

[MajorSoB]

Thanks Doc, I like the Nids you are working on, great color scheme, and great results with the whole dipping process.

Thanks for the comments James, I guess I should have been more specific though in what my plan was.

I am going to try this with a few test pieces. First I will paint some basic colors like in the tutorial. I do plan on using a light shade of MinWax, and last I remember it was available in solvent and water based, so if possible I will try to get water based to help with control and clean up. I will dip the pieces like the tutorial, let dry but I also want to go back and highlight things like the eyes and the power weapons. I agree that the armor has a natural shade/ highlight at that point and reworking it would be counter productive. I suppose the reason I am leaning this way is this:

1) I would like another painted army to play.
2) Since all the models in the army are the old style metal terminators, I feel that there are limits to how good that these models will look reagrdless of what method I use.
3) I think dipping would give me fast results and an army that will be painted to an acceptable level.
4) I like the whole Deathwing concept and have since purchasing the older models from people "upgrading" their forces. I also think Deathwing has its limits for affectiveness, and it will give me the ability to work devote more time to painting my other armies while satisfying my desire to have a fully painted army.

Again, thoughts and comments are appriciated. Thanks!

[doc]

thatguyjames said:

I'm sure there are some people out there who complain about dipped mini's.

So at the Canadian GT 10 days ago I take this dipped 'nid army. I get 17/20 for painting - the same score as my room mate who often gets (but not this time) nominated for Best Painted with his UBER-sweet Ulthwe army (with some of the best Harlies I've seen in years).
Oh the joys of player judged painting!

[Ranger Dude]

I have to agree with James. It doesn't really matter what others think of your army as long as you are happy with it. I like the look of the dipped armies, but I agree that it looks better for ogranics. Based on what you have said though, I get the impression you are just looking for a way to get a decent looking army fast, and for that, I think this will be fine. Do what makes you happy.

[MajorSoB]

I have been doing some research online and I came across this article...

www.dysartes.com/model/painting/Dipping1.php

It gives a fairly comprehensive tutorial linked with a galley of images. While I cant say I like all of them, there are some that seem to fit with the result I am looking for. See what you think.

www.dysartes.com/model/painting/Dipping2.php

[Iron Warrior]

Since you asked opinions. I personally dont like the way dipped models turn out. Ive seen Courtneys stealers and some of matts models dipped. Now they look good, but imo I dont like the way they come out. I think it looks ok on the stealers but put next to some of courtneys other painted stuff you can tell they were dipped and are below average looking for him.

Im not going to say dont do it, try it see if it works for you. Like said before it looks good on organics like bugs. Not so hot on armor, but try it. See if it works for you.

[jay]

jason Nids look nice. I am sold.

have been thinking about doing a genestealers army.

This is good way to get army done fast.

[doc]

Cheers ;D
But for the love of some Small God... do some test models on paint schemes and choice of dip!
be sure to come back to the models after about 15 mins - you'll need to swab the excess dip off spots like tips of claws and between feet (looks like they took an inopportune dump if you don't...)

[Brinan The Barbarian]

I guess the deathwing wouldnt look that incredibly bad, but I know my dad could do better painting them without dipping them