My attempt at the dipping technique

[Kris]

Here's another quick test on a couple of new colours...

The white hair (well 'bleached bone' in this instance) was always going to be a bit of a problem when using the darker woodstain - but since I'm now using a brush to apply it, I'm wondering if it would be possible to be a little more selective and add different stains to different parts of the mini...

...but then again, they are supposed to be 'speed paints' and if I'm going to start complicating matters then I may as well just paint the mini in a more conventional manner

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

I'm wondering just how deep you dip the figures... base and all?

Well, I've done one DIP now so I can report my results.

It was intended to be as quick and primitive as possible to get my baseline "worst case scenario" results.

My victim was the WOTC "Zhentarim Fighter."
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/af_gall/X_200_200_80340_CN_RGB150dpi.jpg

A decent sculpt with a really bad paint job. Basically, I wanted to see what improvements I could make to some of the worst WOTC minis, and I wanted something I could test quickly without even having to basecoat my own stuff.

Process:
Put the Zhent in a pair of needlenose vice-grips, dunked the whole damn thing into a can of Minwax #380 (Walnut), shook it off, and left it to dry over the weekend. (I left it on my usual painting board/palette to dry, and it didn't stick to the board at all. Not a problem.)

Results:
Pretty amazing, actually-- I will try to get some before/after side-by-side pics up later. But basically, EVERY bad WOTC mini deserves to get dipped. It will make a big improvement.

1) There was some pooling on the mini itself. Next time, I'll use a cotton swab to soak up any obvious glops.

This is preferable to using (and rapidly destroying) a brush, I think. I wouldn't try to use a swab to apply the stain, as I imagine it would leave bits of cotton, but for carefully soaking up excess stain in certain recesses, I think it should be fine. And they're cheap and disposable.

2) There was a lot of puddling on the base of the mini-- actually a rather good sign, I think, as it meant the stain ran off pretty good. Next time, I will probably base the mini first with a rough sand or pebble mixture, BEFORE dipping, and let the dip stain/seal the sand base even more thoroughly.

3) Very glossy. Personally I don't mind, these minis are for playing, but if I had a row of soldiers done I might give them a couple of very quick passes with Matte sealer.

Again, I apologize for no pics, but the results were every bit consistent with what you are seeing in this thread.

Next up: Kermit the Green Slaad...

 

[Pbartender]

Put the Zhent in a pair of needlenose vice-grips, dunked the whole damn thing into a can of Minwax #380 (Walnut), shook it off, and left it to dry over the weekend. (I left it on my usual painting board/palette to dry, and it didn't stick to the board at all. Not a problem.)

Cool. Thanks, Wulf. I was thinking tying a length of thread around the base to dip, and then spinning around by the string to centrifuge the excess off might work well, especially with the heavier metal minis.

I might have to try this with some of my plastic WotC minis this weekend.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

I have an old shoebox, so I just held the pliers inside the shoebox, put the lid on as best as I could, and shook the mini back and forth like hell.

In other news, THE DIP has forced me to order up a batch of spray primer and new basecoat paints-- most of my paints are packed up or dried out-- and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for a whoooooooole lot of painting I have to catch up on.

 

[Pbartender]

In other news, THE DIP has forced me to order up a batch of spray primer and new basecoat paints-- most of my paints are packed up or dried out-- and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for a whoooooooole lot of painting I have to catch up on.

I was thinking the same thing...

 

[bytor4232]

If I had some minis that looked like yours did pre-dip, I'd just call them finished. Grr.

hehe, I know. Most of my painted minis at this point look little better than the first pic!

 

[Pbartender]

Another question -- especially for Wulf, who I know dipped a plastic WotC mini -- does the pliability of the plastic minis have any impact on the durability of the coat of wood stain?

 

[Kris]

...I will try to get some before/after side-by-side pics up later...

It'd be great to see how any of the WotC mini's turn out after a quick dip

...and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for a whoooooooole lot of painting I have to catch up on.

Yeah... for me it's been good to get a coat of paint on some figures that I probably would never have got round to painting otherwise

For example, I painted up the rest of my Armalion/DSA orcs yesterday, applied the woodstain, and left them to dry overnight. Today I tidied up the bases and gave them a coat of matt varnish (to eliminate some of the shine) and here's the results.

The woodstain has left the shields a bit patchy, but for these figures (i.e. dirty orcs) I quite like the effect (though I'd hate it on a more 'clean-looking' mini).

 

[Decado]

This an awesome thread. I think I just found my inspiration to finish my GW Beastman army. Thanks!! I do have a question, when putting the base paint on the minis do you use a brighter color then normal base paint to offset the darkness of the stain?

Decado

 

[Kris]

I do have a question, when putting the base paint on the minis do you use a brighter color then normal base paint to offset the darkness of the stain?

The stain definitely darkens the whole of the mini - so you will have to keep this in mind when applying your basecoat.

With the stain I'm using, I think the best way to describe the finished colours on the raised areas is that they look somewhat like the original colours but with a spot of GW scorched brown added to the mix.

The main colours I used on my own beastman attempt were chainmail for the metal bits, scab red for the skin, and bestial brown for the fur/hair (if that's of any use).

Anyway I hope that helps