Painting my army - Dip vs Traditional

[CatSmasher]

Hello gentlemen,

 

Sorry to bother you all with more noob questions, but I'm about to start the painting process and I want to develop a plan.

 

I have seen the "controversy" over dipping and the use of the army painter method, but I don't really understand how this differs from a tradition painting. Is it not common to use a wash anyway? Is the only difference the application of inks/stains? Via brush or dipping?

 

I'm sure its hyperbole but is dipping altogether than much faster?

 

My understanding of the painting process is this:

 

Prime Model

Base coat model

Wash/stain/Ink

Highlight/ touch up

Seal

 

Is there anything missing here? Is there really a fundamental difference in technique?

 

Thanks,

M Wolfborn

[Rune_Priest_Rhapsody]

There are a lot of different ways one can go about painting their models. I would recommend doing the research, like you are, first.

 

Ask here, the WIP forum and then venture out. Youtube has a plethora of videos in regards to painting, supply and techniques one can use to achieve the desired outcome.

 

In regards to 'the dip' - I have used it a couple of times and in my very inexperienced experience, it works the best when doing lots of models at once. Like all of your Grey Hunters, for instance. I personally prefer washed and inks, so I stick to them. Good luck!!
 

End of Line

[Grotsmasha]

I could be wrong, but it was my understanding that the difference with dipping was that the dip was the final step with no painting afterwards......

 

Cheers,

Jono

[Fytharin]

The problem with dipping is that you can lose a lot of the finer details and on SW models, we have a lot of detail on our models. For example you’d probably lose the runes on your rune priest model fairly easily.

What style of painting you go for really depends on the quality of the paint job you want. If you are looking to crank the models out and just have two or three colors for table top quality then you could probably get away with primer, dip and paint on the two other colors where you want them. If you are however looking to paint a lot of detail then you will want to paint on your base color after you’ve primered and make sure you are watering down your paints to avoid lumps in the paint but not so much where the color stops covering effectively.

There really is no one process to use for every detail you’re going for. Fur is going to be a completely different process than painting the armor will be so my best advice is to browse pictures of what other people are doing. I find I learn the most from looking at what others are doing and if I can’t figure it out on my own, most people are more than happy to explain their process. Feel free to message me with any questions you might have and I hope this helps. Happy painting. :)

 

[CatSmasher]

One thing I am concerned about with a dip technique is all of the "wolfy flair." There are a lot of pelts knives and bones, and I don't want to loose those items. I have also ordered the "grey hunter" should pads from GW because of I like at least a little bit of continuity in the army. As I typed this my concern was confirmed...

[CatSmasher]

I think if I group my models by flair (ie. hair colour, pelt flare, termies, weapon types) I can do chunks of the progression at a time. I am thinking this will be the best way to keep colours consistent and be efficient with the painting process. 

 

I am also going to assume spray (ideally airbrush) is the best way to base, but if I thin the base a touch do you think  i can do it with a brush. 

 

Also, I think the "fenrisian" grey isn't as cool as the basic "russ" grey, what colour armour do you guys run?

 

Lastly (for now) is there a wash colour that the Fang prefers?

 

Thanks,

M. Wolfborn

[Fytharin]

There are a lot of different greys people tend to use, it seems like we're all using different shades these days. Personally I've been using The Fang because I feel like it's darker than the codex blue but not enough where it's getting into Horus Heresy grey darkness. Some people go straight up dark grey with Mechanicus Standard Grey but I mostly see that on HH (Horus Heresy) era models. You could also mix the Fang with Fenrisian Gray for a lighter version just depends on what you want.

 

I hate saying this over and over but it depends on what you want as far as wash. LOL Black wash is your best friend over all. Looks good on metal, shading the corners to give depth, etc; Brown is going to be good for  your brown furs and even on your gray fur because it gives it a more dirty look. Brown is also good for shading skin tone.

[Nadir]

I was using the army painter dip for re-painting mine whole army. No little runes were missing, no details lost. Just use the old brush, to take off the excess dip.

A few tutorials you can find on the youtube

 

And remember, its better to put too much of it, and remove the excess, than put to less, and make it look messy.

 

You can paint the dipped model, but its sometimes hard, because it works a little bit like a gloss varnish.

[Leif Bearclaw]

On thing to bear in mind about the GW shoulder pads. A lot of them are from a different era, so are actually smaller than the pads in modern kits. It's not massively noticeable if you use them on all your models (worked OK on a mate's DA tac squad), but might be worth bearing in mind.

[spjaco]

I dunno, the whole concept of "dipping" a model I have paid that much for troubles me.....

[Nadir]

Try it on some kind of test model. Still, diping is ok if you hwve a larger army to paint. Which smaller one it's better to paint by hand.

[Brother Crazywolf]

Nadir... you got bit by the dreaded double post...

 

While I have not dipped models I would say to stick with tradtional methods. From what I understand dipping sometimes can muddy up the model, and that is beyond the. Loss of the details that make our models unique. I prefer black and brown glazes vallejo, but your mileage and availabilty may vary.