Well, when some smart painters first hit on this plan, it was just wood stain like you buy at a hardware store. The stain would fill in the gaps, make the colors pop and varnish the miniature to a glossy finish. But you had to tinker with different manufacturers to get the right shade/consistency.
The method got really popular over the last five years and a company called Armory (which makes a bunch of miniature painting supplies) formulated their own "dip". It comes in three different shades from light to dark and it's designed to work well with minis as opposed to being a wood stain that happens to work well for minis.
It's weird. You dunk the mini and when you pull it out, it's brown all over and you'd swear you just ruined the figure. Give it a few hard shakes to clear the excess, let it dry overnight and *boom* super-cool mini.
It's still not as great a paint job as the real pros do (they've got multiple shades and highlights), but it's fast and "good enough". Since I'd rather play with minis than paint them and since these are all cheap plastic minis, that's a trade-off I'm more than happy to make.
no subject
Well, when some smart painters first hit on this plan, it was just wood stain like you buy at a hardware store. The stain would fill in the gaps, make the colors pop and varnish the miniature to a glossy finish. But you had to tinker with different manufacturers to get the right shade/consistency.
The method got really popular over the last five years and a company called Armory (which makes a bunch of miniature painting supplies) formulated their own "dip". It comes in three different shades from light to dark and it's designed to work well with minis as opposed to being a wood stain that happens to work well for minis.
It's weird. You dunk the mini and when you pull it out, it's brown all over and you'd swear you just ruined the figure. Give it a few hard shakes to clear the excess, let it dry overnight and *boom* super-cool mini.
It's still not as great a paint job as the real pros do (they've got multiple shades and highlights), but it's fast and "good enough". Since I'd rather play with minis than paint them and since these are all cheap plastic minis, that's a trade-off I'm more than happy to make.
later
Tom