Dark Side of "The Dip"

[Curryman]

I honestly couldn't tell you much about the modern state of GW's paints. I swore off them for good when I lost seventy bucks or more worth of paint to the miserable "bolter shell" pots they used for some years between the old (excellent) flip-tops and the newer-style pots that have been around for quite a while now. Suffice it to say I don't buy GW products any more.

[Hammers]

It isn't perfect, but it isn't a pile of trash I'd say was "ruined" by the dip, and it was all accomplished a fair bit faster than my usual method, excusing of course curing time for the minwax.

That is certainly not bad! Quite the contrary.   I think you are reiterating, but with better wording, what I and others are trying to say: it's just a technique but it is being oversold as the 'silver bullet' for great and quick results.

[cheetor]

There are plenty of poorly painted miniatures out there that have had no contact with dip.  That of course does not mean that people give up on the painting techniques used to paint those figures.  Bad dipping is bad dipping but good examples of the process exist too.

There is a time and place for dipping figures and not all dipped figures look like they are covered in brown glop (although a hell of a lot do).  Basically it is just another technique that can be learned: use it if you like it, dont if you dont. 

Contextually, talking about it on a forum such as this, where many contributors spend very large (and probably unrepresentative) amounts of time painting their figures to very exacting standards further skews things, implying that the tehnique is in fact worthless, which it isnt.  Its a horses-for-courses thing IMO.

By way of example, pretty much everyone reading this has a "lead mountain".  Dipping figures can definitely help to increase turnover and get some of that dead stock onto the gaming table quickly and at a reasonable standard (which is the main purpose of the whole exercise for many people).

Im not trying to offend anyone or anything but I think that a lot of people who have spent many, many years perfecting their painting skills (often on large armies that take a long time to complete) are slightly irritated when presented with dipped figures that took such a vastly shorter length of time to paint (albiet to a... variable standard).  This I think can be a factor regarding peoples sometimes emotional (in my opinion, obvioously) responses to the popularity of the dipping process.

Painting miniatures to a display standard has its own appeal and tends to use different techniques than those used to get a gaming forces ready to play with.  Personally my tastes these days are more towards getting the projects finished rather than getting each figure completed to a very time consuming level (which is often unnoticable during actual gameplay anyway).  I was more obsessive before for many years and while I am glad that I have many figures painted to a high standard (no pictures as yet, sorry) my preference these days is to to complete a project so that I can play a game with it.  This was a goal that often eluded me in the past due to the large amount time required.  The trade off of time versus quality has meant that dipping reinvigorated my interest in the hobby in recent years, allowing me to complete projects that have literally been sitting around in boxes for over twenty years.  I am happy with the tradeoff.

Just because a technique is used to poor effect on many miniatures does not imply that the technique itself is worthless (as ably illustrated by number9 above).  I dont want to sound too zen (because Im not) but I think that people get a little too offended by the concept for their own good.  Its a live and let live thing.

_{(sorry for going all PBS at the end there...)}

[Malebolgia]

I have dipped lots of miniatures which were purely intended for gaming. I am a slow painter and I tend to spend way too much time on details and blending (unless it's the LPL where it's impossible ). For instance, my Warmachine&Hordes buddy loves the game but hates the hobby. He started playing after we agreed I assembled and painted his miniatures for him. If I didn't he wouldn't play as he simply hated that side of the coin. So far this works out very well. But it does mean I keep the painting fast and simple and dipping is one of the best ways of doing miniatures fast and to get great gaming results.

So far I have used two dips: wood stains and the Army Painter. I started out with the Wood Stains and although they are cheap and the results are okay, the results aren't as good as with Army Painter's dip. The AP dip gives more stable and controlled results and they look a lot better.

Thing is I don't purely dip miniatures. Most of the times it is a combination of dip and regular paint. This also makes sure you don't get that "dipped look" which you can get.
In addition, I don't "dunk" miniatures in the dip. IMO this is silly as you don't have *any* control. I apply the dip with brush. Therefore I can see very well how it behaves, if it is enough dip and I can easily get rid of excess with a dry brush. Control is the key for me.

Here are some examples of my dipped miniatures:

Warmachine Cryx Bane Knights, Bane Thralls and Bane Lord Tartarus
http://www.paintoholic.nl/images/baneknights.jpg
http://www.paintoholic.nl/images/banethralls.jpg
http://www.paintoholic.nl/images/tartarus.jpg
Painted these for my Cryx army. I started by priming these miniatures with a silver primer. I then blocked in the bone and gold parts and then dipped the miniatures with wood stain. After the dip had dried I added greenish oxidation on the gold parts, painted the skirts with greenish blue and finally paint the OSL on the eyes. Fast results and they look nice on the table during games.

Skorne Paingivers + Void Spirits & Skorne Feroxes
http://www.paintoholic.nl/images/skorne.jpg
http://www.paintoholic.nl/images/feroxes.jpg
I painted these for the LPL for my buddy and did them in two ways. The Feroxes (the beasties) were dipped only with Wood Stain and the Paingivers were all dipped with FAP and Wood Stain. The bone colors were dipped with Wood Stain over pure white and the clothes+weapons+skin with FAP. This gives a nice blackish shade that provides a lot of contrast. Ideal for these miniatures.
The cool thing with the dip on these miniatures is that the dip makes doing this type of layered armor a breeze (if I regularly painted it, I would have gone insane). Just prime white, dip, done .

Cthulhu Cultists
http://www.paintoholic.nl/images/cultist_leader.jpg
http://www.paintoholic.nl/images/cultists.jpg
http://www.paintoholic.nl/images/cultists2.jpg
http://www.paintoholic.nl/images/elitecultist1.jpg
http://www.paintoholic.nl/images/elitecultist2.jpg
http://www.paintoholic.nl/images/elitecultist3.jpg
http://www.paintoholic.nl/images/elitecultist4.jpg
http://www.paintoholic.nl/images/elitecultist5.jpg
I primed these with a dark red primer and then dipped them with Wood Stain. This gave them a quick and nice shade. I then highlighted them with dark red and red and had some nice robes.

Cthulhu Mummies
http://www.paintoholic.nl/images/mummies.jpg
Simplest paintjob ever for me. I primed them white, painted them bone and dipped them with FAP. That was it . 20 minutes time for all three including basing.

Natives
http://www.paintoholic.nl/images/tribal1.jpg
http://www.paintoholic.nl/images/tribal2.jpg
http://www.paintoholic.nl/images/tribal4.jpg
http://www.paintoholic.nl/images/tribal5.jpg
I did all the bonish parts with dip. I first painted these parts with VMC Deck Tan (best bone/khaki color *ever*) and then dipped them. Worked perfectly on the shields and skirts. The rest was painted normally.

[Hammers]

Cthulhu Mummies
http://www.paintoholic.nl/images/mummies.jpg
Simplest paintjob ever for me. I primed them white, painted them bone and dipped them with FAP. That was it . 20 minutes time for all three including basing.

Very effective! Cudos.

[Commander Vyper]

Very effective! Cudos.

Yup agreed that single colour minis usually come out nicely, (mummies and skellies are good examples).

What I don't like to see is say a mini with green red and blue, all shaded with the same oak brown. Doesn't look right.

Happy to conceed that there is a place for dip but it's the overuse and 'silver bullet' 'holy grail' of painting pitch that doesn't sit well.

Thanks all for sharing.

The Commander

[Malebolgia]

Agreed. Painting a miniature and dipping them entirely with one color isnt my thing either (unless when you're using the Dark Shade of FAP; a blackish dip).