Army Painter Stains Tested

[Tancread]

I tried some of the new Army Painter Stains on some Dixon Dahomey French Marines and put up my notes and thoughts on the Monday Night Gamers site. A bit of a learning curve but I think it will do fine for me and will do very well for troops in lighter clothing.



Dahomey French Marines stained with Army Painter Strong Tone.

[Ramshackle_Curtis]

The army painter stains are basically the same as the games workshop washes aren't they? Except of course cheaper...

[Argonor]

The army painter stains are basically the same as the games workshop washes aren't they? Except of course cheaper...

I take it, that 'stain' refers to the 'Quick Shade' from Army Painter? If so, the products are very different, though meant to do the same thing.

The Quck Shade is a kind of pigmented varnish that you're supposed to dip your entire mini in or an instant result (after vigorously shaking of excesses of Quick Shade - don't do this in any room your spouse will be using..). I guess you CAN thin it and paint/wash it on, too, but AFAIK it's tupentine-based, so watch for fumes...

The GW washes are acrylics that are meant to go on different parts of the mini (according to the colour they are meant to shade).

I'm experimenting with the GW washes at the moment, and I'm NOT impressed. IMO they do not do the job as promised.

My first run (Thraka Green on Goblin Green) just left an overall darker shade to the Goblin Green. After thinning it, I tried on lighter colours with a somewhat better result, but not good enough. I still have to highlight the raised areas, as too much wash stays on there - and if I have to do 3 layers anyway, I'd rather just paint them on for better control of the result.

And the most of the colours are useless on medium to dark shades of colour - you have to paint a very light scheme to make the washes give a proper effect.

On the upside, the washes are completely matt. A nice change from the old inks! And it is very easy to obtain a realistic dull metal effect to Boltgun Metal or Chainmail, just adding a black wash.

My next attempt will be some skeletons; some undercoated with AP's bone undercoat and the washed with Sepia, some with same undercoat, drybrushed with white and the washed, and some undercoated white and washed with sepia.

I'll let you all know how it works out, if you're interested....

[Tancread]

I take it, that 'stain' refers to the 'Quick Shade' from Army Painter? If so, the products are very different, though meant to do the same thing.

The Quick Shade is a kind of pigmented varnish that you're supposed to dip your entire mini in or an instant result (after vigorously shaking of excesses of Quick Shade - don't do this in any room your spouse will be using..). I guess you CAN thin it and paint/wash it on, too, but AFAIK it's tupentine-based, so watch for fumes...

<Cut>
My next attempt will be some skeletons; some undercoated with AP's bone undercoat and the washed with Sepia, some with same undercoat, drybrushed with white and the washed, and some undercoated white and washed with sepia.

I'll let you all know how it works out, if you're interested....

That is correct, the GW washes are meant to be done as you paint, the army painter stain, their Quickshade, is intended to be the last thing you do to the figure before putting a finish on it. It adds shadows to everything.

I agree with Argonor on the figures needing to be lightly shaded for both the GW washes and for the Quickshade. I think your skelllies will be an ideal test Argonor, post them up when they are done!

[Ramshackle_Curtis]

A friend was saying that the washes are great for kids. He gives his kids models undercoated in white, and they can get good shading effect by just painting the washes strait over this.

[Argonor]

A friend was saying that the washes are great for kids. He gives his kids models undercoated in white, and they can get good shading effect by just painting the washes strait over this.

Maybe I should let my 5-year old daughter loose on my huge bunch of plastic space ork goffs  (I'm using some of those for my experiments).

I actually got a useable result by washing codex grey with (thinned) black....

[Geudens]

As you might be ware of, my fastpaint system is mainly based on inking & shading:

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=6009.0

I am rather pleased with the GW washes, but do agree with the above comments at the same time.  Whereas my inks (GW and others - a shame GW has done away with theirs; they are a totally different product from the washes) create depth, the washes create a subtle shade in & around the details.  I tried to thin them with water, but this does not give a good result.  The Devlan mud is great to shade white trousers: just cover the whole of the pants with the wash and let dry.  Oce applied, LEAVE the wash alone and wait till dried to correct: unlike inks, the effect is ruined when tampered with.  Also: the end result (dry) looks totally different from the "wet look".

Rudi

[dodge]

Those army painter stains do look effective. Tancread your results are good. Do you use them the same way as washes?

I have some GW washes and sort of like them. The more I use them the more effective the results.

Its like Rudi says I think if you leave them then the result is a lot better, you have to let them dry to see the effect although I'm not sure whether Devlan mud is too dark for light trousers I think Gryphonne Sepia may be better, I'd have to do one of each I think.

Dodge

[Argonor]

I have some GW washes and sort of like them. The more I use them the more effective the results.

Agreed. They take some getting used to... I would have preferred a little more depth to the shading, and a little more surface tension to make the washes 'thin out' a bit more on the top of the raised areas, though... But a medium basecoat with a light highlight colour painter or brushed on, then washed, may work well for producing rank-and-file in large numbers. 

[Tancread]

I put up a couple of more figures on the Monday Night Gamers site. I think I had better control with removing the pooling on these guys, but the figures themselves are less interesting to me. I have some Pontoonier British on the table next that are primed in khaki, I will see how quickly I can run through a set and get good results.

[Mancha]

These stains look pretty convincing for some quick, gaming-quality minis.  In fact, better than many gaming paintjobs I've seen.  Thanks for the demo.

[Faust23]

I've been using GW inks since they first came out back a looooong time ago.  If you drop a little liquid soap into the water you're using to thin the inks with, they will fold into the crevasses and hug the mini.  If you don't, then the surface tension of the water will cause the ink to settle on the highest surface and look like crap.

Hope that helps.