Dipping - The Conundrum

Over the last six months or so, I've been gradually seduced by the lure of the army painter dip. Like most I think, when I first heard of this stuff I was, to say the least, warily pessimistic as to the veracity of the claims that it was some sort of magic shading sauce. I saw some minis done with it and thought, 'Too shiny, too muddy, bleagh. Away with you.'

A few weeks later, on the excellent Carpe Noctem, I was looking through the gallery of folks recent work. I saw these guys above. I thought wow, they're nice, very nice indeed! Imagine my surprise when I learned they were done with the aforementioned army painter. I was a little gobsmacked, in fact. This prompted me to reconsider. I thought I better give this stuff a shot.

Here's one of my first minis done with the painter. I was very pleasantly surprised. With careful application (brush, NOT dip), a good matt varnish and good basing, the minis looked magic, and here's the thing: they took very little time to do. To fully understand the effect this had on me, we'll need some back-story: I am a VERY slow painter. I am fastidious. I own my own weight a few times over in miniatures that I really want to paint. This was a solution sent from on high.

Now, don't get me wrong, I still apply details and highlights over most dipped figures. It doesn't suit every mini or every colour. I won't be giving up traditional painting, far from it, I'm just getting into my stride. BUT, and it's a gargantuan but, I can see my armies actually getting finished, and looking damn good, if I do say so myself.