Friday, March 26, 2010

Quick march

As these guys will join the War bands I have given them big shields instead of skirmishing bucklers.
I think another great thing about this way of working is that a lot of second rate figures get to see the light of day. Normally I would only paint up figures I liked the look of, but this way many different poses are quickly covered and dipped and used. The lead in my cupboards goes down and the War bands get bigger in exchange for a couple of minutes painting time. A lot of these second rate figures can really surprise you when a little colour is added, some of the under dogs in this latest batch have actually become my favourite characters.

I gave the metal work a wash of black before dipping and this helped some of the helmets and chain mail. I think with dipping, part of the secret is the detail you put in before you take the plunge. Stripes on trousers and borders on tunics really pay off.
When I first started dipping last year I was put off by the glossy look of the figures after they had been dipped and for me the most important process of dipping, is the matte varnishing afterwards. It really changes the look of the figures and they become instantly battlefield ready. I also used this exercise to test out different colours and see just how the brown dipping stain effects them. I tried to use Napoleonic colours here and there and take note of what worked and what didn't. This will be the way I tackle my Ancient German army as the sheer number of men that can be produced is shocking. The slight drop in quality doesn't bother me as I'm always spending hours painting figures only to hide them in a six figure base. I will take the option of producing thirty figures over that of painting ten in a night any day. I will spend a little more time on the shields though, as these will be the focal point to the figures.

12 comments:

El Soldado Tranquilo said...

It's fantastic how the figures appear with the dipping work. I'm not convinced with the dipping paintig because my works always remains very dark, but the result in yours is great! Do you apply mat varnish after dipping? See you!

Secundus said...

yes always matte varnish them afterwards, they don't look very good until you do. The difference in stages is amazing.

Caliban said...

Very nice indeed, and a good way to get loads of figures on the table relatively quickly. I haven't yet taken the plunge with hairies from this period. I might start off with Galatians to flesh out my Successors, and then work up the courage to go for their western cousins.

I'm trying to put it off as long as possible!

Paul

Christopher(aka Axebreaker) said...

Painting the shields to a higher standard pays off when using army painter.If the shields are quite large it can give an impression at first glance of a completely painted army.I did this with my Trojans.

Cheers
Christopher

Doc Smith said...

Oooer... I can smell 'em from 'ere! That painter stuff really gives a good coating of Celtic grunge to those bad boys. Have to name the warband 'The Great Unwashed' or something!

Cheers,
Doc

DeanM said...

They look really good. I agree, you have the dip method down. Dean

Der Tsstler said...

looks really good wish to see them finished
dertaunussteiner.blogspot.com

Consul said...

Very impressed. My favourite guy is the one in the first photo on the left - half painted blue!

GEM Team said...

I love them. Very nice work

Allan and Carmen said...

Which Shade of Army painter dip did you use?

I am playing around with the Dark Tone at the moment with a view to use it for Napoleonic French & British.

Which Shade do you think will work best for Napoleonics?

Keep posting the figures look great.

I am alos enjoying your Cartoons. Fantastic.

Happy Gaming,

Allan

Consul said...

Allan,

Not sure which tone Secundus uses but I use Strong Tone.

I've found it doesn't really work on complicated uniforms but it's always worth a try! (Not tried it on Napoleonics yet, just AWI). I've formulated a theory that the Army Painter can look just as good on complex uniforms if you try and keep the number of different colours to a minimum and try and use as many of the same as possible for similar things (this does however compromise on historical accuracy but if you'll hardly notice on the gaming table!). I'm currently working on ECW and will post some pics of what I mean in the next few days.

Hope that offers some advice whilst Secundus replies,

Consul.

Secundus said...

Yeah these are strong tone. I used Soft tone on my naked Celts, for It's great for skin tones and horses. This time though I experimented with darker tunic colours and the results were good. I recommend strong tone...it's an all rounder.