Army Painter vs the 'Others'

[Correus]

Having been reading the forum topic 'Napoleonic British' http://www.warlordgames.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=3921 the post dealing with AP vs "the generic stuff made for actual wood projects" prompted me to create this topic thread.

More specifically...

They look good, my only suggestion would be to give them a wash to bring out the details.

Or slather on some of that army painter quick shade goop. That stuff works wonders. However I recommend the generic stuff made for actual wood projects as it is the same thing for 1/3 the price.

and...

They look good, my only suggestion would be to give them a wash to bring out the details.

Or slather on some of that army painter quick shade goop. That stuff works wonders. However I recommend the generic stuff made for actual wood projects as it is the same thing for 1/3 the price.

Don't think it's the same. Tried the MinWax dark stain, supposedly the same, and have to say the AP stuff does work better. Of course, that's only my opinion. All my Naps barring the Westphalians were done with AP.

I've been struggling with this as well - Army Painter vs the 'Others'.

On one hand the 'others' are easier for me to get my hands on but on the other, how different are the two? Don't forget the Magic wash either!!!

I've never used either of them and usually opt for washing the more traditional way.

So, for those of you who have dabbled in all of these methods, or just a couple, what are the pros and cons of them?

I really would like to know all your opinions - I'm getting close to needing to make up my mind and use one over the other. Perhaps some experimenting is in order.....

[Colonel White]

Well I have used Army Painter Dips ( all 3 types) for well over 4 years now since I did an initial review for a small scale fantasy minis distributor. I was primarily into GW then with a bit of FOW stuff on the side at the time. Since using it I have never looked back and that is a honest opinion.

I have tried some of the others including Magic wash etc and none have given me the desired results . As I have said before the only other washes I use are the GW ones like Devlin Mud and Badab Black for vehicles only .As stated before I have had zero success when it comes to applying AP dip to vehicles , this is probably due to the "pooling" effects on the large panels. THis stuff will probably work on smaller vehicles such as Motorbikes but not tried it.

If you can get your hands on the dips then buy them as if well looked ofter they will last you some time. THe most common complaint is the product forming a skin and the resultant wastage after sereral uses. This is due to the failure in keeping the lid rim clean resulting in an ill fitting lid.

[mikeland]

Many of the units I have seen done by the Army Painter system (Colonel Whites among them) look really good. And if you want an army done to a good battlefield standard then It is probably the ay to go.

I personally haven't used it because I build my units up very slowly and Mrs Mikeland has allergic reaction to inhaling certain chemicals (I only tend to spray varnish or undercoat outside, when she is out! and even polly cement of certain brands can set her off!) so I haven't bothered to try AP dips.

[Ian047]

I have a tendancy to use Newton and Abbot Inks as a wash. Then use the AP Matt varnish. More variety of colours to use as a wash. Peat Brown is good general purpose colour to go for and can be brushed on.

[Biggus Dickus]

Co incidentally I have just taken the Second batch of Crocodile games Spartan troops and Leonidas (from somewhere else!) 23 figures in all, out of a jar of dettol having finally got round to removing the paint job that was ruined by AP dip. I did on them a few years ago.....(I'll post W.I.P shots shortly)

When it said it was a dip...like a muppet I thought that is what i was supposed to do, and that is what i did...I dipped it......if you are going to use this stuff, brush it on!!!
There are plenty of people on here who get extremely good results with AP dip...and they do look fantastic, but in all honesty it is a longer process than actually using washes, and highlights.
If anyone out there actually thinks you can base coat some figures dip them in this stuff and you'll have great results you'd be sorely mistaken. This is not a time saving quick fix solution to getting a good looking Army on the battlefield....it really does take some effort, and my opinion is it takes too long to achieve good results.

All that you are doing is getting the whole figure Shaded/washed normally in Brown all over at the same time as applying varnish. ....but then you have to spray on a dull coat varnish anyway to take away the high gloss shine...so you didn't actually save any time at all....is it just me, or does this seem pointless to anyone else?

if you don't really mind all the colours of your figure being highlighted with one colour...errr Brown...possibly black then great......i still have some figures left that i haven't got round to repainting and could show you a comparison shot if you're interested....I found it awful..I virtually cried when I saw my finished Spartans.
For the life of me I can't actually see the point to it given the extra steps you have to take to get it to look halfway decent....

Another down side is it's about £15 a small pot in UK....at least i think that is how much i paid for it......think how many pots of paint and wash you could get for that.

My negativity aside, it might be worth asking Phil how he uses it, or the Col...........and see what you think.

[Correus]

Co incidentally I have just taken the Second batch of Crocodile games Spartan troops and Leonidas (from somewhere else!) 23 figures in all, out of a jar of dettol having finally got round to removing the paint job that was ruined by AP dip. I did on them a few years ago.....(I'll post W.I.P shots shortly)

When it said it was a dip...like a muppet I thought that is what i was supposed to do, and that is what i did...I dipped it......if you are going to use this stuff, brush it on!!!
There are plenty of people on here who get extremely good results with AP dip...and they do look fantastic, but in all honesty it is a longer process than actually using washes, and highlights.
If anyone out there actually thinks you can base coat some figures dip them in this stuff and you'll have great results you'd be sorely mistaken. This is not a time saving quick fix solution to getting a good looking Army on the battlefield....it really does take some effort, and my opinion is it takes too long to achieve good results.

All that you are doing is getting the whole figure Shaded/washed normally in Brown all over at the same time as applying varnish. ....but then you have to spray on a dull coat varnish anyway to take away the high gloss shine...so you didn't actually save any time at all....is it just me, or does this seem pointless to anyone else?

if you don't really mind all the colours of your figure being highlighted with one colour...errr Brown...possibly black then great......i still have some figures left that i haven't got round to repainting and could show you a comparison shot if you're interested....I found it awful..I virtually cried when I saw my finished Spartans.
For the life of me I can't actually see the point to it given the extra steps you have to take to get it to look halfway decent....

Another down side is it's about £15 a small pot in UK....at least i think that is how much i paid for it......think how many pots of paint and wash you could get for that.

My negativity aside, it might be worth asking Phil how he uses it, or the Col...........and see what you think.

Duck And Cover!!! Incoming!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKqXu-5jw60

Well said.

[mikeland]

@correus
perhaps hiding under the school desk is a good plan to a void being hit by any half used tins of Army Painter dip that BD might lob.... but I'd he goes nuclear... It might not help.

@BiggusDickus
So let me get this straight are you saying you don't like e army painter dip so much?

[Biggus Dickus]

@correus
perhaps hiding under the school desk is a good plan to a void being hit by any half used tins of Army Painter dip that BD might lob.... but I'd he goes nuclear... It might not help.

@BiggusDickus
So let me get this straight are you saying you don't like e army painter dip so much?

....................There is a rather famous wood stain......"Which does exactly what it says on the tin".........If only AP Dip would do that........Personally I feel it is against the trade description act i would have thought to say something is a dip.....but in fact you cant actually dip anything in it......it really needs to be rebranded to something more suitable like...."Army painter brush on brown varnish which takes longer to use than painting the conventional way, and don't use it on tanks"...but yes it would need to be a big tin, so their marketing dept may not want to use my suggestion.
I have nothing against AP....There Tufts look a lot like tufts.......But I'll never forgive them for what it did to a large number of figures that i dipped in one go.....that was a big mistake.....only ever do one and see how it goes.....if you are a bit mad and think you can save yourself time with this stuff!
There really aren't any short cuts to getting your figures painted to a high standard....you actually have to put in the time and layers whether you are using highlights, washes or brush on dip.......
So Mikeland, I'm not a fan.....what gave me away?
Having said all that.......others do get superb results with it....but surely isn't it quicker to cover the whole figure in devlan mud wash and then spray on a dullcoat?.....surely the effect is the same......a brown Hue....nice if you like that kind of thing........I'm not saying my painting is anything to write home about.....I just don't like them looking like the Cohort has marched through a cesspit on the way to the forum and having a crispy candy coated shell, but that's just me
If i can save one person from making the mistake I made by using it, then i will have achieved something........Imagine, i must have spent over a hundred hours painting the figures before i dipped them in that muck....i wanted to take legal action, i was so fed up.....Obviously had to spend considerably longer repainting them, no one said life was fair but i do feel cheated by the dip.
OK rant Over...I'll not mention it again.........unless someone brings up the subject.....i think I managed to contain the meltdown

[mikeland]

Is it safe to come out from under my dress yet?

[Ian047]

I have never fancied using it due to the fact they make it sound to easy to use.