Hi Everyone
Inspired by the bout of Dipping now plaguing the board Out came the skellies that have sat there for YEARS.
Grabbed the first 5 (including a command) and painted up th eweapons etc. I am using hte plastic skellies that were the bone colour - so in effect before the dip I am really only painting 1/3 of the model at most! (talk about speed painting).
Anyway - took before, during and after photos, the first 5 did come out alittle to dark - or thick I should say, the stain sort of congealed alittle around hte end of the spear and so forth. the legs generally came out well, but its a tad to heavy at the top? I think I need to not shake off so much water on the prelim dip.
Anyway - If someone can give me the instructions, I can put photos up. Also - have another 25 to dip today - with these guys, am going to put the rocks on the bases (as the bases for this army are black anyway) and then dip them, so the stain works on the base as well.

ummm, is there any photos?

You need to host the images on a site like photobucket (free to join) and then use [ img ] then put the url to the picture (right click on it and see 'properties') once it's hosted then finish with [ /img ].

Of course you don't put the spaces in before and after img if you're doing it for real

Got a link and details on what I need to do for this photobucket? I would like to put em up - actually, I should have space as part of my net deal or something - stay tuned, there are photos of before, during and after.

http://www.photobucket.com/

make an account for urself, its rather easy

Ok here we go

Before:


After 1


After 2


(Hope this works...)

I think they need a matt varnish as they are abit shiny (anyone recommend any?) As you can see I used wattle wood stain (Walnut - didn't want a "red" wood stain).

I have done about 25 more now - actually flocked the bases with rocks and then dipped em so the basing was consistent (and easy) so will have more photos coming if requested

A matt varnish would make them look better (they already look pretty good). Try Testors Dullcoat, everyone seems to rave about that that one.

I used to give my skellies a heavy wash of ink and I think the results are very similar.

Post pics if you spray them with matt varnish. Id be interested in seeing how they look afterward, ive always wanted to dip some skellies.

I actually like the first ones

problemo with testors is it is VERY hard to come by, and save from buying a shipping container full, it is nearly exclusively available from queensland...

there are a lot of varieties tho, including the one i use, called 'krystal kote' or some such...

anyways, stallandor, i am about to try this on some tomb kings, looks good so far.

looks good, maybe give them a drybrush of bleached bone?

Mmmm look good, just that the dip seems to dark. Stallandor did you dip them in water before dipping them? If you dip them in water then give them a quick shake (this gets off the excess water and makes them damp) then dip them in. This will lighten the stain and make it look alot less dark.

I did dip in water beforehand
My take is that - with only gloss stain available - then need "dulling down". However - the results are good and QUICK AS! there is no way I am going to drybrush over (even if it looks better) as these guys take no time at all! there lucky that I am even considering a matt varnish!

The prob I have is that on the vertical areas, the stain seems to 'gloop' at the bottom (like at the end of the spear) but its not TO bad - I think I can live with it.

I have been 'dip converted' especially for areas with alittle texture to it - I am going to do the same for my chariot bodies - i think the stain will make the wood sections actually look wodden, and the effect it has on metal looks really good every time.

More photos to come - I got my website thing happening - and must resist the urge to start posting random pics...

Wattyl Matte Estapol (spray or brush-on) is used by a lot of my friends - it's a bit thick (clear, so it won't obscure detail, but you don't really want to paint over it) - however, if you've already dipped them in wood stain, the varnish thickness won't matter.

Ok Guys - weekend means gave them all the matt varnish spray, did basic movement trays, took (BAD) photos and whala - so far 70 completed skellies.

The photos may not show it as clearly as they could, but they look EXCELLENT they are so much better with that matt varnish that really kick ass, and it was easy as. Be prepared for much more dipping model madness when you see my army across the battlefield, I will be doing this for sure on things like chariot bodies and so forth when they are done.

(Ok, these arn't 100% done, I havent painted the shields, I will dip them, and might get around to it one day...)

Sorry - it was dark do the light was being held in left hand while camera in right - trust me they look good. Pity about the movemnt trays though - admittedly they were a ruch job as well. Anyway - I strongly recommend this dipping business.

Hey the look great now that they are all ranked up. I think thats when the dipping technique works best, a single dipped model looks ok, but alot of dipped models all together looks excellent, so great for large 40k armies and any fantasy army. Im considering dipping my African German FOW vehicles and see how they turn out.

Looks very cool when all ranked up. I personally would have went with a lighter shade for skeleton, but i prefer a cleaner look to skellies.