Wargaming Recon

Knowing that practice makes perfect I set to work on another piece to dip in the Army Painter Quick Shade Strong tone that I bought at The Whiz, Rte 9 East in Westborough, recently.  I grabbed a Perry Miniatures Mounted Infantry Officer in hunting shirt and painted him.  He might be my army general and he will ride the horse I dipped in Army Painter Quick Shade.

He was basecoated as such:

Citadel Khemri Brown – hunting shirt, stirrups

Citadel Knarloc Green – Pants, sash/belt

Citadel Tallarn Flesh – Skin

Citadel Boltgun Metal – Sword

Citadel Dark Flesh – Hair

Citadel Chaos Black – Boots and hat

After everything was covered with the appropriate color the model sat while the paint dried.  As soon as it was dry I opened the can of Quick Shade, again with a regular screwdriver, inverted the model and dipped.  All of these models are affixed to a piece of cork for easy painting.  That gave me something to hang onto while dipping.  If you don’t have anything like this then please use pliers as suggested on the can.

Several strong shakes removed most of the excess.  A few passes with my Ultrabrush took care of the rest.  Below are pictures taken after drybrushing and immediately after dipping.  More pictures will be taken tomorrow at 20 hours after dipping.

A trip to The Whiz, Rte 9 East in Westborough, resulted in a special order for Army Painter Quick Shade Strong Tone for $29.99.  Chris Walsh, co-owner with wife Lynne, used this to paint an entire 2,000 point Flames of War French army in record time.  That is all I needed to hear before wanting to know how to use this wonder product.

A 28mm Perry Miniatures horse is the guinea pig for my Quick Shade test.  If all goes according to plan, then my horses and dragoons for my AWI American Militia will be painted the same way.

Chris expressed the importance of using a lighter shade for the base coat than the desired finished color.  He explained that the Quick Shade will darken colors.  When using the Quick Shade be sure to do so in a well ventilated room.  The product has a strong turpentine smell.

I primed the horse with Citadel Chaos Black spray.  Once dry I applied a base coat of Vallejo Model Color 135 Beige Brown to the horse and Citadel Dessert Yellow to the saddle and bridle.  A touch up of Citadel Chaos Black to the eyes followed.  A light application of Citadel Dark Flesh was applied to the tail and mane for added distinction.  After this dries we can dip.

All of my models are temporarily glued onto cork bases, with a small dab of superglue but Blu-Tack also works, so I didn’t need pliers or any other tool to hold onto the model while dipping.  The can of Quick Shade needs to be opened, as you would a can of house paint, with a regular screwdriver.  Gripping the cork I inverted the model into the Quick Shade.  After a few moments I removed the model and shook off excess Quick Shade.

The horse has several areas where the Quick Shade might pool and form an inpenetrable, and ugly, mass.  Between the tail and rear legs, between each leg, and between the head and the reins are the spots to look at.  Chris suggested an Ultrabrush from Microbrush International as a great way to remove the excess from those spots.  A pack of ten brushes costs $2.59.  I inserted the brush into the necessary aperture and the Quick Shade attached to the brush.

Although the instructions say to give 18-24 hours for drying to complete that may not be necessary.  Chris said he only gave 24 hours for drying and was happy with the result.  I took pictures of the horse after the base coat, 18 hours of drying and again after 36 hours.

There is strong debate whether you should dip your models or paint on the Quick Shade.  Gordon, owner of Adler Hobby, prefers to paint the Quick Shade onto the models.  He’s talked about this on his Black Powder New England Yahoo Group.  At first I thought I’d want to paint the Quick Shade onto my model but dipping is quick, easy, and accessible.  A word of caution before you attempt this.  Wear gloves (latex or latex-free if you’re allergic) like they do at the dentist/doctor is strongly recommended.  The Quick Shade got on my hands and the only way I could get it off was by scrubbing my hands with a Lysol wipe.  Save yourself the trouble and wear gloves.  You can get them at just about any local pharmacy, Walmart, Target, etc.