No difficult painting techniques was used for these. Not that I could have, even had I wanted to : ) Army painter light blue spray coat then hormagaunt purple, goblin green and and the old flesh wash for the banner poles and other brownish sections. Then three different dips was added with a brush. A matt colorless water based polyurethan (varnish?) was combined with necron abyss, purple ink and flesh wash, and used on the skin, scales and metal/wood parts respectively. The water based polyurethane varnish I used was rated, as far as I could interpret it, as having a lower viscosity than the earlier non water based version which also was on sale. (I think the change towards a water based varnish was for environmental reasons.) So, on a scale from "milk" to "syrup", I believe the water based version should be closer to the milk end of the scale than the previous non water based version. Perhaps this makes it less functional as a dip. However, the advantage compared to an Army painter dip I've previously used (non water based, as I recall) seemed to be that this water based polyurethane varhish did not immediately completely ruin the brush. Unfortunately it took longer than I had hoped to finish this unit of 54 Saurus. However the end result was also somewhat better than I had expected. Also since it was the first with unit I've completed that many steps on, there was some trial and error going on. So with some luck, maybe the next unit won't take as long to finish.
Re: Some Saurus pictures Not used to dip but not a bad result would be much better once based can you repost when that is done. Stu
Re: Some Saurus pictures Yes, I can do that. I don't know when that might be though, I've not decided yet on how to base the army and might paint a few other units before I do.
Re: Some Saurus pictures Nice work, I like the colours. I dont have any experience with varnishes but I have found a lot of good results by combining certain washes (either mixing them then applying, or applying one wash over the top of another once its dried) and it lets you paint lots of units quickly.
Re: Some Saurus pictures Yeah, I was satisfied with how the colors turned out. Typically when dip is applied, the same dip color will be used for the entire figure and this will tend to make all of the colors below appear more similar and to decrease contrast between these colors. In this case I felt the blue spraycoat was fairly dark and too close to the purple as it was. By using different colors of dip for the skin and the scales it was possible to instead increase the contrast between skin and scales and produce a more colorful figure. There certainly seems to be a lot of similarities in how wash and varnish is applied overall. The main difference would appear to be that in case of a wash, because it is watery and flows so easily, when applied to a surface most of the wash will find its way to the "lowest" points of the surface and leave off most of the color pigment at these points. The result will tend to be a strong contrast between low points where much color pigment is left and other areas where little color will be left. With varnish, because it does not flow as easily as a wash, it will be less able to concentrate to the lowest points of the surface. The color pigments will be more evenly spread out and there will be less contrast between the lowest points of the surface and other areas. The more even dispersion of color pigments means less pronounced differences in contrast between adjoining areas, there will be a gradual change which provides more smooth transitions between areas. Which may or may not be the effect one is looking for in any given case. Also the varnish provides a strong layer of surface protection, lessening the need for additional efforts in this respect.
Re: Some Saurus pictures Its interesting to hear you say that. Again, I haven't much experience with dips and varnishes but I've noticed in pictures of other people's models the opposite. The varnishes tend to be more transparent on raised surfaces, leaving more of the original colour intact whereas GW washes more heavily tint the underlying colours. Though maybe that's just because my washes are old and starting to dry out When washing I usually dont wash the entire model 1 colour unless the base colours are very contrasting. It works great to wash the whole model of my orcs, as the primary colours are green, bone, red and brown and I dont mind if the brown and bone blend slightly as they're the background colours. But either way, I'll be interested to see more of your army when its done!
Re: Some Saurus pictures I can't argue with your observations. I would not claim to be an expert on the matter and I've used washes very little. I suppose, I may have been wrong to presume a wash would concentrate in the lower areas of a model. Perhaps that would be true if washing some sort of flat terrain model with mountains and ravines. The wash would then supposedly concentrate in the ravines until it dries. But there does not seem to be very many areas on the typical model which could hold a wash until it dries. If any excess wash simply leaves the surface like when you put something in the shower, then it would seem reasonable to expect a fairly uniform distribution of color pigments, just like you describe. Anyway, thanks for your comment. Seems there might be a lesson here, like, on the perils of attempting to theoryhammer how to paint stuff.
Re: Some Saurus pictures This is a Lizardmen Blood Bowl team. I was glad to be able to find some use for a few otherwise fairly useless and/or damaged figures. Gamewise, with only four skinks it won't hold up to injuries too well. But they do have two "cheerleaders", old Temple Guard musicians. The Saurus players are I think mostly old Slann Palanquin bearers with arms from new Sauruses and Goblins. The skink archers have had their weapons removed. The Kroxigor has a right arm from a Chaos Troll, a Saurus tail and a Saurus spearhead in place of the missing left hand. Blue varnish was added to the skin, light brown varnish to the red and yellow parts and black varnish for the white. Overall the color scheme seems a bit flashy, maybe too much. Not too happy with the chainmailed arm of the Kroxigor, perhaps something closer to the colors of the Kroxigor body would have been better, gold instead of silver and blue varnish maybe. The bases are covered with mid green scatter, soaked afterwards in diluted glue to cement the surface. A more uniform hue might have been preferrable for them. A grey-green basecoat instead of the grey which now shines trough might have helped, perhaps a green wash too.