1/72 Indians and The Dip

Gaming buddy Dave recently pointed out a real deal in a local store: a box of 48 1/72-scale Italeri AWI Indians for $4.99 (regular $11.99) so I swung by and picked it up. I painted them up over about four hours and thought they would be a good way to show the "dip" technique (a request for my recipe was issued).

I used about 25% Pledge Floor Wax with Future and 75% black acrylic paint to prime these guys (after gluing them to the paint sticks). The pledge makes the paint just runny enough that priming by brush is easy. I then painted with acrylic paints and sealed them with the dip. This seems to sandwich the paint between the wax and prevents flaking.

The dip recipe varies but is about 1 tablespoon of straight floor wax combined with one brush dipped in black paint and one brush dipped in burnt sienna paint. A slow stir mixes without creating bubbles. You can see the darkness in the picture above against the white of the palette.

Here are some comparisons (undipped followed by dipped). While I wouldn't say my painting technique is careful (I go very fast), I do try to leave some shadows in place. The dip then accentuates these as well as adding lighter shadows in places I block painted.



And from the back.





Here are some fellows in coats:



And from the back.



The dip tones down the colour a bit and adds some depth. The effect is even more pronounced on metal or hard-plastic 28mm figures as they tend to have deeper-cut features.

Up next: Some terrain making will occupy my time and club night is Tuesday! I'll also finish these guys off by basing them.