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Seems like following the release of Games Workshop’s Contrast Paints, painting miniatures on easy mode became the new hotness. Different companies jumped on top of the hype wagon, releasing their own version of the recipe, with mixed results. The more the merrier, thus the Green Stuff World, a Spanish company well established in the hobby market, dipped their toes in the trend with their line of Dipping Inks paints.
Recently I have received a chunky package filled with Green Stuff World products, to do with them as I please. I took some of them for a spin and decided to share my experience with you. First on the line are the aforementioned Dipping Inks. Please note that this review is not sponsored by Green Stuff World.
The Dipping Inks is a speed painting system containing paint recipes designed and perfected by Green Stuff World. Thanks to a single coat producing both vibrant highlights and strong shadows, this type of semi-transparent paints is aimed at painting miniatures with ease and speed. It barely takes a bright undercoat such as white, a single coat of speed paint and you can call it done. Alternatively, depending on your skill and expectations, you can build from there by applying more coats, highlights and shadows. Personally I rarely use similar types of paints to start a paint job, but I find them perfect to substitute washes and/or apply blends with, instead.
Dipping Washes come either solo, or packaged inside well thought through color themed sets of six. I have received three of such sets: Dipping Inks 03, Dipping Inks 04 and Dipping Inks 05 and put them to a test to compare the end results with box examples.
For the purpose of proper testing I have selected a set of old school Undead shield adornments (Warhammer Fantasy Battles), featuring some deep recesses, sharp detail and flat areas. Perfect to display what the Dipping Inks can achieve, depending on the surface.
I have painted each piece with a different Dipping Ink, one layer applied manually (by brush), let them dry and prepared a comparison exposition by gluing each piece beside its corresponding example at the back of the box.
The results are a mixed bag. Most (Deep Black, Elfwood Brown, Skeleton Brown…) really hit the mark, translating very well from the back of the box onto the miniature. Others (such as Green Stone and Skull Linen…) performed rather underwhelmingly, while a few (Turquoise Ghost, Blue Glacier..) produced interesting results that exceeded my expectations. Thorough shaking and more tests produced consistent results which is good news for the entire line, not so much for a selected few Dipping Inks that underperformed.
Dark colors definitely steal the spotlight, producing deep shadows and contrasts, whereas in my opinion the lighter tones might use some more juice to make the highlights pop. That being, due to personal preferences and the way I paint I am probably biased. I sincerely believe I will find a use for every single one of them at some point.
Key features:
Here’s where Green Stuff World Dipping Inks really shake the meta. Pricing is just out of this world. We are used to single 18ml pains coming at a price of between 4€ to 7€. Dipping Inks come in a 60ml bottle for a market bending price of 5.75€ (currently 4.31€ on Green Stuff World page!). It drops down to 4€/bottle if purchased as a set of 6!
By comparison:
Green Stuff World Dipping Ink 60ml – 5.75€ (currently 4.31€)
Games Workshop Contrast Paint 18ml – 6.30€
The Army Painter Speedpaint 2.0 18ml – 4.25€
Hands down the best volume for the buck.
With how saturated the hobby paints market currently is, breaking through to general awareness is very difficult and requires some exceptional features on top of reliable results. The Green Stuff World Dipping Inks couldn’t avoid the curse that plagues every other line of paints – being a mixed bag varying between outstanding, ok (a few) and underwhelming. Still on top of offering a variety of effects they come in a large, comfortable bottle and at a phenomenally low price. Most importantly they get the job done on par with competition. Personally I will definitely include them in my day to day commission painting as it seems to me, like I have finally found a good solution for blacks and browns. I sincerely recommend the range and incline you to test it personally, because this is the only way to get to know if these paints work for you.
I hope you find this article interesting. In case of any questions, use the comments section below or contact me via Facebook or Instagram. I would also appreciate it if you considered sharing this content with your friends, who you think might find it useful. Stay tuned for more hobby content.
