The 25mm Warrior

Not bad huh?

I never even painted an Eldar before.

I picked up this mini in a bitz box at the local game shop last night(for a buck at that). With our fearless leader sending out a call for blogs about time saving tips I figured it was the perfect time to show you just how simple and fast The Army Painter dip really is. Not only is it quick but the level of detail is unparalleled for the amount of time you'll put into the mini.

You want to save time?

Here's how I paint a Saim-Hann Eldar. All paints used are from Games Workshop.

1. I primed the miniature white. This a crucial. Unless you want the mini looking really dark after you dip it always use white primer (or The Army Painter primers that are designed for it). We've tried it the other way and believe me, the mini will come out looking far better.

2. Since this is a Saim Hann trooper red is the primary color. I used Blood Red for this. Cover the main body area trying to be careful not to get it onto other area of the mini where you'll be using different colors. It's no big deal if you do but it does save time in it's application. Easier to put colors over white than fighting with a stronger color base coat. This step took 5 minutes. If you have The Army Painter Primer: Red you can just skip this step altogether. Remember though if you use the red primer on the mini as is (plastic or metal) it will look a tad darker than if you just prime white. I found that out with my Blood Angles.

2. Next was the helmet using Fortress Gray. I decided on going with a gray helmet against white considering I'm using the strong tone which is a dark brown color. It looks good on gray but ends up making white surfaces look brown. Took 2 minutes for the helmet. I also went for a lighter shade of gray since the dip will darken it up some. Also this is where I could change it up a bit and add some color variety to the mini. Wraithbone is way cool and is a welcome change to my usual painting (bolters and metal weapons get a bit boring after awhile). I covered the gun and his device thingy in Bleached Bone. Now the strong tone quick shade looks awesome on Bleached Bone. This step took about 7 minutes.

3. With the miniature nearly done it's time to focus on some detail. The weapon tube and gems were the longest step clocking in at about 15 minutes. I never knew just how important gems were to the Eldar mini until I painted one. The model is covered with em. Not to mention you want them to look good (more on that later). I changed up the gem colors. on red I used Enchanted Blue. The gun got Liche Purple gems. I used Goblin Green on the device and the helmet got some more Blood Red.

4. Now your Eldar is done and ready to take the plunge. Go ahead and go back and clean up anything where you made a ooops before you dip though. This will be your longest step, letting the mini dry. Now you don't have to wait the 24 hours The Army Painter website tells you to wait. My patience lasts about 30 mins and then I start to dull coat the the mini. Not only does the anti shine take the shine away but it also smooths out the stickiness from the dip.

5. Remember those gems? Now their all nice and dull from the protective coat you just put on em. Now if you can paint gems more power to ya but were saving time here so scratch that idea. Instead take a toothpick and get just a dab of the dip on the tip. Glaze the point over the gems and just let it dry. The dip with make em shiny. Natural light with give it a gem effect.

That's it fellas, nice and easy. All in all painting time took about 30 minutes. Simple math tells us a squad of 10 is gonna take nearly 6 hours.

A squad in an afternoon?

Now that is saving some time!