Talent in a Bottle - a (brief) history of “slop it in brown liquid”

[Stoof]

That seems... Unpleasant. That stuff will never set and I'm doubtful you can varnish over it. Whilst the smell of old grease and oil is pleasant in the context of a steam workshop or garage, I'm not sure I would want it on my hands - and then anything else I touch - every time I play a wargame.

 

[Fold]

My homebrew version of brown slop is what a friend and I have for many years referred to as gunge.

I don’t remember who or how it was discovered but it’s essentially lightly watered down PVA mixed with brown and black paint, or just as often with very dirty brush water.

We used it to speed paint tanks and terrain by plastering the entire model in it then gently removing from high spots with a damp cloth.

I have also used it on figures - skeletons and mummies are prime candidates.

I wrote about it with photos on this stormlord speed paint - https://fromthewastes.com/finish-your-stuff/speed-painted-stormlord/

 

[daveh]

Curtis at Ramshackle games has a great sense of humour , offbeat and quirky

 

[Eilif]

A very important distinction missing from this timeline is the introduction of the Stain-Plus-Polyurethane products. I remember reading some website dating to the late 90's where "dipping" was laid out and the specific product used was "Minwax Polyshades" which is a product that combines a stain with polyurethane into one step. IIRC, folks had used straight wood stain previously as well and some continued to do so.

The Polyurethane adds the thick viscosity that causes the product to move a bit slower and collect just a bit more near the edges and crevases and settle in a sort of faux-shade across the wider surfaces. In some cases this even produces almost a highight effect. This is especially the case when the miniature is primed in white and brighter and lighter colors than usual are used for the block-painting.

AFAIK, Army Painters dips (in a can) were similar to the Minwax Polyshades products (even came in the same size tin) but they cost 30 bucks a can instead of 6 for Polyshades.

I did a brush-dipping tutorial (Polyshades with a brush instead of emersion) years back...

With liberty and brush dipping for all!

Though I love the look of painted figures on dramatic terrain, I find painting to be one of my least-favorite parts of wargaming. Since I discovered dipping a few years ago, it has revolutionized m…

www.chicagoskirmishwargames.com

...and I continue to dip most of my minis in this manner. For big projects, I've sometimes even used emersion dip.

Runewars: Daqan Army Finished!

Continuing on from my previous post, which showed the miniatures before dipping, last week I put the finishing touches on my Daqan army. Spearmen Usually I use a brush to apply the “dip&#8221…

www.chicagoskirmishwargames.com

Finished- Konflikt ’47 British Infantry

I finally finished of these doughty fellows: 30 Infantry for my Konflikt ’47 British forces. They are Warlord Games figures, 20 plastic British Infantry and 10 metal British Expeditionary For…

www.chicagoskirmishwargames.com

The one thing that has changed is that almost everything gets a light drybrush of a light tan or something similar. Adds a bit of dustyness a touch of highlight and can soften areas where the dip may have collected more than I'd like. Both of the armies above have almost doubled in size and since posting them both have received the very light tan drybrush.

It's not going to please everyone, and it works better for some schemes than others but for those wanting "Tabletop" quality results quickly, there's almost nothing faster than.
-Prime
-Block Colors
-Dip
-Drybrush/Highlight.
-Matte Varnish.

 

[MusingWarboss]

@Eilif it was mentioned in post #1 under the ‘2000’ section, as that was the earliest mention of it but I didn’t have an exact date.

Exact date unknown: People love home brew so developed their own “Magic Wash” using Polyshades Minwax or Pledge/Future Acrylic Floor Polish + Windsor & Newton Inks.

A mates brother did their HeroQuest set using the Classic wood stain varnish dip and they were almost bulletproof. So that was early 90s before the Minwax or Pledge+Ink thing. My recollection of polyshades being mentioned online was around the 2000s along with pledge floor polish mixes.

Happy to add a proper date for both if anyone has links to posts, forums etc!!

Best I could find was one post from 2012 on The Miniatures Page where one user suggested they were doing it in 1998. Though we have to take their word on that.

EDIT: I asked the AI overlords to look as they can search quicker and better than I can.

This is what it (Grok) found:

The earliest clear online references I found are from 2004, with the technique (often called “Miracle Dip” or similar) already described as well-known by then. It was in use earlier than that, possibly in the late 1990s as your 2012 TMP poster claimed, but verifiable public online mentions start around 2002–2004.73

Key early findings (in roughly chronological order):

• ~2002 (HAT.com tips page): Explicit mention of the “miracle dip” method using Minwax brand oak furniture stain/varnish (a Polyshades-style product). It notes that it “deepens the colors, settles darkly into folds, and provides a tough glossy coat to figures. Fast and easy.” This aligns with the dipping/sealing approach for miniatures.78
• February 3, 2004 (The Miniatures Page): In a thread on speed-painting Napoleonic minis, a user refers to the “well-known ‘miracle dip’” involving basic block painting followed by a dark Minwax wood stain product (or equivalent). This confirms it was already established in wargaming communities by early 2004.73
• 2005 (BoardGameGeek and RPG.net): Mentions of using Minwax Polyshades for simultaneous inking/dark-washing/sealing on minis (e.g., War of the Ring figures) and brushing/dipping it on figures. One RPG.net post from January 2005 discusses brushing on Polyshades instead of dipping.75
• 2006 (Heroscapers forum): Discussion of a dipping method with Minwax Polyshades (recommended Tudor shade) by user jgklaw, with links to earlier examples on CMGRealms/MKRealms forums. This matches the technique exactly.85
• 2007 (Bell of Lost Souls): Detailed tutorial on dipping Orks with Minwax Polyshades Antique Walnut Satin, treating it as an established “Hive Fleet in a Day” style technique.45

Later references (2010+, including your 2012 TMP link) build on this, often comparing it to Army Painter QuickShade (which was marketed as a more convenient version of the Minwax dip). Some users claimed personal use going back to the late 1990s, but I couldn’t find public online corroboration predating ~2002.4

The method seems to have spread through hobby forums, personal experimentation with hardware-store products, and word-of-mouth in wargaming communities (especially for batch-painting hordes or quick armies) before becoming widely documented online in the mid-2000s. “Miracle Dip” was a common nickname for the Polyshades approach. Pre-2004 mentions are sparse likely because many early discussions happened on now-defunct forums, email lists, or in-person at game stores/conventions.

Updated timeline accordingly.

 

[Eilif]

@Eilif it was mentioned in post #1 under the ‘2000’ section, as that was the earliest mention of it but I didn’t have an exact date.

A mates brother did their HeroQuest set using the Classic wood stain varnish dip and they were almost bulletproof. So that was early 90s before the Minwax or Pledge+Ink thing. My recollection of polyshades being mentioned online was around the 2000s along with pledge floor polish mixes.

Yeah, anything with a liquid varnish invovled is going to be pretty dang tough, especially if it's polyurethane as it's essentially coating your miniature in a layer of plastic.

I think the old Dr Faust website had "Magic Washes" based around Pledge and Ink.