Gaming in Plastic #9: the magic dip
by Bob Barnetson
The “magic dip” is a way of putting shadow onto a figure at the same time as you put a protective sealer on the figure. This technique works with all of the painting techniques discussed so far and can save you significant amounts of time.
The Magic Dip
The magic dip is liquid floor polish, sold under a variety of brand names (e.g., Future Floor Wax, MinWax). It can be found in most grocery or hardware stores and is normally sold in squeeze bottles of 750 ml or more. The liquid floor wax I use is slightly thicker than water, but is still very runny.
The floor wax can be used straight from the bottle to seal figures. Some modelers recommend thinning the floor wax with water (1 part floor wax to 4 parts water) but I’ve never found this necessary. Different brands may require thinning, though. If you would prefer a commercial product, some companies make specific dip for miniatures, such as Army Painter Quickshade.
Colouring the Magic Dip
To get the full magic dip effect, you need to add some colour to the floor wax. I normally put about 10% black and 10% light brown (a caramel colour) paint into the bowl containing the floor wax. After stirring this mixture up (don’t shake—it creates bubbles), it looks grey and a bit gooey. Applying this to my lovingly painted figures always takes some courage, but I have never been let down by this technique and have used it successfully on models from tiny 6mm (1:300-scale) tanks to large 54mm figures.
Some of the guys at my club prefer to use inks instead of paint. I’ve never really found the result noticeably different. If you use inks you’ll want to experiment with the correct proportions, as inks may be more intense than paints.
Applying the Magic Dip
The magic dip got its name because some gamers grasp their figures by the base, insert them head-first into a deep bowl of the dip, withdraw, let some of the excess run off and then set them (base down) to dry.
I’ve never been much for dipping. The floor wax that you’ll get on your fingers is slippery and, eventually, a figure will squirt out of your hands and sink to the bottom of the dish—necessitating a sticky search and rescue. Also, as the wax starts to dry it becomes sticky like tree sap.
I prefer to apply the magic dip using a large brush. This makes less of a mess and gives me more control over the dip itself. I find that 75% of the time, the brush puts the right amount of shading in the right places. The rest of the time, I must use the brush to move the shadow around a bit so that it doesn’t puddle inappropriately (e.g., on the face) and too much doesn’t pool in a recess.
The pictures below show a fairly dramatic “before and after” sequence. I don’t think they are exactly the same figure, but they’re from the same paint stick. I intentionally did a half-assed paint job on the block painting to show how effective this technique can be.
Once the figures have been “dipped”, I set them down to dry. Note that some of the dip will run off the figure and quasi-glue it to the surface it is drying on. I use a smooth plastic cutting board as a handy drying surface as figures pop-off easily. Letting figures dry on paper means scraping gooey pulp off the bottom. Overall, the magic dip takes about the same amount of time as acrylic paint to dry.
Final Coat and Bubbles
The magic dip seals your figures. The dip is slightly shiny so some of the guys at my club seal with a matt sealer (e.g., Testor’s dull coat). I normally don’t bother doing this unless I’m doing WW2 armour, where I apply decals on top of the magic dip and then seal to get a very flat finish.
One problem with magic dip is the formation of tiny bubbles. These bubbles form when the liquid is excited (by shaking) and when it is too vigorously brushed onto an uneven surface. I find the bubbles can be easily teased off the figures by using a drier brush while the figure is wet. If the bubble dries on the figure, you will have to live with it.