Here's a review of their dip from TMP. Just know that you really don't need to pay insane prices for dip unless you want to...
Delthos 09 Feb 2009 3:59 p.m. PST
Well, we played with it some last night. Unfortunately my digital camera's batteries need replacing (or maybe the charger or both) as they don't hold a charge anymore, so no pictures.
As I said I have Minwax Antique Walnut in the one quart size and my friend has the Army Painter Strong Tone which looks like around half a pint.
My first thoughts on opening both cans next to each other is the Army Builder Strong Tone is much darker than I thought it would be. It is very very dark brown, as others have said, I suspect it is very close in color to Minwax Tudor. In looking at the Army Painter Website I thought it was going to be much closer to the Antique Walnut from the in progress shots. The Antique Walnut is a much more red brown and significantly lighter. I can't imagine how dark the Army Painter Dark Tone is. It must be completely black, which looking at their website further it says it is.
My next thing to look at was the sniff test. Army Painter and Minwax definitely do not smell the same. Minwax has a stronger sweeter smell than Army Painter, but they are similar in smell. So very similar but different.
Next was the viscosity and pigment saturation test. We dipped some strips of paper the same size into each can to the same depth, for the same ammount of time, and pulled them out and let it drip off. As far as we could tell they are equally viscious, with possibly Army Builder being slightly more. They seemed to flow off the paper at the same rate and leave a similar amount on the paper. As the colors were significantly different between the two we couldn't really do a valid test on them, but that being said considering the difference in tones, we felt the pigment saturation levels were similar. We'd need Minwax Tudor or one of the other near black colors to do a more accurate test. Again very similar and impossible to tell the difference.
My friend had some Ogre Kingdoms Knoblars painted up so we dipped one of each in each can. They each required a similar number of shakes to get the stain off the figs to a similar level. Again no significant difference, and other than color, they looked similar.
The final test was to dip the tip of a finger in and see how it feels and rub it between fingers and such. Because, lets face it, you are gonna get it on your hands, especially if you are using the actual dip method of application and not brushing it on as I prefer. As would be expected they are both very oily and seem to have a similar lubricating effect. Also as with all stains, it clings very well and resists being wiped off with a paper towel. Both seemed to require a similar ammount of effort to clean off our hands with the towel and similar ammount of work with the soap and water. I forgot my mineral spirits at home as well or clean up would have been much easier.
In conclusion, in my not so expert opinion, while Army Painter is not Minwax, Army Painter is just a repackaged wood stain and varnish. This is probably due to the fact that Army Painter is a UK based company and it is a UK company's oil based polyurathane stain repackaged. I also suspect that all oil based polyuratahne stains are basically the same and any other companies polyurathane stain will perform the same.
The funny thing is that on Army Builders website it says this could be used on a floor or shoes but they don't recommend it. I agree, but for different reasons that what they are implying, at $32 USD dollars per approximately half pint you would have a rediculously expensive finish.
My recommendation is save your self $20 USD (which you can spend on new miniatures) and buy a can of Minwax and be just as happy. You'll also be able to dip at least four times as many miniatures as you would with one can of Army Painter which is triple the cost. Unfortunately I can't recommend a Minwax shade as I've only used Minwax Antique Walnut myself, which works really well on reds and yellows.
I think they saw a market for people that didn't know better and were looking for a miracle cure for painting armies quick. Don't fall for the hype unless you have lots of excess cash you want to waste.
How does the life/coverage area of the sprays compare to GW? 
