Washing tips?
Llarry Amrose
Been painting spaceship minis and had blackwashing suggested to me. I grew up
doing 1/72 WWII aircraft/vehicles, so I've done drybrushing for
weathering/damage and I'm comfortable with that, but I've never done washes
and not entirely sold on the idea.
Went down to My Local Game Store and picked up some of Citadel's washes and
started giving them a try on some old never-to-be-finished pieces and parts
and figure the results are so crappy that I must be doing something (or a
number of things wrong).
I guess my two biggest issues are:
1) Most washes I've seen seem a little too heavy. It's one thing to accent
seams and detail, but another to paint a space that (to scale) would be a 1-2
*foot* gap between hull plates.
2) Heavy discoloration of the base coat. If I'd wanted to mess up the paint
job that badly, I would have been a lot less particular in picking the colors
in the first place.
Help?
Llarry Amrose
Tempe, AZ
Red Wigglers -- the Cadillac of worms (we're the)
Cadillac of worms (we're the) Cadillac of worms...
Rick Rutherford
ll...@nospam.getnet.com (Llarry Amrose) wrote:
>Heavy discoloration of the base coat. If I'd wanted to mess up the paint
>job that badly, I would have been a lot less particular in picking the colors
>in the first place.
I've had this problem, too. Unfortunately, it seems to be a characteristic
of the hobby paints in general. I get around it by using thinner washes,
and by controlling the amount of paint that gets washed onto the figure.
It seems unfair -- after all, one of the reasons to wash the figure is that
it's supposed to be a fast, easy way to add shadows to the detail.
If you spend a lot of time painting the wash into specific areas, then it's
no longer fast or easy!
Another technique I've used is to use artists' acrylics (Liquitex), because
they're not as syrupy as hobby paints when thinned with water, but they
still require a certain amount of control.
--
Rick Rutherford ----- ri...@digex.net ----- The above opinions are mine.
"I've seen collisions on fire off the side of the ethernet LAN.
I've seen the lights on the CSU/DSU glitter in the dark near the router.
All these things will be lost in time, like dropped packets. Time to die."
Brian Lojeck
> >Heavy discoloration of the base coat. If I'd wanted to mess up the paint
> >job that badly, I would have been a lot less particular in picking the colors
> >in the first place.
>
> I've had this problem, too. Unfortunately, it seems to be a characteristic
I prefer to paint my base coats a shade or two too light... then the wash
darkens it to just about where I want it!
I recently did the Fantasian Hexrunner from Planetstorm. I painted the
body in bright, cartoonish light blue with white "striped" camo... a
brown, black wash turned it from a cartoon figure into a grimy, detailed,
battle-hardened military vehicle! (complete with dust and grime in all the
right places!)
--
Brian Lojeck
loj...@mizar.usc.edu
Entertainment Technology Center
qa...@qnet.com
I use their washes, but you have to dilute them considerably (50:50
and still I make sure the brush is really wet before dipping into the
solution). Diluted, they come out pretty good but I often have to
wash twice.
Glenn Williams
"No bird flies so high as when
shot from the barrel of a gun."
John Turner
>Been painting spaceship minis and had blackwashing suggested to me. I grew up
>doing 1/72 WWII aircraft/vehicles, so I've done drybrushing for
>weathering/damage and I'm comfortable with that, but I've never done washes
>and not entirely sold on the idea.
>
>Went down to My Local Game Store and picked up some of Citadel's washes and
>started giving them a try on some old never-to-be-finished pieces and parts
>and figure the results are so crappy that I must be doing something (or a
>number of things wrong).
>
>I guess my two biggest issues are:
>
>1) Most washes I've seen seem a little too heavy. It's one thing to accent
>seams and detail, but another to paint a space that (to scale) would be a 1-2
>*foot* gap between hull plates.
>
>2) Heavy discoloration of the base coat. If I'd wanted to mess up the paint
>job that badly, I would have been a lot less particular in picking the colors
>in the first place.
>
>Help?
>>
>Llarry Amrose
I use inks to wash. Windsor & Newton makes some great inks in many
colors.
I avoid GWs paints at all costs, they are way too funky. I use simple
acrylic paints available at Michael's or Hobby Lobby. The ones I like
best are Accent or Apple Barrel Colors/Folk Art. $1.5-$2 for 2 oz.
vs. $1.99 for .62 oz of GW stuff.
* John S. Turner (Ave...@flash.net) *
* http://www.flash.net/~avery1/gamehome.htm *
* This post reflects the opinions, beliefs, *
* and humour of myself. Take offense at your*
* own risk. Cut the SPAMICIDE from from the*
* addy to reply, sorry for the trouble. *
BubbaP0956
>I use inks to wash. Windsor & Newton makes some great inks in >many colors.
I haven't tried inks for washing yet. I still just use
darker paints -- but it's on my in-queue of things to
do. :-) I just wash, fix-up what I don't want darker,
highlight (both literally and dry-brush) as usual and
finish up. I gather inks give much better results, so
one of these days RSN (Real Soon Now).... :-)
>I avoid GWs paints at all costs, they are way too funky. I use simple
>acrylic paints available at Michael's or Hobby Lobby. The ones I like
>best are Accent or Apple Barrel Colors/Folk Art. $1.5-$2 for 2 oz.
>vs. $1.99 for .62 oz of GW stuff.
I too do this. My favorite paint line resulted from
a *lark* purchase of a bottle of *Christmas Green*
from the local TINY Ace Hardware shop in my tiny
hometown in rural MD. After trying it, I was com-
pletely thrilled with my *discovery* (!), and these
now are my favorite line of paints (although some-
what limited in number of shades -- easily fixed
since each is in a bottle in which *drops* can be
squeezed out, so color mixing is easy as anything).
For those of you out there interested in these
excellent acrylics sold in 2 fl oz (59 ml) squeeze
bottles, they are sold under the brand name
"Homefront" Satin (flat) Decorator Colors, and I
know they are available at my Ace Hardware (so
I imagine most others, in the glue and small fix-
em-up paints/tapes/etc. area) for $1.94 per bottle.
I absolutely love 'em, and use them for every-
thing, except metalizing and spray-priming. Try
'em, you'll like 'em! :-) I give them an unqualified
Bubbafied Thumbs Up (BTU).
See ya!
Bubba Pearson
Knoxville, MD
DDetmer89
Rather than washing with a water based paint, try a wash with artist oils. A
couple of good reasons, One, oil paint will not pick up the undercoat of water
based paint such as acyrillics. Two, because its oil, it will seep into the
cracks and holes where water simple bubbles over.
To use oils in a wash add turpintine (NOT PAINT THINNER) til its almost like
water then apply. Let dry for 24 hours more or less and do what you do with
the figure. You can add more washes if its not dark enough. This is called
glazing by artist.
A single tube of oil paint should last for the rest of your live so get a
good brand such a Winsor Newton. I've used this technique for years it works
Good luck
Rod
Thomas S. Durdella
I have not tried this, but it seems like there would be a couple of
downsides. Off-hand I can think of:
Fumes (turpentine)
Drying time
Cost (you would be buying a second set of paints, though truthfully I don't
know how much these cost)
Also (I could be wrong on this) isn't it usually suggested that you use
different brushes when you use acrylics and enamels? Would this be the case
with oils as well?
Like I said, I've never tried the oils. I have found a useful method when
thinning acrylics. Make sure the brush is soaked with water before even
touching the paint with it. When you mix the water and paint on your
pallette, mix them very well. When you think it looks evenly thinned, mix
some more. When you apply it to the miniature, make sure you do not apply
too much. Just as you do with normal painting, make sure it is an even coat
and not too thick.
--
Thomas S. Durdella
Twinsburg Wargame Association: http://pages.sssnet.com/thomasd
Eric D Crahen
Llarry Amrose (ll...@nospam.getnet.com) wrote:
: Went down to My Local Game Store and picked up some of Citadel's washes and
: and figure the results are so crappy that I must be doing something (or a
: number of things wrong).
I snaged a bottle of Citadel's armor wash and tried it out. It just makes
an evil, evil mess. I found it kind of has a wierd surface tension that
makes you load your brush with the stuff or you just aren't able to pick
any up and it is very runny and stains easily. Does anyone use these
washes perhaps thinning them or something first?
I'm pretty new the hobby and washes scared me for a while. I used to be
very very bad at washing but I'm getting better. At first you've just got
to not be afraid of ruining a paint job if you're to get better washing.
I'm still somewhat nervous about doing my washes because it takes me about
two hours or more to paint all the base coat on and get everything covered
like it should. Anyone have any tips for painting quickly?
Washing is one of those things you'll have to get a feel for.
The best thing to do, at least for me anyways, is to grab a miniature and
just lay down a quick basecoat on it. Don't worry about detail too much
your just practicing. I took a goblin did his pants and down brown and the
waist up all green. Next just try out different washes to see what works
and what doesn't. I read through all the painting faqs and asked for
advice from many people but, while it is very useful, it is not a
practical way to learn. After you expirement for yourself enough you'll
end up with something that works out that you are happy with.
What I found worked best for me was these two things:
1. This is kind of a cheater's wash but does turn out nice:
Mix about 2/3 of polly-s or some other flat finish or
'clear' paint with 1/2 black. Just slap it on and it really
comes out nice. Does not even stain the basecoat.
I currently working with the following method because I felt like I solved
my problem by avoiding it using the clear paint method above and I wanted
to tackle this wash problem and get a handle on it.
2. This is what I arrived at after my hours of expirementing,
I still need to adjust it now and then depending on the
situation but it basically goees like this:
Take the brush you'll be washing with, quickly dip it into
your paint about half way. Then quickly dip it into your
water.
*note: I use 20oz pop tops to mix paint in because they are
easy to wash and you can glue minis to them while you paint
(and because I drink an utterly ridiculous amount of pop).
Take the brush and smear it into the 20oz top just to mix
the paint and water a bit and see what the consistancy of it
is. This also tends to deposit most of the wash mix in the
pop top (not soda damnit! ;). Then I go back for one more quick
dip in my water, usually I dip it in all the way but sometimes
you only need to go 1/2 way in or so. Make sure you don't dip
the brush in past the hairs because if the metal part of the
brush gets in you'll pick up too much water. You don't want to
be soaking the brush in the water either as you'l pick up too
much. You only want a quick dip.
I do this with my Ral Partha black and then just paint the
wash in. Now when I go to apply this wash I don't load the
brush up with the mix so much that it just spills all over the
place as soon as I touch the mini. I'll get a little in the
brush, enough so that a controlled amount will come out and I
only apply it near crevices I want shaded. Don't wash a smooth
broad surface - it'll just be stained and look ugly.
If you end up with that ring around the crevice problem I was
consistently having when I began to wash, just try again with
a thicker wash (one with more paint in it than you used last
time - but preferably less water, water is free paint is not)
I haven't expiremented much yet with colored washes but I know they can
have some cool effects. On http://members.aol.com/drdresch I saw a blue
guy who seems to have a nice blue wash (or wash it just a basecoat and
skilful highlighting?). I've still got to work on my highlighting.
-Eric
--
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cra...@acsu.buffalo.edu
http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~crahen
Andy O'Neill
In article <6139af$e75$1...@prometheus.acsu.buffalo.edu>, Eric D Crahen
<cra...@acsu.buffalo.edu> writes
>Anyone have any tips for painting quickly?
See my web site.
Basically:
Spray grey acrylic car primer.
Wash black or dark colour* into folds
Damp/Dry brush with white primer.
Stain** single coat of paint over - low and hi lights will show through.
* Black works well on dark colours, badly for the likes of yellow where
a light brown wash is best. Mix a little ink in this for a smoother
effect.
** Staining
Thin paint to slightly under milk consistency. Paint on...
Andy O'Neill
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Wargames site at www.l-25.demon.co.uk/index.htm