Help with washes?

[mczolton]

Hello all,

I\'m just starting out after a long hiatis and I\'ve come to the realization that I don\'t recall the proper way to wash a mini. I thought I was on the ball with a 50/50 brown ink/water wash over a white undercoat for my skellies, but the results are horrible. While the wash went on great, it didn\'t dry in any of the recesses, only on the raised areas. I tried a few drops of PVA to the wash, but the results were similar.

The question is, what am I doing wrong, and how do I resuce my poorly washed minis?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[Willowwing]

Future floor wax. I take a regular GW bottle of black ink and dump it in a half empty bottle of future floor wax and add water to the rest. I then use this mix to other inks like chestnut and smoke for varying washes. The wax helps coalesce(sp?) or thicken the wash a bit so it stays in the recesses. I mix a little black in for bone with the brown. It works wonders for doing quick aged bone or for any finishing touches.

 

[Trevor]

Or Vallejo glaze medium.

 

[mczolton]

Originally posted by Trevor
Or Vallejo glaze medium.

Is that something you add to ink, paint, or both?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[Ogrebane]

I use dishwashing detergent when I mix inks and I go for about 30% ink and 70% water with 1 drop of detergent. Ive tried the aussie version of futures as well and it seems to work the same. I would also paint over the undercoat with a watered down white first. Ive found some undercoats ar very absorbent and as they dont always go in the recesses the paint or wash only goes on the syrface and not in the recesses.

 

[Valander]

Originally posted by mczolton

Originally posted by Trevor
Or Vallejo glaze medium.

Is that something you add to ink, paint, or both?

Thanks,
Mark

Glaze medium is the \"bee\'s knees.\" I\'ve used it with both inks and paints with good results. It can freak you out a little bit though, because it\'s kind of whitish while wet; but don\'t worry, it dries clear.

I also use Future Floor Finish mixed with distilled water to thin down my paints into an ink-like consistency, and have been happy with those results, too.

I think one of the things you might be encountering (because I had the same experience) is that the water you\'re using is too \"hard\"--meaning it\'s got too many chemicals or minerals in it. This can cause some weird behavior when you use it to thin your paints or inks, most notably \"tide marks\" or chalkiness. Depending on where you live, your straight tap water might be pretty hard. You might consider dropping by a grocery and grabbing a gallon of distilled water (not just purified, and definitely not bottled water like Evian, Dasani, etc.), and using that to thin your inks with.

 

[Modderrhu]

I\'ll recommend Future Floor Wax too. I made up a stock of wash water, with 1 part Future, 5 parts water. Four or five parts of that with 1 part paint makes a fantastic wash.

PVA glue increases the gathering properties, but does not improve wetting. And that\'s the problem you\'ve been having with unpainted spots. Detergent increasing the wetting properties, but not the gathering.

Future Floor Wax does both. Easy, huh?

 

[Demon Hunter]

Since I can\'t get Future Floor Wax here in the Netherlands I use Winsor&Newton Flow Improver and Vallejo Matte Medium in my washes. The Flow Improver makes sure that the wash will run into the recesses, while the Matte Medium makes the wash dry perfectly matte

 

[Modderrhu]

Here you go, Demon Hunter, from The Complete Future

In the Netherlands it is known as “Pronto Wax for wooden floors” with a brown cap or \"Parket Plus\".
...
In France and Belgium it is \"Klir\" and comes in a white plastic canister with a red square cap. In Belgium and the Netherlands Johnson’s “Klir” is now being packaged under a new nametag - Johnson’s “Sols Plus” and as \"Vloer Plus\"

 

[mczolton]

Thanks for the updates guys. I definitely plan on trying Future Floor Wax.

I also noticed that after a thin coat of Bleached Bone, an additional wash went on pretty much as expected so I think my undercoat is partly to blame. I\'m using an old can of Armory spray primer. Maybe time for an upgrade?

Speaking of mixing washes, how do you guys transfer your paint/ink to your palette with respect to brands that don\'t come in drop dispenser bottles?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[Fizl]

Originally posted by mczolton


Speaking of mixing washes, how do you guys transfer your paint/ink to your palette with respect to brands that don\'t come in drop dispenser bottles?

Thanks,
Mark

Nothing exciting on that one - an old paint brush or a stirrer or something like that.

Shaz

 

[Modderrhu]

Originally posted by mczolton
Speaking of mixing washes, how do you guys transfer your paint/ink to your palette with respect to brands that don\'t come in drop dispenser bottles?

I transferred all my GW paints into dropper bottles. Or you could use a toothpick. Dip the toothpick in the paint, and drop it onto your palette. You get to count the drops too, so (for example) you can consistantly mix a 3:2 mixture of yellow and bone, or a 4:1 mix of water and paint.

 

[mczolton]

I ordered a batch of six Reaper Pro paint bottles. I plan on using them with my inks for the time being but I may order some more.

Thanks,
Mark