Using Citadel washes instead on inks

[mczolton]

I've recently gotten back into painting miniatures and I noticed that GW has discontinued their line on inks in favor of washes. I am aware that this is not a 1:1 replacement as the washes act differently than inks. Unfortunately, a lot of older GW articles reference inks in their painting tutorials. Is there a simple rule of thumb for using the Citadel washes instead of inks? For example, if an article calls for a green ink glaze, can I use the Citadel wash straight out of the pot as a glaze, or is some dilution in order? Or, if an article calls for a thinned chestnut ink wash, can I thin the Citadel wash a bit and use that instead?

You advice is appreciated.

 

[gohkm]

The washes are just inks ready to use out of the pot. They're not quite as highly pigmented as the old inks - if you swab the old Blue Ink across a surface, for example, it'll stain quite readily. The new stuff seems a bit more dilute - you'll need several swabbings across a surface to get a decent stain. But for washing, the new stuff is perfect to use as is.

For glazes, I'd say a bit of dilution is in order. But then again, I thin everything I want to use as a glaze.

 

[JesterzUSMC]

I actually just started using the GW washes.
I normally don't, as I like to blend from shading, and down from highlights.

But as I have more than a few armies to be painted, the general consensus around the LGS was to give them a try.

I got to say, they are great!
I knocked out 3 squads of guardians in about an hour!
Base color, wash and dry-brush (lightly).

I just have to do the details and they're done enough for gaming.

As to glazes, yes, dilute them.
I still have the old inks, and even though the colors aren't an exact match, diluting the washes comes to about the same effect (though the inks were better).

Black base, drybrush mithril silver, and glaze with the old inks...one coat and you had a colored metallic, with the washes, you can't go straight from the pot, but the magic layer is somewhere between 2 and 3 glazes (1 to 1 water to wash)

 

[mczolton]

Thank you for the replies. Based on this feedback, it seems a decent glaze is somewhere around 1:1. How about a wash. I know GW says you can use them straight from the pot, but like inks, I am sure many here dilute them slightly.

 

[JesterzUSMC]

actually, straight out the pot worked great for me.
In fact, you might make the same mistake as I did, and UNDER do it (as opposed to over-doing it).
I actually didn't use enough, it looks like overkill, but the wash really settles in nicely as it dries.

 

[TrystanGST]

Depends on what you're trying to do, and what level of painting you're going for. I tried using badab black straight from the bottle as a black glaze, and instead of darkening the underlying color, it just looked like I made the surface sooty (the pigment didn't apply evenly). I ended up just adding a little black to a bit of water and used that. I like the GW washes for crevices, but not over large surfaces.

 

[mczolton]

actually, straight out the pot worked great for me.
In fact, you might make the same mistake as I did, and UNDER do it (as opposed to over-doing it).
I actually didn't use enough, it looks like overkill, but the wash really settles in nicely as it dries.

I was under the impression that a glaze typically had less dilution than a wash. I'm surprised to hear that for a wash, straight from the pot works well, while for a glaze, some dilution is in order.

Would it help to know that I am going for a display quality mini as opposed to a tabletop quality mini? In that case, should I just stay away from GW washes all together?

Are there inks from Vallejo that would take the place of the discontinued GW inks perhaps?

Thanks again!