Using GW washes

[amrogers3]

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. :eat:

I noticed when I apply the GW wash and I get a ring around where I put the wash. But if I paint to cover up the ring, I am going to paint over the shadow wash I just put down. How do you guys handle this?

I have been researching this and found an ink that "supposedly" does not have this problem http://www.thewarstore.com/didismagicink.html. Don't know anything about it though.

 

[Estragon]

GW washes are relatively good, ie better than competitors', at not creating rings. Just apply less, and if you need darker finish, allow to dry and apply several times.

When cleaning up later and painting over washed area, there will be some transparency effect, ie some of the wash will show through and you can utilize this. However, for cleaning up tide marks (hard dried edges) this won't work well.

 

[RuneBrush]

You probably want to thin your wash a little bit and as Estragon says apply multiple layers of it to achieve a darker colour. GW Washes are fine out the pot if you wash the whole of an area, but trying to just shade (in a similar way you would paint) they tend not to flow in the same way in the smaller area.

 

[MrPickles]

the washes look awesome when used all together. the more times you wash it the less defects you see.

red armour= badab in certain areas u want really dark. devlan the rest of the recesses. heavy wash of baal red everywhere. highlight ontop of that.

 

[Wicksy]

Dilute the washes a little with some water that has a small amount of dishwashing soap. I tend to find the tide marks you describe occur when i either put too thick a layer of paint on the surface or the paint isnt diluted enough.

 

[Estragon]

Guys, one thing with the new washes is that they cannot be thinned very well so I wouldn't even start (the old inks, yes). The thickness of application must therefore be controlled by brush.

 

[Ultramarine98]

Hey guys, not sure if someone has replied this or not, well try to wash the entire piece of armour/cloth to the very edge, the highlight should get rid of the ring if the wash was done to the edge, other than that, if u have to wash it to some area and you get the ring, maybe try mix a good paint and blend it, eg. asurman on ultramarines blue you can try to blend by starting with ultra on regal 2:1, 1:1, 1:2, and blend the bits with water. Cheers

 

[RuneBrush]

Guys, one thing with the new washes is that they cannot be thinned very well so I wouldn't even start (the old inks, yes). The thickness of application must therefore be controlled by brush.

Not had a problem thinning the GW washes before, unless they've changed the formula recently (I got the boxed set of washes when they were released). What issues do you have?

 

[Workbenchwarriors]

Another really good way of making the washes more useable is to use a little Johnson's Klear floor Varnish (available i any supermarket). just play around with the ratios of wash to Varnish ad you can get some very controllable and effective results

 

[Estragon]

What issues do you have?

I get a strange consistency as if the wash doesn't mix well with water. In theory it is usable though, I may have expressed myself too strongly. The experience is somewhat similar to diluting Tamiya alcohol-based paints with water.

 

[Wicksy]

Estragon, there shouldnt be any issues. I have all of the new washes and a few pots are pretty recent (made within the last 6 months) and i have no issues with dilution. I use water with dishwashing soap and can get dilutions to the stage of fine glazes. Not sure whats happening for you there. One thing i have noted though is the more recent washes are less stable than the older ones. The set i got 2 years ago hasnt separated at all while the more recent batches have serious settling issues. One pot of Baal red needed re-dispersing using the ultrasonic bath at work. All i can suggest is to give the wash a good shake to mix it again and then try again with you dilutions.

 

[Estragon]

Thanks! Mostly I just make my own washes with inks, water and medium, I like the control and the result better than anything ready-in-the-pot. I use GW washes in some different situations and generally don't dilute them.

 

[me_in_japan]

I get a strange consistency as if the wash doesn't mix well with water. In theory it is usable though, I may have expressed myself too strongly. The experience is somewhat similar to diluting Tamiya alcohol-based paints with water.

i get that too. They are useable, though it's an odd effect.

 

[Sproket]

I've been using GW washes a fair bit recently. I always dilute then (plain tap water) and they need a fair bit of stirring to get an even mix. Once mixed they need to be used quite quickly as it can get a bit 'gloopy' and lumpy. I tend to use them more in the manner of a glaze than a wash but I'm very pleased with the results I've had.

 

[Atom]

The GW's washes are great, I put a dab of washing up liquid in the wash mix and it breaks surface tension and gives better control/drying times. Reduces the unwanted tide marks too.

 

[hajmoid]

I dont tend to thin down my wash layers so much, been using them for a while now and have found that you can add water TO A POINT. I find this point to be about 1 in 5. otherwise the wash will break into puddles when applied over flats surfaces. Much like when you create a watered down paint glaze. to avoid tide marks I tend to try and wash the whole section.

I have always considered the washes to be a mid-stage device, something you use halfway through your paintjob and not necessarily as a finisher. with that in mind tide marks dont matter to me because I will be painting over them anyway

 

[Wicksy]

I dont tend to thin down my wash layers so much, been using them for a while now and have found that you can add water TO A POINT. I find this point to be about 1 in 5. otherwise the wash will break into puddles when applied over flats surfaces. Much like when you create a watered down paint glaze. to avoid tide marks I tend to try and wash the whole section.

I have always considered the washes to be a mid-stage device, something you use halfway through your paintjob and not necessarily as a finisher. with that in mind tide marks dont matter to me because I will be painting over them anyway

Add dishwashing soap to the water you are using to water down the wash. You are diluting down the surfactant in the wash, which is raising the surface tension to a point where it will not spread and form a continuous film. The dishwashing soap will help to lower the durface tension enough for the smooth film to be formed.

 

[tomusannonymous]

This is a job for a small amount of dishwashing liquid, it breaks the surface tension and stops it from pooling vertically and flats it out against the model surface. I also have my own magic wash mix made of Pledge 'one go' orange flavour and water, it does the same thing but i think its better in some way which is hard to explain, the paint thins out and it doesn't have drying problems near the edges so much.
I've also had problems getting paint to dry depending on the weather, if it's rainy sometimes it won't dry very fast allowing it to pool somewhat and ruining details, and i end up taking the paint off and applying thinner layers to get it to dry faster.

everybody here seems to be saying the same thing =) , definitely make your own magic wash, i got one bottle of pledge for cheap as chips and I've made one small 250ml bottle of dilute Ready-to-use magic wash and it's lasted me years and years, I've only used a tiny bit of pledge so far.