Valejo\'s SMOKE ...

[Frustrated Father]

Alrighty, I\'ve heard the lady at the hobby store go gah-ga over the Valejo Smoke wash/ink. I\'ve heard it online ...

So what is the deal with the smoke? Looks like brown wash to me. Am I missing something? Either way, I ordered some today for grins and giggles.

 

[darthfoley]

Some folks swear by it. I have never gotten the hang of using it. It is essentially a really strong brown pigment that is primarily used as wash...for just about everything, it seems.

 

[Primeval]

I have Tamiya Smoke, which I am assuming to be the same thing, and I use it for glazes on metallics and it gives a nice rich tone, especially with gunmetal.

 

[darthfoley]

Kinda sorta the same. The colors are vastly different, and Tamiya\'s transparencies dry at an isanely quick rate (IMO). Vallejo\'s aren\'t nearly so fast-setting. Tamiya is indeed more of a glaze, while Vallejo\'s is more heavily pigmented.

All of Tamiya\'s \'Clear\' colors are good for glazing. I have all of them...one day I may actually use one besides Smoke and Orange...

 

[Ritual]

I can\'t really say what the special thing with Smoke is, but it looks a lot better on metals (both real and non-metal ones) than brown ink does.

 

[darthfoley]

The bottle I have just seemed grainy straight out of the gate...no matter what I do with it, I had a difficult time using it because I was always dealing with little chunks of pigment...

 

[Frustrated Father]

Well, none of that sounds as promising as what everyone seemed to be making of it. Ah well, I\'ll get it and experiment with it.

BTW, can someone tell me just what is it with a glaze? Is it more of a transparent color or something .. less pigment?

Bought some of those on a suggestion (heck, why not) but I haven\'t got a clue what they are all about (haven\'t got them yet, soon though).

 

[Ritual]

Glazing is meant to alter the colour of an area (make it richer for instance), while washing is meant to provide shade or likewise. You can use inks or watered down paint for both purposes. There are glaze mediums and specific glazes that makes glazing easier. It is easier to get the fluid to spread over the area where it is applied instead of running into the recesses. Hope this answers your question.

 

[StarFyre]

*yay!*

*jumps up and down clapping happily*

Vallejo smoke is cool!

I used it for deep washes on dark/light brown...gives it a stranger, old leathery look. it\'s prob a bit to vibrant realy, but I like it If doing a showcase piece, prob wouldn\'t do that since the contrast is too great though.

It is nice on metallics as mentioned above.

I would say, it looks deeper and more vibrant than any dark brown i have ever seen =)

Sanjay

 

[Dragonsreach]

Smoke is best used very diluted, it add\'s a really good depth to browns as a wash.
Over metals it really needs to have Matte Medium added to it in order top prevent shine. (Well that\'s what I found.)

It\'s also a great toning agent for the shadows areas on African skin.

 

[Fizl]

I would agree with all of the above but just to re-affirm - Vallejo Smoke is a very different colour to Tamiya Smoke. Vallejo\'s is a very rich dark brown (and mine is grainy too, but i work round that), where as Tamiya\'s is sort of a black glaze with maybe a hint of brown as far as I can work out

Shaz

 

[Frustrated Father]

Thanks for the comments - this has been insightful.

So, if I took my Ghoul (see him in the WIP thread) and watered down some Vallejo Smoke in order to give him a better contrast .. would that work out or should I go another direction.

Keep in mind, I\'m proud of this miniature ... did the happy dance for five minutes when I based him and got him mostly done, and this is the first one out of fifteen that I haven\'t dunked out of disgust (that and I can\'t stop rubbing his belly - )

I know he needs a bit more in the shading department and this was suggested as a possibility so that\'s the real reason why I\'m asking.

Anyhow - thanks for the information - it\'s helping me with my painting immensly and I can\'t wait to start putting some actual work in my little portfolio (got some old stuff in there now).

 

[darthfoley]

I would think it might be a little too strong - this Smoke is something to be used with a fairly light touch.

However, it could lend him a \'dirty\' look to the folds of skin, which might be appropriate. I would say try to test it on a fairly inconspicuous area and see if it works for you - if so, go for it!

 

[Fizl]

For that figure I would suggest the Tamiya smoke rather than the vallejo smoke, as it will give it a more sickly grey hue

Shaz

 

[Trevor]

Is everyones grainy? Mine is too, and I find it hard to use, although for some things, like dirt, the grainy texture is useful.

 

[Fizl]

I have found that if you dilute it down and then leave it for a good 5-10 minutes (you may need retarder), the grainy bits dissolve (at least in my thinning mix it does).

Shaz

 

[Primeval]

I found with the Tamiya smoke that if my metallics weren\'t 100% dry, it seemed to eat away at the paint and create little chunks and gaps in the paint (and it was diluted and didn\'t look to be grainy itself), pretty much ruining the sword I was doing
So I always make sure I let the last layer dry completely before I glaze with the Tamiya Smoke.

 

[Trevor]

Shaz, whats your diluting mix?

 

[Rab]

Originally posted by Primeval
I found with the Tamiya smoke that if my metallics weren\'t 100% dry, it seemed to eat away at the paint and create little chunks and gaps in the paint (and it was diluted and didn\'t look to be grainy itself), pretty much ruining the sword I was doing
So I always make sure I let the last layer dry completely before I glaze with the Tamiya Smoke.

All of the Tamiya paints are like that, they\'ll lift the existing paint off the miniature if it\'s not completely dry.

I think it\'s the alcohol they use in their paints.

Rab.

 

[Fizl]

Trev - my diuting mix is 25% cryla flow enhancer, 25% liquitex slo dri retarder (the liquid) and 50% water. Under a cool lamp my paints will happily stay very wet on my palette for 15 minutes or so, and if after that they start getting sticky i just add another drop of my mix. I only mix small amounts of paint at a time, which used to dry out really quickly until i started with this stuff

Shaz

Edit: I thought I would check how long my mix keeps paint wet for, and I have paint that is still wet on the palette after approx 1 hour. A little more mix would thin it right down again and it would be useable!