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I am going to show you how to make any citadel color paint into a wash.

First off the supplies:
-One mixing paint pot
-One citadel color pot
-Water
-Dishwash detergent
-Paintbrush

Steps:
-Get the paint pot you are using and the mixing pot.



-Pour paint a little bit past the word color on the mixing pot.


-Fill it with water until it is almost full.

-Add a little dishwasher detergent.


-Close it and shake the pot up.

-Use the paintbrush to put paint on the top of the lid.

-It may feel think, but if you put enough water in it it should work fine.

That is how to make washes from regular paint. I you use a paint that's very thick, like bleached bone, you should add less paint and more water. I hope this helps somebody. i made mine out of regal blue.


Sorry about the bad pics. This was just to give people an idea on how to make washes.

I think inks are made without pigments but use dye instead. This is a good tutorial on washes though Thanks for sharing!

A couple of weeks ago I saw a thread that asked about this so I thought that I would share it. Since there isn't a white ink to make the blue ink lighter, so you can just make a rb ink.

That makes a lot of sense, thanks for the idea! I'll definatley try that! I always love being able to not have to BUY something every time I wanna change one part of something I'm painting

This is one of the best threads ever. since the nearest hobby store is an hour away (and barely has any washes) I have to order all my paint/washes online.

Good tutorial. I will be using this soon.

Can we see some pictures of minis before and after the wash?

I think I'm gonna go make a wash now. Thank you!

My cameras not working right but thanks for all the support.

whats awesome about using liquid hand soap is that if your looking to really fill in the shadows/recesses/arm pits ect. of a model using a little more hand soap then water does a great job as more of a filler then a wash. It gets annoying to have 4-5 coats of GW wash in these areas when you can take any of their paints, add some liquid soap, and only need one coat.

To practice just put some paint on your paint tray, then drop some liquid hand soap on top and you should see the paint 'running away' from the soap..Just to give you an idea of what to expect

I would argue to use some gloss varnish (the citadel stuff) as well, as this helps dry the wash very, very evenly. The glossy effect can be toned down afterwards with matt varnish spray.

Note: Future or Klear floor polish can be used as well instead of the varnish. In addition, another option is to add isopropyl alcohol instead of water. This makes the paint run all over the place away from the raised areas (which is a good thing).

This is how I make my washes too, only instead of soap I add in Matte medium. you can get it at any art store where they have the acrylic paints. It dulls the shine on the paints and also helps it flow real good into the cracks and corners

Thanks alot for sharing this, ive been looking for this for a long time! What mix do you guys suggest to wash boltgun metal with?

(Please forgive my threadromancy, but i feel this is pertinant information that gives an alternative to water as stated in the OP)

For my GW pots i use Pledge Future Shine ( http://www.floorcareproducts.com/floor-finish/index.asp ) rather than water to thin them down. It works especially well. Water will eventually separate (especially with the low pigment content of homemade washes and such, thus why you have to shake them), but Future Shine is liquid acrylic for clear coating floors, and stays mixed as if it were made that way. I reccomend it to all the guys at my FLGS regularly and to dakka if you are looking for a good alternative to water for making washes/thinning your paints. It leaves a gloss finish when you use it in a wash (there is more pledge than paint), but i flat varnish my models anyway. It also doesnt have the surface tension problem that water has, so no need for dish detergent.

Plus, its only a few dollars at my local department store. Not sure if it is available outside of the US.

I have used it in my airbrush, but it increases the already prominent tip dry of acrylic paints. In this case i prefer to use water.

/2 cents

Just curious, but exactly how much dish soap would one use? Ie: for a paint pot filled with 1 part paint, 4-5 parts water. Are we talking like 1 or 2 drops of dishwashing liquid, or an actual ratio part?

Also, would chlorinated tap water play an effect? I was thinking maybe I should use demineralized/spring water.

tekk_45 wrote:(Please forgive my threadromancy, but i feel this is pertinant information that gives an alternative to water as stated in the OP)

I'm glad you did, because now I have the opportunity to thank the OP properly.

..Ah, what was I going to say again?

Koula wrote:Just curious, but exactly how much dish soap would one use? Ie: for a paint pot filled with 1 part paint, 4-5 parts water. Are we talking like 1 or 2 drops of dishwashing liquid, or an actual ratio part?

Also, would chlorinated tap water play an effect? I was thinking maybe I should use demineralized/spring water.

I use tap water to water down all my paints and have seen no ill effects. Though I don't know exactly what is (or is not) added to my local tap water so take that with a grain of salt.

My tap is very clean because I'm in Memphis. And for the dishwashing liquid, just add until you feel right. I'm not sure.

Im going to go and try this and post some before and after pictures. Hopefully it works!

Me too ..

Pics coming up soon , i'll even do a comparason


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Here are the comparison photos :



On the left : Ogryn flesh washed twice .
On the right : Wash mix Sorched Brown washed twice .

Thoughts ?

Works better with the homemade one! Same thing for mine, I have to post some pics yet but it has better effect than the games workshop washes. They dont dull the paint out as much so you dont have to do as much drybrushing after you put it on. I like it. Deffidently going to use these if i dont have the wash already or the time to go out and buy one.

Dear Ultra Magnus 15, before you go and buy a wash please drop my Orks off in the mail to me.

Pipboy101 wrote:Dear Ultra Magnus 15, before you go and buy a wash please drop my Orks off in the mail to me.

Hey Pipboy101,
Im going to get them out monday(ill be back late tomorrow and there is no mail on sunday). Went to see the family for thanksgiving. I'll check to see if i get them tomorrow night.

TY

karlfranz wrote:
-Add a little dishwasher detergent.

I would like a more clarify on this point. How much is 'a little' because the pots are small and a large drop and a small drop might give a completely skewed mix. Best measure for small quantities of liquid is via a thin syringe (every modeller should have some) or a blob held by surface tension of a particular diameter in mm on a flat surface.

I put 2 medium sized blobs into my mix(picture above ..)

Although thats just my reference to a little ..

I'd recommend the future method for thinning paint for a wash. For finding pledge/future/klear in other countries, definitley check out Swanny's Complete Future:

http://www.swannysmodels.com/TheCompleteFuture.html

I have tried this and I find that instead of the smooth finish you get on inks these kind of washes make a dry dusty effect. However this can be used to great effect if you want to add green weathering or rust to metal as it has the perfect appearance / texture.

Washes dry flat as inks dont 4M2A

wow thanks man, I've really wanted to learn make some wash's but a lot of the ones i found were confusing! thanks