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I always have trouble 'washing' large surfaces like banners. I Googled for possible solutions and three answers always turn up.

1) Shake the Citadel Wash before using, or

2) Thin with water, or

3) Add Vallejo Glaze Medium

I won't be fixing the mistake below (runs and pools) but I would be thankful if more experienced painters can confirm the above so I can prevent future disasters like this



I have to be honest and say I didn't do all three

Thank you

One thing you could for banners is possibly hold them upside down? let it pool in the ripples at the top?

For banners, holding the model upside down makes the wash run into the groves instead out of them.

@Thaanos, James12802: Thank you. I'll try that next time.

I guess mistakes like this is just many on our road to becoming better.

Upside down is the way to go,

I also keep a few Q-tips handy to soak up any extra wash that is starting to bleed into to places I don't want it going.

I've gotten frustrated with having to hold my minis upside down to carefully apply citadel washes - my patience doesn't last long enough. I'm going to keep using my ogryn and devlan mud for faces, but I'm transitioning to using oils.
1.Finish all basecolours and highlights.
2. Gloss Varnish
3. Mix Oil Colour with Mineral Spirits.
4. Apply liberally to model
5. Clean top areas of model with q-tip and/or small brush to expose unchanged colour
6. Seal with matte varnish.

It is A LOT of extra work which will only multiply with batch painting but the results are awesome.

When you brush on the wash try and control the wash. Wipe it away from the flat surfaces with your brush, leaving it in the deeper recesses.

After I wash a banner, I paint over agien with the original colour to bring the orginal colour back back from the wash and so the recesses look alot darker. This also means painting over pooling were it's not meant to be like in your example. I then hit the banner with a thin high light on the corners and the most raised edges (After any Free handing of course).

So to me you actually did nothing wrong, It's just that the banner isn't finished.

=)

It's probably a little more work then what other people here do, but on Character models I feel it's worth doing.

The wash is doing precisely what it's meant to - they're designed to pool, after all. They can be applied evenly over flats as a glaze, but you need to control the quantity being applied to do so, as well as getting everything down quickly, lest "tide marks" appear as portions begin to dry and are covered by successive passes (which they appear to have done, on your banner).

My question is this: Why are you trying to wash the whole thing, in the first place? If you want it to be a darker color, overall, why not paint it so from the start, washing only the creases that warrant shading? There are ways to combat the problems evidenced, but they really needn't be confronted, in the first place.

Lockark wrote:
So to me you actually did nothing wrong, It's just that the banner isn't finished.

Need to agree with Lockark there- the pooling effect can be a pain especially when trying to add a glaze, but 90% of the time, you're likely to be using it in a situation where highlighting will be your best next step.

If you want a quick, easy way to go at it, that should work quite nicely on a banner like that, then a drybrush of something like the original colour would nicely cover up the patchiness of the wash and leave the shading untouched.

Of course, stage-by-stage highlighting by layering up paints gradually would work even better, but it's a much more involved process. As people say, well worth it for character models, though.

 wickedcarrot wrote:
When you brush on the wash try and control the wash. Wipe it away from the flat surfaces with your brush, leaving it in the deeper recesses.

This as well as using a smaller brush at times.

Applying it to the entire surface is a glaze that will tint it all. If you're after just adding shading to it you have to control it instead of just pooling it on. I do the same thing anyway with pink cloth, just have somewhere better to build it up from now.

Thanks guys.

I first read about using oil as washes from military modelers then later saw awesomepaintjob doing it in YouTube. I have yet to try it. as it's rather involved but probably worth it for unique characters.

My officemate who got me into WH40K does the same thing about washing then re-basecoating but I haven't tried it too.

You're right oadie. Lack of planning on my part.

Yeah, I need to learn how to control how I apply wash next time.

What Lockark said.

Lockark wrote:
After I wash a banner, I paint over agien with the original colour to bring the orginal colour back back from the wash and so the recesses look alot darker. This also means painting over pooling were it's not meant to be like in your example. I then hit the banner with a thin high light on the corners and the most raised edges (After any Free handing of course).

So to me you actually did nothing wrong, It's just that the banner isn't finished.

=)

It's probably a little more work then what other people here do, but on Character models I feel it's worth doing.

this!

i dont finish with a wash anymore. washes are a great way to shade but after that i personally think you should re highlight it with the base color and maybe even a lighter color

Oil washes aren't really that much more involved than normal washes aside from clean-up but I've found the results to be well worth the extra effort.

yea, re-coat with your layer or intended base color, that's actually even the advice the how to paint cit. minis. guide gives now.

If I'm finishing something with a wash, I usually just straight up don't wash flat surfaces, spot washing the recesses only.

If I HAVE to go across a large flat surface, I thin the crap out of it with water myself. And if you're intent on using medium instead and want to stick with citadel brand, the lhamian medium is the same stuff.

.. im an amature i guess... Looks pretty good to me