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I have a friend who wants a Tyranid army painted upto table spec. He isnt concerned so much about detail, rather just that they look nice collectively.

I have read about the Magic Wash which uses Future Floor Wax, but I can only seem to find different mixtures.

Has anyone used this?

What kind of base coat do you put down first? Do you just lay a coat of a medium/bright color, paint it on and then use the wash?

I'm just looking for extra info.

How I use it is solid color then the magic wash. Ratio is 3 parts water to 1 part floor wax. Mix it in a milk jug.

I haven't tried it but, as I understand it, base coats whould be a shade lighter than the intended wash.

The wash should settle into the recesses and leave the higher areas clear.

You won't find one single 'correct' way to do it as it all depends on what colors you're using, what type of paint, the thickness you want, the darkness you want, yadda yadda...

 

Here's an article that might help you:

http://www.paintingclinic.com/clinic/guestarticles/magicwash.htm

The wash will darken up your model so be prepared to do a quick drybrush with the base color. Magic wash is great stuff. It really allows for a nice effect without taking too much time.

ender502

I read that paintingclinic artcile last night, it has a lot of helpful little things.

I plan on doing red skin with dark blue carapace.(Using GW paints). Most of the models are primed black.
I'm thinking of trying to base the skn with blood red, the carapace with enchanted blue, then washing a model to try.

Would you reccomend using just a black ink + future + water for the whole? or should I break it into 2 seperate washes, one skin, and one carapace? He wants them done sooner than later.

Uh, mix it in a milk jug? No. No. No. Do not mix it all up in a milk jug. That's a huge waste especially since you will want to use Future Floor Finish (FFF) at different dilutions for different applications. If you want to premix, pick up some 1-4 oz plastic bottles with screw tops at the local craft store or whatever.

Anyhow, on to the question. Magic Wash is what has revolutionized for many people the concept of using ink washes in painting their figures. There is no single stock "right" answer on how to use it due to it's very nature: By varying the concentration of Future to water and ink/pigment to that one can get anything from glossy near-opaque ink to ultra-thin matte "filters" that just barely provide a tint. It's very, very flexible and yet all one needs is a bottle of future, water, and some sort of pigment, be it regular acrylic paint (yes, regular paint), or inks, or glazes or even dry pigments!

Needless to say, I have a lot of experience with "Magic Wash" and the painting clinic article Blue Loki mentions above is a good start. The only things I'd disagree with is that future, being but liquid acrylic, is not goint to hurt your brushes any more than your paints hurt them (that is not at all provided you take care of them). Next, I have found it to be rather glossy, so if you are adverse to sealing your figs with matte/satin varnishes, you might want to also pick up a bottle of Tamiya Flat Base to mix in to give it a matte finish. Lastly is the question of dilutions (as you have found, everyone has their own), but otherwise, all solid info.

Here are the three dilutions I use:

My "Magic Wash" dilution is 50/50 water/future. This is the general purpose wash and prettu much what I use 90% of the time.

For "filters" (very, very thin washes, like a glaze, but with a matte coating) I use 5:1 (water:future) plus Tamiya Flat Base. Minus the flat base, and you have a great flow aid/thinner for your regular paints.

Lastly, for doing a gloss coat, tinted or not, I use either FFF straight out of the bottle or slightly diluted with water (1:5 water:future, the reverse of the above). I use this as I would a gloss varnish and for doing tinted gloss effects after the rest of the figure/model has been sealed & matte varnished. By adding a touch of pigment you can also create gloss filters and glazes.

Your base coats don't need to be any lighter, unless you are trying to do a magic wash "dip", in which you will want to add more pigment to the Magic Wash formula and you will want basecoat paint *all* of the details as cleanly as possible and a shade or two lighter to create highlights. The benefit of this compared to dipping is you can precisely tailor the wash color. The expense is it takes more time. Anyhow, that should do ya! Enjoy!



edit: For those finding the wash darkening their figures too much, try using less pigment in the wash. Gradual filters (with or without the Tamiya flat base) can get a better more refined look than one single heavy wash and require less work.

Thanks, that is a lot of great information. How long does it take to dry?

I don't notice it taking any longer than paint thinned with water.

Gnarly knows what he' talking about, he's the one who turned me onto the stuff.

Yep, dry times are about the same. Just remember that the paint in the cracks will take a little longer than normal to dry, but this holds true even if you aren't using magic wash.