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As far as I understand, they are for adding darkness in the gaps in armors and other various recesses, correct? I very much enjoy the look of having all the crevices and cracks in the armor be dark, but I'm having trouble getting this look using inks. I know inks and washes are different... I just don't know how. Anyway, when I use my inks, it ends up making a mess... like... a BIG mess. I thought they were supposed to mostly just sink in to the cracks, but instead I end up with huge dark smeers all over my armor. I then have to go correct these mistakes with the base coat, but I'm not the best painter, nor am I using the best brushes, so when I do these corrections, I tend to just cover up all the darkness in the recesses I just meant to paint.

Is washing any different for this? I would love to try using the badab black wash on my guys, because I really want to get the nice black lining, but I would just as soon go out and try using micron pens if the washes are going to act exactly the same as the inks.

So... how are inks and washes different? And when is the right time to do the wash?

If you just want it in the cracks, make sure you just put it in the cracks.

Watering down is critically important most of the time, but if you put it over a surface some is still going to settle on flat areas. MOST of it will go into the cracks. Inks can make great finishes, but like with washes, painting over a wash stage is a fundamental painting technique. Inks can be a little more unpredictable on flat areas, like Space Marine armour, but you don't get that great shiny finish from washes. Washes are better for dull, battle-worn tanks, but an ink finish might be what you're after for a bright Imperial Fist of Blood Angel vehicle. Not that you can just go and buy Citadel inks anymore...

I just mix my own wash out of Vajello Black Glaze(but I just bought my LHS's last pot of the stuff, and I go through it like it was water...) and cover the entire model in it, very heavily. Makes a great comic book effect.

As for inks... I've used one as the base colour for one of my Big Mek's tunics, and it looks really nice, actually. I know, it's a pretty crazy idea, but when it works... wow...

Use the Badab black wash with a fine detail brush. It's better for that sort of thing than ink, because it will stay where you put it instead of running all over the rest of the miniature.

The Citadel washes also won't dry with the ring of pigment at the high water mark ... which always seems to be my problem.

Yeah I think of inks as a finishing color to make something really pop and look bright. So you toss a yellow ink over a yellow coat to really make it bright.

Washes on the other hand are what you are describing. The classic wash being to paint something silver and then wash black. But they do give it a weathered look.

If you are going for a really clean look on your miniature you are not going to get there with washes and bad brushes. You need good brushes and have to hand paint the contrast by slowly building color through a succession of coats. Clean painters and pro painters don't use washes ever really, it's a shortcut trick to get a quick result.

Here's an article I wrote up on the Citadel Washes with some comparison pics

http://kan.org/michael/mkp/citadelwashes.php

Infurita: That was a nice, concise comparison, kudos!

Ifurita, you might want to try a Magic Sauce/Gunk added to your inks to prevent water rings. I've found it works wonders. Not really necessary with the washes, however, but I do dilute them with water since mine seem to have pretty heavy pigment deposit for what I consider a wash.