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Yes I know there is the thread for making your own washes but for a dumbski like me who wouldn't want to try to mix chemicals, are there any store bought alternatives for washes?

For example
Devlan Mud is a nice touchup, sure, but for the price of the tiny little bottle I'd rather go with something that achieves the same effect and gives me more material for my money. Would a hobby lobby or michaels carry such products, what are they called and can you post pics if you use them?

I'm a painter on the comeup, see, on a budget, so I don't have the money to shell out lots of cash for paints when for example I can get Apple Barrel paints and get more paint for less. Sure the quality may not be up to par, but I'm not exactly going for Golden Demons, I'm just looking to get a paint job on there that I can look at and say "Nice" and be proud of myself, even if a minor detail or two is lacking (like the base being plain and not done up all super looking).

BTW I have gotten some great sand flock and grass flock for way less at Michaels than the ones put out by GW, so I'm really looking to save. Not that I'm cheap, but for the longest time my wargaming was off of the Clix and CMG type games, so now that I'm going into modeling kits and paint your own mini's, well I love the look and I want to do right by them, but not at a price that's going to break my bank.

So if you can recommend something that does the job as good as the Washes that doesn't cost nearly as much, that's great.

My gallery is going now with WIP shots of random mini's that I'm working on. First on my list is washes, then basing, then adding some green stuff to get a dynamic look. I would appreciate constructive criticism by PM or in the comments if it'll help me boost my just starting out skills. Thank you

Have you thought about dipping? Depending on your army it might be your way to go. I'm not hugely knowledgeable on the subject, but you might want to look into it. As far as I know, you basically use a bucket of varnish to add your shading, and a big can can be had at wal-mart for not too much.

Short answer: There are no good alternatives. They are excellent just how they are.

Vallejo now have a range of washes (Vallejo Washes) which are just as good but are better bang for your buck, umber is the equivalent to devlan mud from them.

The old way was to take your normal paint add half Future floor polish and add a little water.

regarding constructive feedback, you'll have to take better photos as it's really hard to make out the details on your figures. Does your camera have a macro mode?

Zefig wrote:Have you thought about dipping? Depending on your army it might be your way to go. I'm not hugely knowledgeable on the subject, but you might want to look into it. As far as I know, you basically use a bucket of varnish to add your shading, and a big can can be had at wal-mart for not too much.

Here are some links on the dip method for more information:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Dipping_Tyranids
http://www.librarium-online.com/painting/a-quick-guide-to-dipping-your-minis-885.html
http://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/43744/the-dip-method-a-step-by-step-guide-to-painting-mi


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Dysturbed wrote:The old way was to take your normal paint add half Future floor polish and add a little water.

Find more details here:

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

You could try oil paints. Mix in a bit of thinner and you get about 800 times more wash from a single tube of paint than a GW pot. You can also mix in pigments to give extra colour and texture.

You will have to seal the miniature through.

SilverMK2 wrote:You could try oil paints. Mix in a bit of thinner and you get about 800 times more wash from a single tube of paint than a GW pot. You can also mix in pigments to give extra colour and texture.

You will have to seal the miniature through.

Er, I wouldn't advise that.

If you have (presumably) acrylic paint over your miniature and you washed it with an oil-based paint, it will resist the subsequent layers you'll put. Not to mention that, even if you are successful in putting a layer on top of it, it's bound to crack.

One should never mix oil-based and water-based paints, unless you want it to really resist and/or crack. Oil and water doesn't mix, does it?

starsdawn wrote:Er, I wouldn't advise that.

If you have (presumably) acrylic paint over your miniature and you washed it with an oil-based paint, it will resist the subsequent layers you'll put. Not to mention that, even if you are successful in putting a layer on top of it, it's bound to crack.

One should never mix oil-based and water-based paints, unless you want it to really resist and/or crack. Oil and water doesn't mix, does it?

Very true, hence having to seal the miniature.

I use an acrylic ink, usually Winsor and Newton (I like the Sepia best). I also have used Bombay India Ink.

I mix Future, water and the ink until I get the covering I want (better to go light an build it up if you need).

Does not take a lot of effort and you get a decent size jar at Hobby Lobby or a similar store, usually an ounce of ink is less than 5 bucks.


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Another alternative if you don't feel like mixing from ink is a Warstore product: http://www.thewarstore.com/didismagicink.html

Comes in 2 ounce bottles for about 6 bucks. I've used it before and liked it.

Jake

Thank you all for the suggestions. Haven't tried the dipping or sealing the model before, but I'll be using this weekend to try to "learn" the techniques via web video.

About the macro setting, i'll have to look into that as my cell definitely wasn't too friendly with the first set of photos. A user guide or two and I hope to step up the quality of the pictures.

I'll be checking out the didis ink link on my next payday. Warstore had some lines of models i'd been considering, so may as well throw in a generous order right?