Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I've heard a great deal about washes, that you can pretty much put the stuff in a damn bucket and throw it at your army and they'll come out perfect (over exaggeration of course, but you get the idea).

Was wondering if anyone had some before and after of washes, just to see what they really can do in action!

Check this out:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/213369.page#315863

not exactly before and after, but here's my WIP crisis suits, the one on the right has been washed.
Picture quality isn't great, but you should be able to get the idea. I love washes when trying to get a Tabletop quality army done at a reasonable speed

I don't want to necro a three year old thread, so gonna post here XD

Jesus! It looks like all you need to do to make kickass looking minis is a base coat then a wash, rather than using any flat colors! This stuff is like miracle paint.

Now when a thread is up... How does washing a drybrushed area look? Is this discouraged?

Marzillius wrote:Now when a thread is up... How does washing a drybrushed area look? Is this discouraged?

Not at all, in fact it's often used to tone down drybrushing which has got too chalky. A wash in this case usually draws all the colours closer together, while still pooling in the recesses.

Namica wrote:I've heard a great deal about washes, that you can pretty much put the stuff in a damn bucket and throw it at your army and they'll come out perfect

Hyperbole, I understand, but there are many that seem to actually believe this. Washes are a tool - just like any other painting product or technique, they're a means to an end which there are other ways to achieve. In fact, they're really a shortcut, much like drybrushing. As a shortcut, however, the ready-made washes (like Citadel's offerings), are fan-freaking-tastic.

Why? Because they're formulated to behave in a certain way - slathered on, they pool in recesses, depositing pigment in a nice, smooth gradient and providing quick and easy shading. They can also, due to their transparency, be applied thinly and evenly as a glaze, softening the transitions of layering and increasing the vibrancy of faded colors. Combine these two features, and you can see why highly textured areas can be painted rather nicely with naught but a basecoat, drybrush,and wash (as the Lady mentioned).

Get some, use them, learn to love them - just don't use them as a crutch. Like those that become trapped in the "drybrushing phase," if you rely on them and them alone, your painting will never be more than mediocre.

I'd note that GW washes(unless thinned down more) will shade surface areas darker instead of just shading recesses. Sometimes this is a good thing, sometimes not.

An example of this http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/235872.page

I'd note that GW washes(unless thinned down more) will shade surface areas darker instead of just shading recesses. Sometimes this is a good thing, sometimes not.

Agreed