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Which should i do first, and also, would black wash work on a deep purple or would i have to invest in purple wash?

Wash before you drybrush generally.

Remember washes can be mixed like paint, so red, blue and black could all be used to shade purple if you happen to have them. Blue itself could be enough, depending on exact shades.

I disagree. Drybrush first then wash and if needed do a light drybrush again. The reason for this is the wash will dull down the initial drybrush and create a midtone. Your final (light) drybrush will highlight the item if needed.

 anticitizen013 wrote:
I disagree. Drybrush first then wash and if needed do a light drybrush again. The reason for this is the wash will dull down the initial drybrush and create a midtone. Your final (light) drybrush will highlight the item if needed.

I would agree with this if you are aiming for a little more quality at the expense of spending a tiny bit more time painting...you'll get more gradients, which, if done correctly, ends up looking better

There is no correct order, wash first if you want a brighter look. Wash second if you want a more uniform duller look. Try both on a model and see what you like best. For faces I like to wash first for armor I like to dry brush first.

 anticitizen013 wrote:
I disagree. Drybrush first then wash and if needed do a light drybrush again. The reason for this is the wash will dull down the initial drybrush and create a midtone. Your final (light) drybrush will highlight the item if needed.

This is a pretty good route to go in. I do similar things with layering and it has good effects.

 lambsandlions wrote:
There is no correct order, wash first if you want a brighter look. Wash second if you want a more uniform duller look. Try both on a model and see what you like best. For faces I like to wash first for armor I like to dry brush first.

^ THIS.

On some models I do washes last, others the drybrush last...it depends on the model and the look I am going for.
(a kroot looks very different than a ctan).

Get some metal minis (they strip easier later) and try different version to see what matches the effect you are looking for.

For example, if the dark wash makes the purple mini too dark, to some very minor drybrushing of a lighter shade of purple to bring out the highlights....
experiment.

best of luck!

I remember having this discussion a few weeks ago, this is what I posted then.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/quote/0/4819804.page

AllSeeingSkink wrote:
You can really do it either way, depends on the effect you're trying to achieve and the colours you're using. I often wash after a drybrush to take away the dry look and blend the colours back together slightly.

Usually if I'm doing a manual highlight (opposed to just drybrushing) I'll wash first then highlight, but sometimes I'll highlight then wash to take the edge off the highlight if it "pops" a bit more than I want it to.

About the black wash vs purple, again it depends on the effect you want. Unless you paint way directly in to crevices ignoring raised surfaces, the wash will act like a filter over the entire area you wash. Do you want a black filter over you purple or do you want a purple filter over your purple?