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hi guys,

I have an order of operations question. I normally use a black or brown oil wash to shade my models. since this sticks to the recesses really well, this leaves my metallics fairly shiny still. for my night lords, I want the metallics to look a bit more (but not completely) dull. I was going to use GW washes instead of oils to get a more muddied, matte finish. I still want to use an oil wash for the armor as a whole, though. which one should I do first? if I do the oil wash first, should I apply the GW washes before sealing in the oil with satin varnish? if I do the GW washes first, how would I get the same finish back on the metallics after I've gloss coated everything for the oil wash? in case it matters, I'm using washes from the old GW line (i.e., devlan mud, badabb black and gryphone sepia).

Hey

If you apply washes pre-varnish, they tend to muddy up paint jobs more, so they are best on dingy vehicles, nurgle, low level troops, etc. when you oil wash, its gunna run to the recesses because of the varnish. If you want a dulled look, definitely wash pre-varnish then highlight and target wash again after the varnish

 varl wrote:
hi guys,

I have an order of operations question. I normally use a black or brown oil wash to shade my models. since this sticks to the recesses really well, this leaves my metallics fairly shiny still. for my night lords, I want the metallics to look a bit more (but not completely) dull. I was going to use GW washes instead of oils to get a more muddied, matte finish. I still want to use an oil wash for the armor as a whole, though. which one should I do first? if I do the oil wash first, should I apply the GW washes before sealing in the oil with satin varnish? if I do the GW washes first, how would I get the same finish back on the metallics after I've gloss coated everything for the oil wash? in case it matters, I'm using washes from the old GW line (i.e., devlan mud, badabb black and gryphone sepia).

If you are deadset on using just washes, I would do this: Varnish, oil wash, seal with varnish again (matte is my personal preference), then use the acrylic washes. However, if you want a dirty, muted look to you metallic areas, I recommend using weathering powders (applied dry with a stiff bristle brush) instead of washes. Mixing black, various browns, and metallic weathering powders dry over the metallic areas can give you awesome effects. The best part is, if you don't like it, just wipe the powder away and try again.

hrm, interesting idea. I don't think the pigments are going to give me good shading in the recesses, around rivets, etc though. not if applied dry, at least. maybe do a round of pigments after doing my usual oil wash & varnish across everything?

do you happen to have an example of this technique in action?

http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?344133-21st-Host-of-the-Word-Bearers-Legion

I don't have any pictures of my work, but this guy absolutely nailed it. I'm not saying not to use washes, they are great for shading metallics. For instance, on gold I use a sepia to brown to purple for the deepest shadows. I just think using powders is really underrated and they just open up a whole new window of cool stuff. It never hurts to try something different!

wow, that guy did some amazing work. shame he doesn't go into more detail about his use of pigments, though. I assume he must have used a fixer or varnish at some point before going back and applying highlights. may have to give that a whirl.