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Ive been trying to learn how to make my own washes and have found a few but cant decide.

Ink washes, but ive heard they are to shiny

Paint and water (simple, cheap)

the other i found on here was with medium, ink, distilled water

if anyone has experience, could they help me out?

The simplest is just to add water and something to break the surface tension - a tiny drop of dish soap works.

Anything after that is just tweaking behaviour- add a binding medium, drying retarder whatever.

Then you have oil washes which are also very simple.

Depending on the effect you're going fr you may want to varnish (gloss, matt or sain) before applying a wash. The surface will change how the wash (especially oil washes) behaves.

Experiment and have fun!

the GW washes are pretty good, but at 4 bucks a pot, the costs add up, figured i could cut a corner on that.

would be nice to make little eye dropper bottles of it, but im not sure how well the home made ones work in comparison to the bought ones.

Gw shades are very nice. My honest advice is never put a bit of cost above the convenience. Vallejo washes are not quite the same, behave differently. I buy and use both.

I ordered up some inks and bottles so i can try the ones here:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/261541.page

Azrium wrote:
I ordered up some inks and bottles so i can try the ones here:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/261541.page

+1.

I've got a few different mixes myself already (red, black, sepia, and burnt sepia) and they're great.
And for the initial investment of your ingredients, you save SO MUCH MONEY that it isn't funny....

Have any additions to what he has posted on that post?

Azrium wrote:
I ordered up some inks and bottles so i can try the ones here:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/261541.page

If this is the same "Secret Weapon" washes (looks like the same Les) then I just bought a bunch of them. I'll let you know how they work out. I hear they're fantastic.

Lester Bursley - http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/261541.page

If in the U.S., you can purchase Future Floor Wax. Mix 50:50 with water. Dip your brush in that solution prior to your paint pot...

I also use a lot of Les Bursley washes. Great recipes.

I too use Les' recipe for washes. Love them. I have been dabbling with oil washes lately as well. I picked up a few of the water based oils from Winsor and Newton. So far so good there too, but i need more time to play with them.

I've been mixing up my own washes, recently. Instead of the tried and true LBursley ink-based recipe, I've just been using paint and my DIY glaze medium (matte medium, drying retarder, a few drops of flow aid, and a touch of water to thin it down), thinned to the proper consistency with a bit more water. Been working just fine, although it dries a tad glossy, like the DIY ink mixes. Since I varnish afterward, though, that's not really an issue.

I do eventually plan to mix up larger batches of the more common washes (want to clone Badab Black and Devlan Mud), probably with ink, but the paint/medium/water method allows for finer control of the color than set recipes. I simply pull some of my basecoat paint, darken it with an appropriate color, and add the medium/water. All the ease of application of premixed washes, but with the color control of manually painted shading.

Ive taken to using oil paints for washes. I use my old GW empty paint tubs and mix a batch, any oil paint colour you like, mix it with paint thinners (low odur i use anyway) and mix it to a ratio that suits what you want to do with it, only a small drop of paint goes a long way. I find the paint finds the corners very well and has made shading my wolves very quick as the thinner evaporates quickly, i dont find to much shine either. Its just the way i've been making washes lately.

I noticed an article on here that was using lava beads for an agitator, and grabbed a strand off ebay for a few bucks shipped. ebay is the devil as it wants all my money

Just an update: the washes arent 100% like the GW ones, but a great stand in to use. just painted up 15 gaunts and washed them with the soft body black. looks good for my painting skill

 Admiral Abscess wrote:
Lester Bursley - http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/261541.page

If in the U.S., you can purchase Future Floor Wax. Mix 50:50 with water. Dip your brush in that solution prior to your paint pot...

Please tell me you dont do that?! you really ought to be putting some paint from the pot with a CLEAN brush, and then adding whatever to that on the pallete... your paint pots must be contaminated with futre floor wax by the time youve had a couple of brush loads out of it.