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This is something that's always confused me. I am a fan of the Game Color line (possibly more so than the Model Color line, although I like the huge variety there) and I'm confused about a couple of things:

1) The "Extra Opaque" colors are the same thing as the Model Color line, and have equivalents to that, correct? So there's no difference between getting let's say Game Color "Heavy Red" and its Model Color equivalent (I think it's 926 Red) other than the bottle?

2) Game Color Inks - are these things the equivalent of the Citadel glazes or something else? I had thought they were just washes, but there's also a Wash range that is meant to be like the Citadel "Shade" line. I've always been unsure of what the real difference is between an ink, a wash and a glaze (and now a shade to use the GW term) other than how you use it.

3) What is Vallejo Glaze Medium? To go with the above question, does it get applied to an ink (or something else) to turn it into a glaze? I've read that it just thins out paint without making it break up, so does that mean it's the equivalent of the "Magic Wash" (i.e. Pledge w/Future Shine floor polish) or is that something else entirely?

Thanks

I can only answer number 2, since I use both.

The washes are similar to Citadel's Devlan Mud / Gryphonne Sepia era washes (dunno about the new ones so I can't comment on them). What I find about them is that they're okay, but sometimes they tend to turn white when applied too liberally.

Inks are, well, inks. Similar to the old Citadel inks. The colors are more intense and are better for tinting a surface with color. They're also shiny. Can be thinned down to act as a regular wash.

WayneTheGame wrote:
This is something that's always confused me. I am a fan of the Game Color line (possibly more so than the Model Color line, although I like the huge variety there) and I'm confused about a couple of things:

1) The "Extra Opaque" colors are the same thing as the Model Color line, and have equivalents to that, correct? So there's no difference between getting let's say Game Color "Heavy Red" and its Model Color equivalent (I think it's 926 Red) other than the bottle?

2) Game Color Inks - are these things the equivalent of the Citadel glazes or something else? I had thought they were just washes, but there's also a Wash range that is meant to be like the Citadel "Shade" line. I've always been unsure of what the real difference is between an ink, a wash and a glaze (and now a shade to use the GW term) other than how you use it.

3) What is Vallejo Glaze Medium? To go with the above question, does it get applied to an ink (or something else) to turn it into a glaze? I've read that it just thins out paint without making it break up, so does that mean it's the equivalent of the "Magic Wash" (i.e. Pledge w/Future Shine floor polish) or is that something else entirely?

Thanks

1) Yes you're correct.

2) Inks are like old school washes. They have to be thinned.

3) No Glaze is used with paint. It's similar to matte medium except it has drying retarder added and has a little more fluidity.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH6K297EWnI

To expand slightly:

2) Inks are inks - they're generally on the thin side, in terms of viscosity, and have vivid but translucent pigment. Because of those properties, they're used to make glazes and washes (or can be applied straight), but are neither. Think of them as a sort of tinting concentrate. Add a drop to some matte/glazing medium and you can make a glaze to subtly tint colors. Thin that down with water and add a surfactant (like Flo-Aid), now you've got a wash. Apply it straight or slightly thinned with water to ramp up color saturation.

If you already know how to use an ink, wash, and glaze, you have the gist of their formulations, as they're geared toward those ends - acrylic medium allows glazes to tint like inks while being applied more like paint, washes are thinner and the surfactant allows them to pool in recesses for shading and definition.

3) Glaze medium is, as the name suggests, intended to make glazes. It's just matte medium with a smattering of other additives, as Sammoth suggests. It can, however, be used with inks, as well as paints.