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Yo dakkas, stuck with certain dilemma so I'm hoping someone can advise how to approach my problem...

So basically I have model primed in black, and based dark angel's green. I was aiming to wash it with black wash so I went ahead and painted the metal areas with boltgun and chainmail, but it hit me that maybe I could try black lining instead?

So I'm wondering pros and cons of wash vs black lining? Could I go black lining by mixing black with base paint in recesses and still achieve good and realistic look, or do I just stick with washes?

Asking cause its always trouble with washes how sometimes they leave blotches of wash on armor, and you have to repaint the armor again. So considering that, would black lining work, and not look fake/blotchy?

Tyris1013 wrote:


Asking cause its always trouble with washes how sometimes they leave blotches of wash on armor, and you have to repaint the armor again. So considering that, would black lining work, and not look fake/blotchy?

If you are using GW washes it always helps to water them down a little and apply the thinned wash several times in very light coats, this will help avoid some of the splotchyness you are talking about.

You cannot use water to thin out GW shades, because they are closer to inks than washes, which means it causes it to go shiny. You would have to use the medium they sell to thin it out.

Tyris1013 wrote:
Asking cause its always trouble with washes how sometimes they leave blotches of wash on armor, and you have to repaint the armor again. So considering that, would black lining work, and not look fake/blotchy?

Vallejo washes have a different "consistency" than gw ones, you may have more control with them... and you also have more control if you don'toverload the brush with the wash (or unload the excessonto your palette).

I love blacklining it's retro and fun.
It makes me smile in the same way that stepped hills do.

Ok, I had no idea that GW washes shouldn't be thinned with water, yikes. And I suppose GW wash is too thick and medium is needed...

guess my option is to just black line the shades. Was thinking black+base for first layer and pure black for thin and deep recesses.

Anyone has more thoughts on this, and does black lining look good on models? And what thinned ratio if anyone knows?

For me it's all about the black line. Easy to control and easy to fix up if you make a mistake. For me the black line is just a cleaner result

I use washes because I prefer the look of it. As several have said and Krellnus you need to water it down some. I use water and although it makes it shiny if you use an after finish like Army Painter anti shine like I do, then there is no problem with using water.

 Krellnus wrote:
You cannot use water to thin out GW shades, because they are closer to inks than washes, which means it causes it to go shiny. You would have to use the medium they sell to thin it out.

I have used water to thin GW shades and it has not made it glossy at all. Even if it did (it doesn't), a little bit of matte varnish would fix it.

Use an oil wash and you can have the effect of the wash with the ease of correcting your mistakes.

If, like me, you are inexplicably intimidated at the thought of mixing your own oil washes, AK Interactive and Mig make some nice oil washes you can use right out of the bottle.

I also like the effects of AK's Engine Grime, Engine Grease and Track Wash, but have yet to perfect my technique with them.

 ScootyPuffJunior wrote:

 Krellnus wrote:
You cannot use water to thin out GW shades, because they are closer to inks than washes, which means it causes it to go shiny. You would have to use the medium they sell to thin it out.

I have used water to thin GW shades and it has not made it glossy at all. Even if it did (it doesn't), a little bit of matte varnish would fix it.

I've noticed that some of the old runs of wash got shiny. But then again some of it was shiny as is plain.

Why not get the best of both worlds and blackline with a wash? An overall application of black wash would generally necessitate going back in with the base color to clean up the surface staining, but you can avoid the extra step by applying a pin wash.

Hit the model with gloss varnish, first, to aid the wash's flow. Buy or mix up a relatively heavily pigmented black wash with very low surface tension (thinned oils work for this, as do acrylics and even enamels - more info on recipes can be found by searching for "pin wash" on Dakka/Google) and apply it only to the recesses. This takes relatively little time and only moderate control, as the slick surface of the model and low surface tension of the wash allow it to flow along the crevices by itself - you simply load your brush, touch it to a portion of a recess, and watch the magic happen.

Also, as ScootyPuff and Ruberu mention, sheen is irrelevant if you varnish the model. Even if you don't consider it a necessity for protection, you can still use varnish simply as a means of controlling the finish.

Black-lining is what I prefer, It lends to a very clean look, which I prefer;









A.