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hey. I was thinking about starting a Iron Warrior's army and I am thinking about how to go about painting them. I was thinking of a simple nuln oil wash over Ironbreaker but past experiences (necrons) told me that doing so doesn't get me the results I wanted.
basically when I try to wash over metallics such as ironbreaker or leadbelcher It ends up shaded (which is what I want) but also very very dirty looking (which is what I don't want). even when I cut down on the wash or dilute it, it either doesn't get me the right amount of shading or it looks too dirty.
any ideas?
is it the paint that is the problem? if so, can you recommend metallics that take well to washes without looking dirty.
or is it the wash? if so please recommend a wash that doesn't dirty up the metallics.
Or is my method totally invalid.
Thanks in advance.

Its the wash that makes it so.

Your options are to simply limit your washes to The recesses, or to repaint the areas you want clean after your wash.

I don't think people use a regular wash correctly as most of the time it just looks like black smudges all over the place.

I think the only good description of how to use a GW wash was done in this vid. He keeps a wet edge and only works an area while it's still wet.

http://youtu.be/Eo97yCgUlko?t=17m25s

Your other option is to use an oil wash and reclaim your highlights with some mineral spirits and a cotton swab.

Put a gloss coat down over the metallic base coat, then wash, the smoother finish of the gloss will encourage the wash into the recesses even more than usual, and the protective layer it provides means that if you still end up with "dirty" areas, you can use something a little bit stronger than you could usually use to clean it off.

Alternatively, explore oil washes, which gives the same advantages, coupled with even more lead time to clean up unwanted marks.

you could try oil washes over a gloss varnish after your basecoat they run to recesses much better and dry slower and also can be wiped off when dry with a cotton bud and white spirit in areas you dont want.
OR
make your own wash with ink added to medium and flow aid which will be a lot stronger than new style GW washes and give better, more controllable results that can be thinned and adjusted to suit. Unlike the newer ones that I personally find too weak and more...... diffused? or something. I'm not a fan and still use my 20-25 year old GW washes that are like 100000% pure pigment and I can weaken as much or as little as I want to suit what i need, a little goes a very very long way, those things must have been near pure ink or something, I dunno but they are fantastic and im so very nearly out of black I want to cry.

Use necron compound on the non recessed areas. Gives a bright metallic look. Simple

You can try an oil based wash instead of acrylic. It'll require thinning but I've seen some pretty good results.

You can wash then bring it back up to the base color with another layer of paint. Leave the darker recesses untouched, and you'll get a cleaner look without giving up shading.

oil based wash? is that a watered down oil paint or just plain oil? also, Thanks for all the advice so far