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I've tried 2 so far and I have to say I am NOT a fan at this point, and I LOVE GW paints and the standard washes. I've tried the fleshshade and nuln oil, both on metallics and the effect was just too distracting and disjointed from the rest of the model. I ended up going over each area with matte varnish.

Are they supposed to be more of a varnish? I can't figure out what you'd use these for?

Anyone else have any luck using these yet?

I would use them on vehicles to try and get some nice weathering. For example, using the Agrax to make some rust streaks coming off rivets, or Nuln in the corners of panels to look like built up oil and grime. Maybe on pistons to look like grease

What did you use them on and in what manner?

IMHO the gloss washes are practically useless - maybe except for the off chance you want to simulate something oily, with the black gloss wash... though as its fairly thin - I'm guessing it is probably not as good as Tamiya Smoke for that job.

I never use pre packaged washes anyways. I just water down the paint. Those washes are meant to be quick and easy.

Possibly useful in last minute weathering, but if you're varnishing at any point whether the wash is matt or gloss is irrelevant.

@winterdyne: Serious question: Why would you want the wash to be gloss when weathering? Simulation of wet streaks?

Yep. Oil (as mentioned), leaking dirty water, stuff like that.

I suppose it could also be used to both brighten and shade metals post-varnish (a glossy sepia wash after matting down on gold for example). Wouldn't use it in a high-handling wear area but I suppose it could be useful there and possibly cut some time.

I was kind of wondering about these as well. Like the idea of oil very much, but other than that I guess I don't see much point in these.

a few months ago, before they came out, I actually kinda made my own version of these, by mixing 'ardcoat and some nuln oil and agrax earthshade and some water

I was painting some nurgle daemons and I wanted them to have a slight dirty glisten, like they were slick with greasy filth and slime...my mix worked nicely for that purpose ...although I can't really speak for these new off-the-shelf gloss washes, as I haven't actually tried them yet...I assume they would be similar though.

I gave them a go. One thing I noticed is that they're a lot less dark than the regular washes. Some possibilities that came to mind:

1. For tabletop standard models that are highly metallic, you can very easily basecoat with a dark silver, drybrush with a bright silver, gloss wash black, and call it done. Or, basecoat dark bronze, a couple of progressive drybrushes towards gold, gloss reikland, and call it a day.

I tried this on a couple of test parts, and it didn't look terrible. Like all washes, the gloss wash blends the drybrush a little, and the result is a metallic looking finished product.

Necron come to mind.

2. Good first wash? For those who are unaware, washes flow (much) better on models which have a gloss coat on them, as opposed to a matte coat. The paint runs into the crevices much more smoothly. In contrast, paint adheres much better to matte paint, which is why you don't want to edge highlight a gloss coated model.

If you're planning to do multiple washes (to build up a gradient, blend it darker in one direction, or to add richness for example, it might make sense to do all but the last wash in gloss. I did this on an engine part, and it turned out pretty well.

3. You could use it over something to give it a lens or glass effect (saves you from doing a gloss coat after a normal wash).

4. It's a very thin gloss coat flows/levels very evenly. That's gotta be good for something, right? I kind of wish they had the a "thin gloss medium", though there are other mediums I use to achieve the same thing.

Incidentally, I thought the jewel paints were more of a win than the gloss washes. But still, I'm happy to have them; I'm sure some occasion will appear when I want to use it.

I haven't tried them yet. To me, the most important thing would be whether or not they spread and level better.

In general, glosses have to spread and level better so that the surface dries smooth and shiny, so my first guess would be if you wash a model with a gloss wash then apply a matte varnish, it would give a cleaner looking finish than simply applying a matte wash.

I don't know if that is or isn't true because I haven't tried them, but that is my reason for wanting to try them.

Beyond that, sometimes it's nice to have a gloss wash or ink for special occasions. The skin on my Tyranids is a satin or matte finish, on the fleshy bits I apply a gloss brown ink. So it gives both a contrast in colour but also a contrast in sheen that I find appealing. Although that's specifically Tyranids, I have seen people use gloss inks in a similar fashion on humans flesh and orc flesh (but not to the extreme extent I use on my 'nids), contrasting not only the colour but also the shininess of the flesh.

Alright, I bought a Nuln Oil Gloss yesterday and have had a play with it.

I like it. I just used it on a regular non-glossy model instead of using regular matte Nuln Oil.

I found it gave a sharper contrast (had less effect on raised areas while darkening the recesses the same). It also seemed to give smoother blends to my eye.

The downside was that was harder than I thought it would be to get rid of the shine. Because it settles in the recesses (well der) the recesses end up glossier than the raised surfaces. After a couple of sprays with Testors dullcote I was surprised that the recesses still looked quite shiny, so instead of spraying a matte varnish I applied a thinned down matte varnish with a hairy brush and it seemed to work better.

Obviously if you want your model to be glossy to begin with, it's going to be better. If you want your model to be matte, it's probably a toss up. I think it looks cleaner than a regular matte wash, but I don't like having to go back over with a matte varnish to take away the shine.

Talys is right in that it works well if you intend to layer washes. On a skull I applied the gloss Nuln and then a Sepia wash and it looked not too bad.

The question now, I have 45 Night goblins, do I attempt to use the gloss Nuln, knowing it may be a pain in the arse getting rid of the shine, or just use a matte like I always have

Also I hate the price. $11AUD for a bottle of wash just sucks even if it is a little bit larger and the taller bottle doesn't sit in the drawer where I keep all my other GW paints.

Good input guys.

Talys brought up an excellent point... I currently base-coat, then GLOSS, then add washes, then Matte.

With this stuff since the actual shading is SO so mild but the Gloss is So so strong, I could base-coat, skip my old Gloss step and instead use the new Gloss wash, then regular wash, then Matte.

The final Matte step is still necessary though because as AllSeeingSkink pointed out this stuff really shines and unlike a spray on varnish it's getting into all of the tiniest crevasses hah.

@Gunzhard - Yeah! You have the idea It's also nice on some tabletop standard golds, where I typically use washes like Reikland Fleshshade everywhere (to add a little vibrance), and Agrax just on the recesses.

If you're fast with a brush, you can cover an area with gloss Reikland, let it slip into the crevices, then quickly use another brush and shade just the recesses with matte Agrax. This gives you more depth/less shiny in the recesses, and a nice gradient to dark to boot. If you apply the agrax while the reikland is still wet, you get no harsh lines that you normally would if you just shaded the recesses. This isn't really entirely new -- I do many models like this just with Lahmian Medium right now, without the gloss wash, or having to matte it down after. But this is handy if I want the recesses matte and the non-recesses glossy, like maybe gold armor. It's also a lot faster than doing just the recesses, and more goof-proof, though you have to work quickly and allow little sections to dry with the model in the right position before you move on.

I did a little experimentation with this, and generally liked the results -- I'll do some Sanguinary Guard or Stormcast like that and post up pics after

Power weapons, glowing psyker brains, oil and grease, fresh mud, etc.

It's Cheating in a bottle imho. Especially the Agrax Earthshade & Nuln Oil Gloss is just.. bonkers. I use Agrax Earthshade for all my Brass parts and Reds (I paint Crimson Slaughter's) and Metals of course with Nuln Oil. These gloss washes just don't darken down the colors while gathering in the recesses.

Unless i want something to be darken down i use the Gloss washes now - removes the cleanup-step for me.