Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

With the release of 8th edition and all the good things I've heard about it (I never actually finished a game of 7th edition :/ ) I'm really excited to get back into the hobby! I haven't had a chance to play or get any of the new books, but I have had a chance to paint. Jumped straight back into painting the Canoptek Wraith I was working on when I last took a break about four months ago, and I'm having some issues.

I've been following a GW guide I found online for one of the necron color schemes from the codex. He's putting on a layer of leadbelcher and then using two layers of nuln oil and two layers of agrax earthshade to blacken the metal, not just darken it. Somehow I'm just tinting the metal, and despite trying to put down an even layer of wash, am getting a lot of spots and streaks in my paint.

I've attached the instructions & results I'm trying to follow, and the results that I'm getting. If anyone could help me figure out what I'm doing wrong, that would be greatly appreciated! It would suck to have to start over from a base coat.

Did you shake the pot before using the wash?

It looks like the spray either dried up to fast(being too far away from the model when spaying does this) or has too much humidity(in the air) before it hit the model. That's why it looks like that. Only way to really get rid of it is to start from scratch. Strip it down and have another go at it.

I agree with the above of stripping and trying again, what i have found is a more gloss finish ends up with the wash flowing to the recesses and a more matte finish leaves more on the larger flatter surfaces.

I have to agree with the others above me. It looks like a spray issue. Also are you applying all of the layers at once or waiting for it to dry between layers? Inks, I find, take a bit longer to fully dry and applying a second layer can sometimes "wash" away the first layer. It sometimes works if you like blending the colors but otherwise can result in multiple layers of ink looking rather "thin".

The guide doesn't say anything about spraying, but I agree it looks like it. I've also seen this over metallic paint. The wash doesn't want to lay normally and it beads on the surface like water on a waxed car. This could happen if you are mixing a lot of water in with the wash, the pot wasn't shaken good enough, or the wash is just bad. I'd recommend stripping it down too. Maybe try adding a tiny bit of dishwashing soap to your wash mix. That will break the surface tension and it should go on smoother. Good luck!.

Thanks for the tips! I definitely should've shaken the pot more than I did I haven't used it for a few months. I'm waiting at least an hour between layers, so I don't think that's the issue.

What I did on the model was (1) airbrush a base of Valejo primer, (2) airbrush a coat of leadbelcher, and then I applied the wash with a brush. Do people think the instructions are saying to airbrush the wash on as well? I could try that. It would explain how he got it so dark with a wash.

No, the wash wouldn't be airbrushed. I suspect you're just not using thick enough coats... To get the dark effect shown in that pic, you would need to use either fairly heavy coats of wash, or a lot of them.

 insaniak wrote:
No, the wash wouldn't be airbrushed. I suspect you're just not using thick enough coats... To get the dark effect shown in that pic, you would need to use either fairly heavy coats of wash, or a lot of them.

Agreed.