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So I decided I want to try something new and add an Oil Wash to my Ravenwing Bikes.
I wanted to add a blue wash to the feathers, and afaik the best way to do is....an oil wash.
So I went and got me some White Spirit (or something of the likes), oil paint brushes and an ultramarine light blue.
Having the materials, I mixed the wash after applying the satin Varnish from Vallejo to the featherparts. The consistency and color seemed ok to me. Liquid, strong colour, didn't "spider" out when put on a paper towel.

But it didn't go quite as I had planned. In the tutorials I saw (Ravenwing Bike by Buypainted) the wash basically nearly ran to the crevices itself... While mine did flow a little, it still blotched up the feathers itself instead of the surfaces. If I understood the theory correctly, the varnish should prevent exactly that and "repel" the wash so it travels to the crevices.
Being new to this I have actually no clue what I did wrong. I tried using more wash on the brush so "force" it to run, but it "overflew". I used less, and it didn't run at all. I tried putting it at the "beginning" end of the feathers so it would automatically run down, which it did, but only after I used vast amounts of wash. Pulling it down with the brush polluted the feathers...

I'm getting quite frustrated with those Ravenwing Fethers... Edge Highlighting gives me trouble, this gives me trouble... Any help and/or more detailed tutorial would be hugely appreciated, didn't find a good one yet :/

Did you let the varnish cure?

Also try gloss next time repels much better.

IF not it may be your wash consistency or your brush it self.

I've had better results with gloss varnish than satin varnish, so I would recommend that. The main problem sounds like the wash wasn't thin enough. If you touch the brush to a paper towel the capillary action should pull the wash out.

Would love to see a picture to give you a better idea of what to do. I have been working with oils for quite some time now.

Sounds like your wash was too thick, and as said gloss will work better than satin.
Have you tried acrylic inks and mediums for making washes?
I find it more convenient to not require the gloss coat - acrylic is compatible with acrylic, while oil takes forever to dry, and must be separated by a layer of inter coat clear either side of it.

Thanks for the advice!
Didn't new that gloss is such an important part of it... I got GW Purity Seal (which is a satin) and thought to myself that a small bottle of Varnish just for trying on specific parts would be a good idea and got satin there too, which I used for this.

Will go and get a gloss varnish ('Ardstuff is the one from GW, aight?) today and experiment with this and a thinner wash.

If I still fail I will gladly take Redfinger's offer and take a pic

So far I only used the GW Shades... And I don't like em too much to be honest. I even have the blue version of it since I tried that first and the result was far, far from what I wanted. It smeared up all the feathers, there was no way to line the recesses as finely as (I think) oil washes can do.

Alright guys, I'm back. I bought a pot of 'Ardcoat, thinned the wash to ludicrous levels... And it didn'T work out as I hoped.
Dunno. I made some pictures of my steps, so you could maybe give me some pointers on the cause...

I painted the feathers white. I wasnt to careful, I pretty much expected I'd have to strip them again, so I didnt put that much effort into it.
I then applied the 'Arcoat and let it dry (bout 30 mins).
Then I applied some of the wash to the top area, as I did see Buypainted do it.
The was began to flow, as you can see, so thats nice.
However it didn't really want to go down nicely, so I had to help with my (rather cheap) brush. Guess getting a brush that is smaller/with a better point would help out here...

Anyway, you see the result.
In the meantime, the wash dried up somewhat and is splotchy and not nice to look at.

You don't want to brush on varnish. it will be a bit uneven which could cause splatchis (get something like testors gloss varnish (spray can) or airbrush would be better) (ehter way you should let it cure for 24hours at least)

I think you can dilute it a bit more as it seems to be very pigmented and then whip off the access with a medical Q tip once its dried.

With the oil wash method, I always thought the idea was to liberally apply it, then get a cotton bud and some mineral spirits and 'clean up' the figure, the cotton bud shouldnt get into the recesses, and if your careful about how much spirit is on it, (so you dont flood the model in spirits) it should take up the oil paint on the raised areas?

 Desubot wrote:
Did you let the varnish cure?

Also try gloss next time repels much better.

IF not it may be your wash consistency or your brush it self.

Seems reasonable.

24 hours?
That is new to me... Literally Oo Will try that. Also not brushing is on is something I never read in my researches... Only got a satin spray, but I guess I can try that. Bad thing is, I need to paint the entire thing, and then apply the varnish, yes? Loads of work if it fails

So, in conclusion:
Let it dry 24h
spray, not brush (hope satin varnish does the jop, since I dont own a airbrush yet)
Remove excess with a Q-Tip.

Got it, Will do and be "right" back

1) Try it on a spare model/bit
2) satin still has a texture that may allow the wash to sit in it making it harder to clean. its why gloss is suggested
3) generally a lot of paints take a while to fully cure (get to the proper hardness) also a lot of spirits used for the wash can eat acrylic/paint/plastic (not the varnish that well) which is why i suggest letting it fully cure for maximum
4) get a medical cotton swab (they are generally much more tightly packed compared to the soft ones for general use.

good luck

oil washes suck. put some quickshade soft tone into your mix if you want a good wash. the soft tone doesn't have much pigment so you can tint it with whatever oil colour you want.

mix it well then mix it some more. and a tiny bit of oil color goes a loooooong way, add only little bits.

If your talking about the polyurithain dip i cant say it would mix all that well with oil paint though if you have pictures of the results then maybe.

If your talking about the wash it is water based so wont ever mix with oil. its going to make a mess.

Boy, this is getting SO complicated...
I just ordered those medical Q-Tips. Gonna take a few days till they're here...
Problem is, I dont have any spare bits. All I got is the Dark Vengeance Starter Box (the DA part), so I naturally don't have any yet.
What I did now:
I prepared one of the wingy bits with 'Ardcoat, only on the feathers. The other was basecoated and spayed with Purity Seal (satin). When the tips arrive, prolly saturday, I will try it again... And if I fail, well, I guess its time to learn from my mistakes, scrub the bits and go back to some standard highlighting, though I really love the look the oil washes do. It might just be a too advanced technique for me by far, it seems...

 Desubot wrote:
If your talking about the polyurithain dip i cant say it would mix all that well with oil paint though if you have pictures of the results then maybe.

If your talking about the wash it is water based so wont ever mix with oil. its going to make a mess.

lol, the dip of course. I use only winsor and newton artist oil. make sure to drain off the oil that forms at the front of the cap when you open it - you don't want that stuff in your mix.

ill leave you to your experiments. good luck.

*necrocoughcough* Erm.. I found my mistake. It was a rough translation error. While White Spirit in English is pretty clear, some translations into German actually turn it into terpentine.. which no acrylic varnish on this world can endure. Got me some PROPER spirit now and gave it a quick check: way, way better.
Oh, did anyone try making washes with linseed oil? Was recommended to me in the artstore and I got a small bottle.

If you use linseed oil it will take forever to dry (I'm talking months maybe even years). Take it back & get your money back.

 Thairne wrote:
*necrocoughcough* Erm.. I found my mistake. It was a rough translation error. While White Spirit in English is pretty clear, some translations into German actually turn it into terpentine.. which no acrylic varnish on this world can endure. Got me some PROPER spirit now and gave it a quick check: way, way better.
Oh, did anyone try making washes with linseed oil? Was recommended to me in the artstore and I got a small bottle.

Doesn't linseed oil have a glossy or semi-glossy finish?

 Thairne wrote:
So I decided I want to try something new and add an Oil Wash to my Ravenwing Bikes.
I wanted to add a blue wash to the feathers, and afaik the best way to do is....an oil wash.
So I went and got me some White Spirit (or something of the likes), oil paint brushes and an ultramarine light blue.
Having the materials, I mixed the wash after applying the satin Varnish from Vallejo to the featherparts. The consistency and color seemed ok to me. Liquid, strong colour, didn't "spider" out when put on a paper towel.

But it didn't go quite as I had planned. In the tutorials I saw (Ravenwing Bike by Buypainted) the wash basically nearly ran to the crevices itself... While mine did flow a little, it still blotched up the feathers itself instead of the surfaces. If I understood the theory correctly, the varnish should prevent exactly that and "repel" the wash so it travels to the crevices.
Being new to this I have actually no clue what I did wrong. I tried using more wash on the brush so "force" it to run, but it "overflew". I used less, and it didn't run at all. I tried putting it at the "beginning" end of the feathers so it would automatically run down, which it did, but only after I used vast amounts of wash. Pulling it down with the brush polluted the feathers...

I'm getting quite frustrated with those Ravenwing Fethers... Edge Highlighting gives me trouble, this gives me trouble... Any help and/or more detailed tutorial would be hugely appreciated, didn't find a good one yet :/

Always use gloss it makes the inks/ Oil Washes flow into seams. Satin tend to have a rougher texture kinda like a semi matte. As others said let it cure and dry, spraying it on works a bit better. If you're looking for some good gloss try Kleer or pledge floor care (same thing).

 Cave_Dweller wrote:

 Thairne wrote:
*necrocoughcough* Erm.. I found my mistake. It was a rough translation error. While White Spirit in English is pretty clear, some translations into German actually turn it into terpentine.. which no acrylic varnish on this world can endure. Got me some PROPER spirit now and gave it a quick check: way, way better.
Oh, did anyone try making washes with linseed oil? Was recommended to me in the artstore and I got a small bottle.

Doesn't linseed oil have a glossy or semi-glossy finish?

Make sure you carefully dispose of any cloths or towels used with it too lest they catch fire.

Eeeep! Firehazard?
Ah well, returning it tomorrow anyway. No use for it and the cash from it can turn into, dunno, some more paints

Ive found an intial coat of johnsons klear and THEN a gloss coat before washes makes a perfect flow into recess action.

 Thairne wrote:
Eeeep! Firehazard?
Ah well, returning it tomorrow anyway. No use for it and the cash from it can turn into, dunno, some more paints

Yeah, it's probably not as big an issue in the quantities you use it for (I've used it to oil spearshafts and other polearms which needs a big bucket!), but linseed oil has an odd reaction where it continually increases the temperature of the cloth soaked in it until it combusts. There's more to it than that but I'm not a chemist!

It's fine in a bottle or other container though.