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Made in se
Dakka Veteran





Sweden

Hey! I’m looking for suggestions on products to replace GW’s Agrax Earthshade. Simply tired of the extremely glossy finish you get. I don’t even get why they sell a Agrax Earthshade Gloss when the standard one makes your minis shine like a christmas tree..

An open mind is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded.  
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut






Obvious question, but we'll ask it anyway. Are you shaking it enough? As personally speaking i've never had the non-gloss stuff ever come out shiny after a good shake.
   
Made in us
Daemonic Dreadnought





Eye of Terror

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:
Obvious question, but we'll ask it anyway. Are you shaking it enough? As personally speaking i've never had the non-gloss stuff ever come out shiny after a good shake.


I've always found it to dry to a matte finish, but sometimes it's a question of how much you are using and what you're using it on top of.

Agrax Earthshade dries to a deep brown. Nuln Oil mixed with one of the reds / oranges / yellows would achieve a similar effect.

   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User





I've never had that trouble with Agrax Earthshade either, but The Army Painter Strong Tone is a suitable substitute
   
Made in se
Dakka Veteran





Sweden

Yeah no, the bottle, or shall I say bottles were all shaken extensively. I bought my first bottle around the time of the aobr box. It worked wonders and had a mat finish. As that has run dry I bought a new one. Which had a terribly glossy finish. Mind you, I shaked that bottle for several days, no change. So I bought a new one, thinking there was simply something wrong with it. Sadly the new bottle had the same extreme gloss finish.

An open mind is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded.  
   
Made in us
Stealthy Space Wolves Scout





Folkvang

 Reality-Torrent wrote:
Yeah no, the bottle, or shall I say bottles were all shaken extensively. I bought my first bottle around the time of the aobr box. It worked wonders and had a mat finish. As that has run dry I bought a new one. Which had a terribly glossy finish. Mind you, I shaked that bottle for several days, no change. So I bought a new one, thinking there was simply something wrong with it. Sadly the new bottle had the same extreme gloss finish.


I always mix my inks with Kimera's Matte Medium. They all come out super matte no matter how glossy the inks initial surface might be. It's a super cool trick AND it has the added benefit of basically being a contrast paint. Which is literally an ink mixed with medium but lets not get technical xD

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Made in gb
Crafty Bray Shaman




Anor Londo

When it comes to washes, The Army Painter are at the very top of the pile. They behave just like the OG Citadel washes did (Devlan Mud, Badab Black, Baal Red, etc). Strong tone is their equivalent to Agrax.

Each paint range has different positives and negatives, I’m not a fan of regular Army Painter paints but their current range of Washes are much better than the current Citadel shades.

But to answer your question, yeah, it sounds like you have a bad batch
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





Green stuff world wash set has earth tones in it, don’t know if it’s the replacement you want as I’ve always used AG earthshade. As others have said it’s not glossy for me
   
Made in us
Flashy Flashgitz




North Carolina

Another vote for the Army Painter tones. They do function slightly different than the GW ones, but I like the results better.

If you use them straight out of the bottle they are pretty thick, but they thin very nicely with any sort of medium (or even water). Once they're thinned out they work a lot better than GW washes IMO.

I've also recently experienced a bottle of Agrax that is really glossy despite not being the gloss version. I'm wondering if it got ruined in storage or transportation or something going to the store.
   
Made in gb
Thane of Dol Guldur





Bodt

I very rarely use washes now, but if I do want a brown wash I generally use a highly thinned oil paint.

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Also giving a +1 for Army Painter Strong Tone. It's probably my most used wash now.
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
I very rarely use washes now, but if I do want a brown wash I generally use a highly thinned oil paint.


What do you use?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I checked out the army painter washes, they look like they have a sort of inky effect if they aren’t thinned is that right?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/12/03 07:56:20


 
   
Made in ca
Regular Dakkanaut





Oh Canada!

dewd11 wrote:
Also giving a +1 for Army Painter Strong Tone. It's probably my most used wash now.

Another +1 for AP Strong Tone. And it's less expensive too! Dropper bottle also prevents catastrophic tipping accidents.
   
Made in no
Liche Priest Hierophant





Bergen

I got 25% left on my agrax eartshade and it all comes out super glossy. I suspect I have not shaken it enough before and now none of the good stuff is left in the bottle.

Bought a new one. And it is not so shiny.

   
Made in se
Dakka Veteran





Sweden

Allot of people from what I can read have trouble with getting a glossy finish with Agrax Earthshade, and some don’t. Not sure what to make of that.. Perhaps they have problems in the production of those bottles where some batches just go really badly.. I did however just buy two new bottles, and both had a super glossy finish, no amount of shaking seems to solve it. Thanks for all the advice, I’ll try the army painter Strong Tone

An open mind is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded.  
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





Ha anyone complained to GW? Maybe they have had a production fault and the gloss one is going out as Matt or they’ve got the recipe wrong
   
Made in se
Dakka Veteran





Sweden

mrFickle wrote:
Ha anyone complained to GW? Maybe they have had a production fault and the gloss one is going out as Matt or they’ve got the recipe wrong


I think in this case it’s the other way around The mat one is turning out extremely glossy.

I reported it to GW customer service, hopefully it leads to something, though they did not ask for any product numbers or anything so I suppose not.

An open mind is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded.  
   
Made in gb
Thane of Dol Guldur





Bodt

mrFickle wrote:
 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
I very rarely use washes now, but if I do want a brown wash I generally use a highly thinned oil paint.


What do you use?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I checked out the army painter washes, they look like they have a sort of inky effect if they aren’t thinned is that right?


Just a Windsor Newton burnt umber thinned with mineral spirit.

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Stealthy Space Wolves Scout





Folkvang

And if you need a more cold version you can use raw umber

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 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
I very rarely use washes now, but if I do want a brown wash I generally use a highly thinned oil paint.


So much this! I used to agonize over glossy looking washes (I hate glossy paints with a passion unless I'm going for lens fx), and once I tried oil washes, I'm never going back to using anything else.

I also heard good things about enamel washes, they are easier to handle consistently IIUC. Oil washes have a learning curve to using them.
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





 tauist wrote:
 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
I very rarely use washes now, but if I do want a brown wash I generally use a highly thinned oil paint.


So much this! I used to agonize over glossy looking washes (I hate glossy paints with a passion unless I'm going for lens fx), and once I tried oil washes, I'm never going back to using anything else.

I also heard good things about enamel washes, they are easier to handle consistently IIUC. Oil washes have a learning curve to using them.


All things do, but isn’t there a toxic element to oils and enamels that you don’t have with acrylics? And strong smells from the chemicals etc

I used enamels as a kid to do airfix so I suppose they can’t be that bad but I do remember the stink.
   
Made in au
Grizzled Space Wolves Great Wolf





 Niiai wrote:
I got 25% left on my agrax eartshade and it all comes out super glossy. I suspect I have not shaken it enough before and now none of the good stuff is left in the bottle.

Bought a new one. And it is not so shiny.


I wonder if it goes bad? Normally if you don't shake it enough, you end up with the matting agent sitting at the bottom and the pot will get more matte as you go, not more glossy.

   
Made in us
Stealthy Space Wolves Scout





Folkvang

mrFickle wrote:
 tauist wrote:
 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
I very rarely use washes now, but if I do want a brown wash I generally use a highly thinned oil paint.


So much this! I used to agonize over glossy looking washes (I hate glossy paints with a passion unless I'm going for lens fx), and once I tried oil washes, I'm never going back to using anything else.

I also heard good things about enamel washes, they are easier to handle consistently IIUC. Oil washes have a learning curve to using them.


All things do, but isn’t there a toxic element to oils and enamels that you don’t have with acrylics? And strong smells from the chemicals etc

I used enamels as a kid to do airfix so I suppose they can’t be that bad but I do remember the stink.


Only a couple of oil paints are toxic and those are the ones with cadmium in them. Odorless white spirits is usually actually odorless. I work with oils almost daily and I don't wear a mask or anything. Just don't stick cadmium in your mouth and you're fine.

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mrFickle wrote:
 tauist wrote:
 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
I very rarely use washes now, but if I do want a brown wash I generally use a highly thinned oil paint.


So much this! I used to agonize over glossy looking washes (I hate glossy paints with a passion unless I'm going for lens fx), and once I tried oil washes, I'm never going back to using anything else.

I also heard good things about enamel washes, they are easier to handle consistently IIUC. Oil washes have a learning curve to using them.


All things do, but isn’t there a toxic element to oils and enamels that you don’t have with acrylics? And strong smells from the chemicals etc

I used enamels as a kid to do airfix so I suppose they can’t be that bad but I do remember the stink.


Good point. Enamels do have a significant stink to them, especially if airbrushed. Oils OTOH are completely fine, with odorless thinner being a thing, you only get a slight whiff of linseed oil smell, nothing unbearble or something which would need constant ventilation.
   
Made in au
Grizzled Space Wolves Great Wolf





 tauist wrote:
mrFickle wrote:
 tauist wrote:
 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
I very rarely use washes now, but if I do want a brown wash I generally use a highly thinned oil paint.


So much this! I used to agonize over glossy looking washes (I hate glossy paints with a passion unless I'm going for lens fx), and once I tried oil washes, I'm never going back to using anything else.

I also heard good things about enamel washes, they are easier to handle consistently IIUC. Oil washes have a learning curve to using them.


All things do, but isn’t there a toxic element to oils and enamels that you don’t have with acrylics? And strong smells from the chemicals etc

I used enamels as a kid to do airfix so I suppose they can’t be that bad but I do remember the stink.


Good point. Enamels do have a significant stink to them, especially if airbrushed. Oils OTOH are completely fine, with odorless thinner being a thing, you only get a slight whiff of linseed oil smell, nothing unbearble or something which would need constant ventilation.


One thing with oils, you might not be able to smell the odorless thinner but it's still not a great idea to huff it and it should be used in a well ventilated area. I had an unpleasant reaction to odorless oil thinner, even though I couldn't really smell it while I was using it the reaction came afterwards.

So I don't put oils in the same category as acrylics for fumes even if only using odorless thinners.
   
Made in gb
Thane of Dol Guldur





Bodt

And that's why you don't use odourless. The odour is there for a reason. I use an old citadel pot with regular mineral spirit. That's all you need to mix up washes . No issues with fumes or anything at all

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Longtime Dakkanaut





 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
And that's why you don't use odourless. The odour is there for a reason. I use an old citadel pot with regular mineral spirit. That's all you need to mix up washes . No issues with fumes or anything at all


I heard they put the smell in gas
   
Made in au
Grizzled Space Wolves Great Wolf





 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
And that's why you don't use odourless. The odour is there for a reason. I use an old citadel pot with regular mineral spirit. That's all you need to mix up washes . No issues with fumes or anything at all


Yeah, working with chemicals at work I don't trust smell or lack of smell to determine how safe something is, I was going off the recommendations of others that said odorless thinners are safe, but I should have known better. The SDS I've seen for odorless thinners still gives a warning against inhalation.

That said, I also don't like mineral spirits either. I have some ventilation in my hobby room, but I wouldn't use mineral spirits or odorless thinners unless I had a proper fume extractor.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/12/05 04:36:07


 
   
Made in gb
Thane of Dol Guldur





Bodt

Fair enough. Personally I find a tiny pot ful causes no issues, and the citadel ones are great because you can close the lid, meaning they don't evaporate either.

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Made in se
Dakka Veteran





Sweden

Wanted to share an update. GW sent me a replacement bottle after I sent them some images of my models which I had applied the ruined shade on. The replacement had the normal awesome matt finish.

That still means that 2 out of 3 new bottles I recieved had a terrible awful glossy finish (no matter how much they were shaken or stirred).

An open mind is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded.  
   
 
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