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.

Pre-shading before airbrushing (or applying contrast type paints) and also the use of oil paints to add recess shades are fairly common. I wondered though has anybody tried combining them and using oil to pre-shade?

I was thinking about doing some test minis next week in a range of techniques and I wondered if anybody has tried applying contrast or ink over the top of oils. My thinking was that if you can happily spray acrylic varnish over an oil paint (once the spirits and oil have evaporated) then could you not also use oils paint as a highly controllable pre-shade and apply an ink or contrast over it.

Has anybody tried this?
What was the effect like?
Is this even worth attempting?
Does it require a varnish between the two mediums?

I have not personally done preshading with oils, but I've seen Juan Hidalgo do it with the pink-underpainting trick for yellow/orange. And while I haven't specifically used them for preshading, I've painted over oils with acrylics for highlights with no issues, no varnish needed. It works fine as long as you let the oils dry out for a few hours, ideally overnight. The oils don't need to fully cure, they just need to dry enough that paint on top won't disturb them, if you're thinning oils for minis it doesn't take as long to dry as you'd think. Or you can varnish between layers if you're painting in a hurry

That's a neat way to tackle orange body armour! Could also work well for a more reddish color I imagine..

Using oil washes this way is a great technique since it offers the benefit of undo, unlike with acrylic washes. The advice about needing a gloss coat prior to oilwashing is solid, some oils certainly stain a lot, like my black Oilbrusher..

The Black Adder wrote:
Pre-shading before airbrushing (or applying contrast type paints) and also the use of oil paints to add recess shades are fairly common. I wondered though has anybody tried combining them and using oil to pre-shade?

I was thinking about doing some test minis next week in a range of techniques and I wondered if anybody has tried applying contrast or ink over the top of oils. My thinking was that if you can happily spray acrylic varnish over an oil paint (once the spirits and oil have evaporated) then could you not also use oils paint as a highly controllable pre-shade and apply an ink or contrast over it.

Has anybody tried this?
What was the effect like?
Is this even worth attempting?
Does it require a varnish between the two mediums?

So while I've not done it myself with the intention of pre-shading, I have found that during post-shading using the airbrush, dulling the contrast of panel lining has been effective.

Has anybody tried this?
I haven't, but done similar, as explained above.

What was the effect like?
As above

Is this even worth attempting?
Could be, if you wanted definition but didn't want stark contrast. I can see it being a good interim step if you didn't fancy panel lining later.

Does it require a varnish between the two mediums?
No, this is a misconception spread by people who don't understand oils. The two mediums are immiscible when wet. Applying a varnish only reduces surface tension and doesn't really add much in the way of strength to your paint job. If you rub anything hard enough the paint will come off. No varnish does mean that the staining power of oils is increased, and this is due to the inability for the oil to get out of the matte/rougher texture. Check out my gallery if you want some examples. All of my work these days is a combination of oils and acrylics.

Thanks for the responses. I didn't get time to do the tests when I thought, but I cleaned up some spare space marine bits which I'm priming today along with some lizardmen using a Colour Forge Wight Bone (the first coat is drying as a I type).

Once the initial primer is dry I might try a variety of other base primer colours as well as different oils before using inks.


I'll check out the Juan Hidalgo vid. I've seen the pre-shade done with pink for yellow minis before, but that was done with an acrylic zenithal. I'm interested to see what he does with oils.

I'll post some pics when I'm done in the next week or two.