There’s been talk about washes here on the site and since we will hopefully all be able to start painting our models soon, I wanted to share a really simple wash.
Now, there are likely better guides out there, and not everyone makes their washes the same, but you wont find a simpler wash anywhere.
The first thing to take into account is what you’re going to be using your wash for. You want your wash to be at least one or two shades darker than the primary color you want to use. Sometimes a light brown will work well for lighter skin tones. And black actually works nicely for things like metal (Guns?).
Step One:
Put a bit of paint in a bottle. Most people go with 1 part paint to 4 parts water. I often mix just a little heavier than that.
Step Two:
Add some water. Remember that 1 part paint to 4 parts water. In this case, that filled my bottle. Once you’ve topped off what you need, give that thing a good shake (And shake good before every time you use your wash.)
Step Three:
Paint something. I put a few drops of the wash on a piece of the wrapper I got the bottles out of here just to show you what it looks like. It runs like water at this consistency as you can see. Notice how it’s darker where it’s thin and almost transparent in it’s thinnest spots? It’s going to do the same thing on your model. Those creases and protrusions are going to cause the paint to pool just a little thicker, making for darker shadows on your miniature. At the same time most of the paint is going to run off of the high points shading your paint just a little darker than the original color
Step Four:
Up to this point, you have a two tone model. Some people are happy with their models at this point and that’s what they use. There’s nothing wrong with that. However, if you want just a little more depth to the model, come back with your original base coat color and give the model a drybrush to bring out some highlights. Some people will even take this a step forward and find a slightly lighter color still and drybrush a lighter shade over the first in an even lighter layer to bring out some additional highlights
My recommendation is to start with a model you don’t care much about, experiment a bit. Most people are tempted to paint their favorite models first and end up being disappointed because of their lack of skill. If you start with models you don’t care as much about, then you have a chance to experiment a little and learn, improving your skill as you work toward the models you are most excited about painting.
Not sure if any of this will be helpful to anyone, but I wanted to share just in case someone could make use of it.
Hope this helps, and best of luck to everyone painting their models!
