Topic: The Wash...

[fighter36]

So I have painted my first few models ever. It is a Captain and a spearmen from the 1st Skulsgate Spears. Now I am reading about a wash stage where i dilute some black paint then coat the models with it.

Anyone have any info on how to best do this stage? How diluted should the paint be? How many coats?

Thanks!

[GamesPoet]

Rather than diltiing the black paint, try using the Badab Black wash that GW puts out.

If you start out with a light coat, and you want more, then you could always add more.

[Dannyfave]

Well what colors are your models?  It might be better to wash them dark brown.

[fighter36]

they are mostly green and yellow, with silver armour. Stirland troops.

I will check out the washes from Citadel as I used their foudation paints.

Thanks!

[ZeroTwentythree]

I would not recommend washing green & yellow with black. It will make them look dirty rather than shaded.

Black is good on silver, grey, some browns, and sometimes on gold & bronze.

Something like sepia or flesh or some other brownish wash would probably work better on yellow, and maybe the green.

Personally, I only use washes on certain colors/figures, and prefer to highlight in layers.

[Dannyfave]

As you are stirland I would wah the entire model with devlan mud the wah the metal a second time with baddab black

[GamesPoet]

Yes, a Stirland army, green and yellow, isn't likley to look as good with a black wash, except for the metal parts.  Devlan Mud, maybe even Gryphonne Sephia could be better.

[fighter36]

groovy! thanks guys. 

[der Hurenwiebel]

color theory works that the complementary color to green and yellow which are analagous colors is red purple so if you want to throw good deep shadows into your model you may want to try mixing a little red purple into a green wash, which will take the color closer to chroma neutral.  Doing this fools the eye better and more naturally than using a wash of a different color.  This is not to say that a brown wash is not effective at simulating chroma change it just has to be the right kind of brown.  BTW color consists of essentially three elements hue, tone and chroma.  Hue is where it is on the color spectrum red orange yellow etc. Tone is black through the burgundy range to red then through the pink range to white in all hue spectrums.  Chroma is the usually forgotten color change as it adds the complementary color to a hue, for example green adds red to make olive that gets duller and duller until neutral color is acheived then gradually less and less green in the red going through the maroon range to red.  Play with the colors and have fun.