Washing vehicles

[Valkyrion]

I haven't tried yet, but I'm thinking a mithril or chainmail base followed by an asurmen blue wash will give a decent metallic blue base coat for the executioners.

My problem them comes with vehicles.

 

Anyone who has ever washed a vehicle knows how it looks once it has dried - it is hard to get it even and can give a pastel effect. It's fine if you are then going over the vehicle with another coat, but if the wash gives you your colour then you can get a bit stuck. (or I can at any rate)

 

So - how do you get the metallic blue tint on vehicle armour plates? Recesses are easy, but I can't get the flat panelled areas to look any good after a wash is used.

[Hemal]

Add some of te wash to a thinned down base colour and paint on the flat surfaces, add bit more base colour and blend in towards the centre of panels.

[Subtle Discord]

I really like washes, and use them all the time. They give great control and subtle effects. Many of my paint jobs that get 'how did you get that effect?' questions are done with wash layering. always remember, one of the best things about washes are that they layer really well. Use that to your advantage, and don't try to get the final look in one go.

 

TIP: Bubbles in nooks-and-crannies area a real pain with washes. Don't try to spend time poking and stabbing at them with your brush. You get so caught up trying to pop those bubbles that the edges of the wash will start drying and ruin the effect. Swallow all of the spit out of your mouth (nothing worse than spraying a tiny amount of spit onto a nice wash) and give the bubbles a quick blow/blast of air to pop the bubbles. This works on paint too. The blast of air will move some swash a bit sometimes, and you might need to carefully drag it back, but most times the bubble will pop with no change.

 

I've found the same thing with washes. They are great on smaller places that I can completely cover very quickly, but larger areas will either get rings and lines from the edges of drying wash, and/or it will go on slightly 'blotchy' over a large flat area. Here are some ideas and insights I've learned about washing. In your case, I can see you having a few options. Naturally, these can be used with washes in other places. Note: It is very hard to get 100% consistent colours with washes over large areas. One tank might be slightly different than another due to the nature of washing.

 

Before I get to technique, one quick thing to mention. On large areas, use a large brush. A #1 or #2 round doesn't cover enough ground fast enough, and just won't cut it. Get a 1/4" or 1/2" flat brush from an art store. Find some cheap Taklon (white plastic) bristle brushes. Pick up at least few of each, and you might want to get some smaller round ones too. There's a reason why you'll want more than one, and I'll get to that. Ok, on to technique...

 

Option 1) In general, when I work with washes I have one brush to apply the wash, and one clean damp brush to clean/blend edges and clean up mistakes. This can be taken further by giving the area of the vehicle that's being washed a quick slathering of clean water. You don't want it dripping, just a damp/moist surface. Doing this will slow the washes dry time along the edges, and make it easier to do heavy colour in corners/edges, and smooth it to a thin later over large surfaces. This won't be fool proof however, and you'll still need to be careful that the water layer stays wet.

 

Option 2) Start with a very thin layer of blue ink. Again you might want to combine this with the 'water wash' of the first idea. With this layer you're aiming to create the metallic-blue colour you want on the large surface areas. Once the ink is dry, follow with the wash, but keep it to the corners that you want to have the 'wash effect' in, and use the clean damp brush to drag/blend the edges of the wash into the broad flat area.

 

Option 3) If this metallic-blue colour that you're trying to create is going to be a major colour in your army, this is the best option, in my opinion. As I said, getting 100% consistent results over large areas with washes can be tricky. Sometimes it will be slightly darker and other times, slightly lighter. Do yourself a favor and mix a custom bottle of metallic-blue. Take one bottle of 'bright' silver and add blue paint or ink until you get the subtle metallic-blue colour you want. Remember the formula ('X' drops of blue ink/paint + 1 bottle of Silver) so you can make more later. Then it's as simple as doing washes in the corners and edges, and taking the clean damp brush to blend in to the perfect-very-time base colour. Now, if the wash is slightly different, it will be much less noticeable (and easier to alter to match) since the blue base is consistent across all of the models. Also, if you happen to get too much wash effect, or it leaves a 'drying line', you can go back with thinned-down metallic-blue and clean it up, and it will always match the base colour.

 

In closing, you always want to try to work fast with washes to get the layer down. Then go back and tweak it a bit by adding wash here-and-there, or dragging it around. Keep it moving, and it won't get a change to start drying. If it's a large area you're working on, work in sections, and try to start/finish sections on corners and places where you can use surface tension 'stop' the wash. If the section you're working on doesn't have a solid 'edge' to start/stop on, remember to blend your 'stop lines' into the base colour with the clean damp brush. Then go back and tweak the wash and let it dry. Once you start again, the 'stop line' should be smooth/clean and you can carefully pick up the wash from that point.

 

There's a lot of text here, but hopefully it will provide some good insight into getting good wash effects.

[Venerable Jazzman]

Adding something to the water to break the surface tension will help the wash flow over large panels - washing-up liquid or detergent will work, or Future Floor cleaner (Johnsons floor polish etc, depending what country you're in)

 

Have a look here for the difference it makes.

[Lorenzen]

If you look at the other executioners thread on here, i presented Khargans method for doing executioners.. the example happens to be a contemptor so you can see how it applies to vehicles..