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Dirty Wash


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When I wash my models it makes the armor look dirty. Do I need to add something to the wash or water it down more? Or is the color of the wash too far from what I'm working with?

 

I've got Blood Angels I'm trying to paint fairly quickly, but to a nice degree.

 

My process:

 

- Black Primer

- 1 coat Dark Flesh

- 1 coat Blood Red

- Wash Badab Black

- Blood Red on armor surfaces

- Highlight Blazing Orange

- Wash 50/50 Baal Red & Leviathan Purple

 

This gives me the red color I'm looking for, but the badab black wash makes the armor look dirtier than I've seen other people get using a similar process.

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Like any problem, there's usually more than one option to fix it. No one idea/opinion is necessarily 100% right, including my own. That said...

 

When working with Washes/Glazes I find doing a very thin layer first starts the effect, then once that's dry, go in with further layers that are very intentionally placed, and blended from there. Trying to do several all-over layers will do just what you're saying (doing one of two things, or both) 'contaminating' colours by making the colour 'dirty', or darkening it too much. It's the price you'll pay for convenience, since selectively placing layers is more work.

 

I would combine suggestions. First, switch the order up. Do your Red+Purple wash first, over everything that needs it, and let it dry completely. Then go in and add the Black wash (Maybe even a Black+Red+Purple wash to make it match even more) to the places where you want to add extra shadow. Simple blobs and streaks are all you need, and use an second clean damp brush to smooth/blend the edges of the blobs and streaks. Washes are very forgiving, and can be poked, stabbed, dragged, and smeared to get all sorts of desirable effects. Just remember that edges of blended wash will be dark, and many times will vanish once dry. A little practice will show you what I mean.

 

Just be careful not to 'work' fresh wash too much, if it's on a previous layer of wash that's just dried. Freshly dried wash is still a bit soft, and can get 'rubbed loose' by working another layer. Again practice will show you what I mean.

 

And finally, as others have said, you might want to remove the Black wash completely, and go with another colour. Devlan Mud was suggested, and it would be a good place to start. It's a Brown-Black wash, and shadowed Red is brown most times. Another option might be Gryphonne Sepia (one of my favorite washes) which is a pale Orange-Brown wash. That Orange-Brown colour (maybe with a bit of Red and/or Purple) should add some rich shadow that is Brown, not 'dirty' Black.

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another quick tip:

Before washing, gloss varnish the whole model AND use the drop of soap in the wash. The wash will not pool on flat surfaces and get better into the recesses than without varnishing.

When finished and everything is dry, apply the decals (there shouldn't be any silvering because of the gloss varnish) and then varnish matte the whole model.

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