Painting dirty/old white

[Stezza]

Hi guys,

 

I'm new here so apologies if this is the incorrect place/way to post.

 

I've started a black templars army, and have currently have all my initiates/neophytes painted black, and the shoulder pads white. It took me a while to get the layering of thinned down white paint to cover well, but now its looking nice and smooth.

 

The problem is, its too white! it looks nice and clean, which isn't the look I really like. I had a go at doing a black wash over the white on a test model, but that didn't work great. I don't really want to repaint every shoulder pad (and some rhino/landraider parts) with another white shade, so is there a dry brush/wash I could use over the current white to take away some of the 'crispness' to appear a bit worn/dirty?

 

Thanks!

[d@n]

Try using a sphypia was or an oil was using burnt umber . If your feelings adventurous .

[GreyCrow]

You could use Agrax Earthshade as a wash to give a brownish dirty colour to the white. Maybe dillute it with medium first :)

 

I'm not painting expert so you should definitely consider trying it out first !

[Carlson793]

Take your normal brush washing mug/jar, mix in enough brush loads of browns to dirty up the water, then use the dirty water as a wash for the white bits.

[Ovidius Incertus]

Try a wash of sepia or brown first, as suggested.

 

Also, you could simply avoid painting pure white.  Start with a very light brown or an off white (something like Bleached Bone or Karak Stone, etc.) and work up to an ivory (I use Vallejo Model Color Ivory).  Reserve pure white for your final, final, final highlight.  If it's not pleasing, then hit the whole thing with a wash of sepia or brown.

[Stezza]

Thanks for the tips. Yes in hindsight, all the effort to get a nice white was wasted. But I really didn't want to start using a different type of white halfway through my squads. I'm sure that would stand out a lot! I'll try the suggestions and let you know how it goes.

[Razblood]

Vallejo Pale Grey wash might be useful to you here, picked it up for my own Templars and need to start playing around with it.....once I finish my current project that is

[MosesGunn]

To follow off what Ovidius said, I find Rakarth Flesh is always a good base for a warmer tone of white. If you're not simply line highlighting and blending you can mix it up with lighter shades (like white scar or pallid wych flesh) and slowly build it up.