Armour wash equivalents?

[TheArtilleryman]

Hi,

 

Can anyone suggest any easily available (UK) paints that resemble the old citadel armour wash? This one:

 

 

It’s very thin but very dark and grippy, and colours more of the surface than say Nuln oil, which is more watery and runs into the recesses more, leaving a lot more of the original colour on the raised areas. The armour wash is also ever so slightly metallic, giving the black a nice sheen.

 

I used it to paint my Raven Guard infiltrators but I only have the one 25-year-old pot and am worried I won’t have enough for future projects. To give you an idea of what I need, here’s some of my marines:

 

 

See the colour of the guns? That’s what the whole model looked like before I armour washed it. That’s the effect I want to create. 
 

Any suggestions welcome!

Edited February 21 by TheArtilleryman

[Firedrake Cordova]

Coat D'Arms Armour Wash should be the exact same paint.

 

Otherwise, it should be possible to make something similar with a black and blue ink mix.

Edited February 21 by Firedrake Cordova

[TheArtilleryman]

Thanks for the fast reply! I’ll definitely try some of that. £8.20 for one paint though because shipping is a fiver… dang

Edited February 21 by TheArtilleryman

[Firedrake Cordova]

Oof, that feels excessive! There's a few UK stockists (Black Hat are the distributor) - it might be worth looking at Essex Miniature, Hasslefree Miniatures, or Colonel Bills - I've not used any of them, but they all work out cheaper.   

Edited February 21 by Firedrake Cordova

[TheArtilleryman]

14 minutes ago, Firedrake Cordova said:

Oof, that feels excessive! There's a few UK stockists (Black Hat are the distributor) - it might be worth looking at Essex Miniature, Hasslefree Miniatures, or Colonel Bills - I've not used any of them, but they all work out cheaper.   

Much appreciated.

[Firedrake Cordova]

No prob  

[Xenith]

Basilicanum grey has more of the surface staining effect that you're after, and is an amazing paint. Black Templar will also turn a white to a black in the same manner as in your photos.

 

Alternatively, if you like a metallic, black, try drybrushing metallics over black - here's some of my Effrit: These guys are successive, progressively lighter drybrushes of iron warriors, leadbelcher then iron hands steel over abaddon black. 

 

 

Edited February 21 by Xenith

[tinpact]

As for making your own, you can get metallic medium by itself (which I may have to try out now).

[TheArtilleryman]

On 2/21/2024 at 5:35 PM, Firedrake Cordova said:

Oof, that feels excessive! There's a few UK stockists (Black Hat are the distributor) - it might be worth looking at Essex Miniature, Hasslefree Miniatures, or Colonel Bills - I've not used any of them, but they all work out cheaper.   

OK so just got around to ordering some from Essex Miniatures. Bit the bullet and ordered four pots, because I knew if it worked out I’d need a lot more.

 

Just been giving it a go on two test models. Here’s the before shot with dawnstone and ulthuan grey drybrush:

 

 

Here we are after one coat from each pot:

 

 

The Coat d’arms behaves exactly the same way the armour wash does, but in this shot you can see the model on the left is considerably lighter than the other after one coat. I’m thinking this is likely because my Citadel pot is more than 25 years old and has probably lost some of its moisture over time.

 

Here we are with a second coat on the Coat d’arms model:

 

I think it’s a pretty good match after two coats. A bit annoying having to do two but not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. 
 

Seeing as I now have a good supply and a reliable source for a replacement, I think switching to the new pots is going to be the best plan. 

[Firedrake Cordova]

Good to hear it's worked out for you.  

 

I suppose the plus side to needing to use two coats is you get a bit more control..?  

[JeffJedi]

Very cool. I had a bottle. But I never used it that way, just as another black wash.