Looking for help with pin washes

[Demihuman]

Ah! So to me eyes the matte medium looks like a better solution. No pun intended. I have been playing with matte medium lately and I notice you really need to clean your brush well after. I am finding tiny strands of dried matte medium deep down in my bigger brushes.

 

[mjs101]

Update: I've completed a test model, in this case a slightly different type of british tank called a Matilda II.

The tank of the left is the old paint scheme with dark lining on VMC Dark Sand.

The tank in the center is Vallejo Air Sand and then hit with a zenithal highlight. The highlighting is facing away from the camera. I used a sepia ink/magic mix targeting corners and recesses only, following by a black ink /magic mix targeting select corners I wanted darker. (Unfortunately, I made a mess with some pigments, so disregard any red you see on the model as an accident.)

The third tank is sprayed Vallejo Air Sand but has not been zenithal highlighted or inked. It shows the base color without any dark-lining washes.

View attachment 23642

 

[RuneBrush]

Update: I've completed a test model, in this case a slightly different type of british tank called a Matilda II.

The tank of the left is the old paint scheme with dark lining on VMC Dark Sand.

The tank in the center is Vallejo Air Sand and then hit with a zenithal highlight. The highlighting is facing away from the camera. I used a sepia ink/magic mix targeting corners and recesses only, following by a black ink /magic mix targeting select corners I wanted darker. (Unfortunately, I made a mess with some pigments, so disregard any red you see on the model as an accident.)

The third tank is sprayed Vallejo Air Sand but has not been zenithal highlighted or inked. It shows the base color without any dark-lining washes.

View attachment 23642

Middle tank looks good Pick out some of the metallic's and I'd be well chuffed if I were you.

 

[Blabberlicious]

Thanks for this. I am being nooooob-ish, but the ratios for the medium thinned wash...

The values you show on your photos - Is that combined with 1 Part Paint?

So, for a black wash using MMedium - would that be (in drops) 4 Black Paint + 3 parts medium :1 Water?

I have also experimented with oil washes, GW & vallejo - and can't get a nice tight pin wash that needs minimum clean up.


Many thanks!

I'd thought early on that adding more flow-enhanced water to Les's wash would make a better wash with more 'flow'. But it flowed so much it tended to flow away from deeper recesses even more.


I think you may be better of using only or mostly matt medium and spreading it thinly mechanically (i.e., brush work.)

Here is a test I'd done last summer with different ratios of matt medium and water. I ink ratio was always forty drops per fluid oz of mix:
View attachment 23597

All water is terrible. Look at the scarf on the helmet and the folds of the surcoat.

Three parts water to one part matt medium looks OK, but doesn't settle into the recesses enough and formed tide marks in the folds off the surcoat.

1:1 looks a little better, but still forms pools at the bottom of the surcoat.

3 parts matt medium and one part water and pure matt medium are better yet. Now to be fair, I probably have net more wash on the 4th one, a variable I didn't control for as well as I should have. But both settle nicely into the recesses and yet form no tide marks.

 

[Blabberlicious]

Thanks for this. I am being nooooob-ish, but the ratios for the medium thinned wash...

The values you show on your photos - Is that combined with 1 Part Paint?

So, for a black wash using MMedium - would that be (in drops) 4 Black Paint + 3 parts medium :1 Water?

I have also experimented with oil washes, GW & vallejo - and can't get a nice tight pin wash that needs minimum clean up.


Many thanks!

urrrrhgh.. realised you were using inks! Could you confirm the ratio, anyway?

best wishes - and thanks for sharing your tests

 

[mjs101]

I use I think 5ml/1 teaspoon magic mix and 1 or 2 drops of ink. This is artists ink for caligraphy. I use Daler Rowey FW black and sepia inks. The pigmentation is far higher the what GW, Reaper, etc sell as inks/washes, so 1-2 drops of ink goes a long, long way.


Seal the model with gloss coat first, and work in into corners/recesses with your brush. This is not like a dip, but it is not too hard either.

Matt medium worked for me, so long as I didn't thin it much. It is better for glazing and overall washing than pin washes.