Citadel Wash Replacement

[DWest]

I've been experimenting recently with a homemade mix to replicate the Citadel washes; while I love the colors and coverage, my FLGS is very erratic in stocking them. I think I've hit on a suitable replacement:

2 parts pigment (ink of some sort for transparency) : 2 parts Pledge with Future Floor Wax for flow : 1 part Vallejo matte varnish (cuts down on the shiny and seems to make it flow better)

Does this sound about right? Anyone have another preferred formula?

Edit to add: If using actual India Ink instead of game inks, the formula seems to be 10 parts Pledge w/ Future : 4 parts matte varnish : 1 part ink : 1 part water.

[burning crome]

have you got any pic of the results. I'm very interested since all the home made wash I've seen contain "flow aid" which can find any where apart form order it in form over sea's. The only time I've hear of using floor polish was with oils so i'd have imaged it would have some negative effects on ink and under lining painted surface.

[faolan]

Too much pigment - pigment should be no more than a 1:5 ratio.

I'd say go with a tube of artist acrylics (available from any art store) and alcohol. The alcohol has a lower surface tension, which means better flow and less of the dreaded water droplet effect that the Citadel washes tend to have.

[greendestiny]

do you use regular rubbing alcahol?

[Gorgar]

Try this recipe.

http://www.awesomepaintjob.com/index.cfm/resources.recipes (http://www.awesomepaintjob.com/index.cfm/resources.recipes)

[Warmaster Primus]

I've been looking for that site for months. Thanks Gorgar.

[Thornblood]

For just a wash and tinting I use the desired paint colour, matt medium (I think mine is Vallejo, but theres a few about) and water. Not quite the same effect (dosn't pool in the recesses quite as much) but it works well for what I want it for.

[faolan]

do you use regular rubbing alcahol?

You can, or you can use some of the "fancier" medical ones that you can pick up in places like Rite Aid/Walgreens or specialty pharmicists/chemists. That way you still get your pooling in the low areas, but you don't get the tide marks on the high spots where water won't break up properly due to surface tension.

The AwesomePaintjob link Gorgar posted up is a good recipe as well, it depends on what you like to work with. The advantage/disadvantage of the alcohol based wash is that it dries very quickly because of the evaporation point of the alcohol.

White spirits can also be used, BUT they're a bit more funky of a smell and you need decent amounts of air/ventilation or you run the risk of getting loopy.

[DWest]

I had been hoping my camera would come out of hiding so I could post pics before replying, but no such luck. Hopefully soon I will have some pics of what the formulated wash looks like.

As far as rubbing alcohol, I tried that, but I found I was likely to get a taste of the stuff when pulling my bristles straight and got rather sick from it. So I've stayed clear of alcohol for a base so far. Does rubbing alcohol allow you to "re-melt" the wash after applying for a short time, like oil-based washes? I would be very interested in finding something with that property, other than actual oils.

[faolan]

For your "re-melt" type question, the answer is: I dunno. Never tried it like that, so if you want to know, you'll have to give it a go yourself, heh.

[Blood Angel]

I use Pelikan Brand Transparent Sepia ink. I've been using it since the 80's. I used to buy it in a store in the malls called JK Gill. It was an art supply and office supply store. They are long gone. A few years back I ran out and had to search on the net for a place that sells it. I ordered a case (a brick sized box with 12 good sized bottles in it) I don't believe it cost me too much and I have enough to last years and years.
I works good undiluted or you can mix in water to get a thinner, more subtle wash. It's about the shade of Devlan mud, but goes on WAY more transparently and goes into the low points better. I have added a drop of liquid soap on occasion to release surface tension and get it to flow better. Another trick I use is to base coat, then gloss spray seal, then wash, the ink wont soak into the paint that way and it is easy to wipe off any excess after, then go on with your other coats, drybrushing etc.. Remember, you can seal between coats. That's important because alot of people don't do this and it makes cleaning up mistakes without rubbing off earlier layers. You also seal in the paint better. A fully painted fig with just dull coat on it will lose paint due to handling etc... If it is clear coated first, it almost laminates it, then hit it with dullcoat (I've been using Testors for years) and it will take the shine down. The more dullcoat you use, the flatter it gets. Then you can get it to be as dull or shiny as you want.