Tips on using Vallejo Washes

[JMac]

Hey guys,

In the past I've mixed my own washes. Recently I picked up three bottles of Vallejo washes from my LHS. I've had mixed results on my first efforts using the Vallejo washes. They had dried really fast and left a surrounding stain.

I thought that i saw a past thread on the topic, but i could find it. I'm hoping that some of you have a lot more experience with this product, and can give me some advice.

Jason

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

Gloss or satin coat if you are finding you are getting tide marks, also aids in the "flow" of the wash, as it will travel along seams and such using capillary action.

I have heard some people cutting the wash about 50/50 with water or Vallejo thinner, but I use it neat, but only use it with a very fine brush, and basically "draw" the wash along the crevices and such where you want it.

 

[ScaleModelMadman]

Just to add to what Scott says, you can clean the brush in tap water (I usually have a bit of clean water in reach) and then dry it a bit on some paper towel or whatever and wick the tide mark off the surface before it dries and even use the damp brush to feather and clean the edges as you go. Just don't do the whole model thinking you can go back later (like with enamels and oils) because it dries so fast.

I do this with any enamels or oil wash, obviously you have way more time with those than you do with the acrylics but if you apply the wash and clean the edges as you go, it works fine. If the model is bone dry, the tide mark (which is nothing more then the edge of the puddle due to surface tension) will seemingly 'etch' itself into the surface quickly and be hard to rid. If the surface is pre-dampened with tap water (damp not not soaked) the tide mark will clean up much more easily.

Similar to the way you can pre-dampen a surface with mineral spirits and apply the oils without fear of staining the surface.

 

[JMac]

Cool. Thanks Scott and Ken.

I had been using it over a gloss finish (Future), and i was trying to apply it much the same way I had applied my home brew Tamiya sludge wash. But when I went to remove the excess, it wouldn't remove easily.

I'll try being more selective in my application and thinning it down with some Vallejo thinner.

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

One other thing you can add if you are thinning it with a bit of water, is to add a very tiny drop of dish detergent to the mixture.

This will effectively eliminate surface tension and will tend to flow into the crevices a little cleaner.

Basically something like 10 drops of thinner, 10 drops of water, and then take your paint brush and dab just a smidge of dish detergent on the brush, stick it in your mixture and blend it all together.

 

[sunsanvil]

I cut the Vallejo washes with their Glaze Medium which is a little different from their Thinner Medium (I also use Glaze Medium to make washes out of their paint). The Glaze Medium does a few things, most importantly it GREATLY extends the cure time: even if the wash looks dry, it will not have cured and can easily be tidied up with a qtip dipped in booze/alcohol (care must be taken not to overdo it and cut into the underlying paint). This is how I get nice clean lines on my Mobile Suits.

The other thing cutting it with Graze Medium does is it "softens" the effect a bit allowing you to build up the color and feather edges, like when doing rust streaks etc.

 

[JMac]

Thanks Sunsanvil.

Side question: What exactly is Glaze Medium? I've read that some use it to slow drying like you mentioned above. I've also read that its a flow agent. And also that it can be used to make colours more translucent.

 

[sunsanvil]

Glaze Medium, like the Matt Medium, Gloss Medium, and even the Thinner Medium, is an acrylic medium. Think of them all as paint without the color, but all the polymers (the "glue"). They let us modify the behavior and look of the paint while preserving the integrity of the acrylic base. We thin the color but not the acrylic structure itself. Contrast that with using something like water where not only do you spread out and thin the color, but the acrylic itself such that fewer polymers "link up" resulting in a weak paint film.

The Glaze Medium in particular has the properties and effects you mention. Its thinner than the matt/gloss medium, almost as thin as the thinner medium, and slows the curing (distinct from drying) waaaaay down. I once used it by mistake instead of thinner medium when airbrushing. Looked normal, appeared dry within a few minutes, but the next day I handled the piece and it came off on my finger. I ran the piece under water and almost all of the airbrushed coat came off! So NOT good for doing opaque coats, but VERY useful for translucent effects and of course washes. Also good for doing delicate mud/dirt/rust with pigments, but it doesn't "build up" as fast as when using the matt medium which is thicker.

 

[JMac]

Thanks for the info guys. I just tried it out, three different mixtures.

1. Vallejo umber shade (wash) thinned 1:1 with water.
2. Vallejo umber shade (wash) thinned 1:1 with Vallejo 70.524 thinner medium.
3. Vallejo umber shade (wash) thinned 1:1 with Vallejo glaze medium.

I applied all three in different spots to the top surfaces of a model I had glossed with Future. The wash with glaze medium seemed to work the best for me. It had the best flow, and gave me the best chance of cleaning up excess wash with a moist q-tip.