Washes and bringing out details

[Guest]

hey all,

2 questions, how do I make a wash, how much of a mixture of paint to water do I use. i.e I want to make a black one to go over my tank tracks which I painted metallic grey (I think they look to shiny right now)

and secondly, what sort of techniques could I use to help bring out details on a model, in my case, a tank. Perhaps highlighting or drybrushing or throwing the wash into the cracks and crevices... but I really have no idea how to do that or what colours to use.

I've seen loads of pictures on this site and everyone's models look great, but I'm just wondering about technique, like how to make a hatch stand out or to distinguish the different plates on the hull, etc etc.

For the record, I painted my tank (a panther G late model) a dark green base with dark yellow and dark brown added for camo.

[Guest]

hey all, 2 questions, how do I make a wash, how much of a mixture of paint to water do I use. i.e I want to make a black one to go over my tank tracks which I painted metallic grey (I think they look to shiny right now)

and secondly, what sort of techniques could I use to help bring out details on a model, in my case, a tank. Perhaps highlighting or drybrushing or throwing the wash into the cracks and crevices... but I really have no idea how to do that or what colours to use.

I've seen loads of pictures on this site and everyone's models look great, but I'm just wondering about technique, like how to make a hatch stand out or to distinguish the different plates on the hull, etc etc.

For the record, I painted my tank (a panther G late model) a dark green base with dark yellow and dark brown added for camo.

Hi there!

I am not trying to steal any bodies thunder, but there is a very good, if short guide to applying washes in the July edition of Fine Scale Modeler.

It is an American publication, hence the spelling, but is available in the UK.

The guide has pictures which I find help much more than words along with a brief description. It is almost an idiots guide to washes and being an idiot I find it useful. In fact it looks like a very good publication.

Like you I am still learning about the painting techniques so can't help any further, but good luck.

Terry

[Guest]

The thing with washes, like most things are to practise. Have an old hack of a model that you use to try out techniques such as these and when you have finished remove all the paint again.

Washes are so flexible and variable it is difficult to pin the subject down however basically they can be water based, containing either pigments or watercolour powders, thinners based, containing enamels or modelling paints, or even turps based, containg oil paints.

They should all be thought of in a similar manner though and are basically nothing more than a very very thin paint. When you paint with them they fill in all the nooks and crannies and form shadows and you then simply remove the excess from the surface by either rubbing away with a damp cloth, in the case of water based washes, or a cloth dampened with thinners or turps for the others.

As with most things like this, start with light washes as it is easier to add more than to remove it and start again but the great thing with washes is that they can be removed if you get it wrong and you can start again.

For tank tracks I would use a dark brown wash and then dry brush with a metallic paint, such as gunmetal to bring out the fresh metal scuffs at the surface. As I said though experiment with scraps first but it is actually relatively easy to get a superb result.