I have been reading up on how to mix together a wash , but people tend to make them differently. How do you make yours?

I use water soluble ink and watercolors over flat paint or a dull coat when I have large areas to do. This type doesn't flow well at first and tends to form spots in non-recessed areas, but that is ok, because those spots are easily wiped off with an ever so slightly moist paper towel, cotton ball, or q-tip (in more constricted areas). You can also scrub some panels more and others less to create variations

sometimes I use oil colors thinned with oder-less mineral spirits (over acrylic paint) for small spot washes when I want more control. I don't do this too often though, as I prefer to keep the number of chemicals in the air of my workroom to a minimum, which means I use the water method most the time.

My usual method pretty much mirrors what Vance already said above, water colours- just a cheap K-Mart kids set is all i have. To stop the wash forming into spots (i do it over a gloss surface) i simply mix in dish washing detergent and make the wash thicker than usual- i guess its what others call a sludge wash? That's the method i use for panel lines and similar things on aircraft. The excess is removed using slightly moistened cotton bud/Q-Tips (lots of them). The problem i sometimes have with this method is that it doesn't work so well on those kits that have very shallow indisitinct panel lines.

For really dirty areas or cockpits that are hard to see into i use thinned Tamiya X-19 Smoke- an amazingly useful paint! Thinned with water. I also use it for things like alloy engine blocks in cars etc.

And i still occasionally use thinned oil paints for some things, like the occasional armor subject or ships that i do. Thinned with mineral spirits. I try not to use the oil paint method because i hate the smell of mineral spirits and turpentine products- so i do it outside.


Andrew

Hi Tony,

Here's exactly how I do them ( with pictures ): My wash techniques

Fred:
Great article. I would have never thought to try vinegar or future. I am going to give it a try