"Vallejo Washes" Topic

I picked up a bottle of Vallejo black and sepia (brown) washes yesterday and am wondering if any has used them? I of course will test them, but wonder if they need to be diluted or can they be used straight from the bottle? Are they just their brand of inks? If you have used them, any tips, thoughts, suggestions or warnings? Thanks,

Terry

I use 'em and like 'em. I use Sepia, Brown, and Flesh frequently. Depending what you want to use them for, you will probably want to dilute them. The Sepia and Brown also leave a very slight sheen, which I like for highlighting flesh.

Terry37,

Dilution depends on where they will be used. Don't dilute in deep crevices, under saddles and sharp folds of cloth, etc. Dilute for areas not so deep. They are not inks but slightly dilute acrylic pigments. Start with a very dilute amount on your palette, let that dry and see what you may need to add to get the effect you want. Vallejo has a nice caucasian hue flesh wash which I use regularly – I hate google eyes! – so don't try to paint them and this flesh wash shades faces very well.

Hi Terry,

I am curious where you got them. I use the GW washes extensively and they are great. The Vallejo washes come in much bigger containers so I have been waiting patiently for them to come out.

John

I use the brown washes neat on flesh.

I use them, and actually prefer them to the citadel washes.

Note however that in my experience, Vallejo are more like INKS and not WASHES, so I personally always dilute them.

How much is just a matter of the effect I'm trying to achieve, and the texture of the mini I'm using them for.

As always, experiment a little.

Anyhow, I higly recommend them.

Best wishes.

I use Vallejo Game Ink Black & Skin Wash; sometimes mixed together – in varying degrees of water dilution. I like the Skin wash – although, I always go over it again with flesh, as the ink itself tends to darken the whole area, not just the recesses. I like the Black & Skin wash-combo for certain shading – like over leather. I always paint the base color a shade or two lighter of what I'll use the washes/inks over. As already mentioned, best to just experiment. Regards, Dean

The three Vallejo washes are great! I highly recommend them.

The black is a dirty dark gray, the sepia mid-brown (not reddish) and the pale a light gray. I found the pale to be too light for my tastes, so I darkened it a bit with Reaper Gray Liner.

I use them straight from the bottle. The Pale Gray is especially good for shading white. I apply it heavily, then go back over it with white.

If you prefer brown-shaded white, the sepia works just as well.

Gentlemen, Sincere thanks for the positive replies. I look forward to giving them a try and hopefully finding a quicker way to finish my figures. I'll test them on some old figures first.

Terry

I used to use the old style GW inks/washes for painting horses in 6mm – one generous coat of Brown Ink over a white undercoat gave a good effect for a bay (two coats for dark brown) as it ran into all the crevises but was still concentrated enough to give good colour on the raised areas. The new style washes don't seem to have the same depth to them although I can see that they would give great depth to flesh tones. I have tried Winsor & Newton inks but they seem thinner and just don't have the same effect.

Do the Vallejo washes have greater depth of colour than the new GWs?

Who sells them in the U.S.?

Sorry, I missed the question previously. I got the Vallejo washes at Wargames in Nashville, but have also gotten Vallejo paints from Brookhurst Hobbies when they were out of stock n a particular color at Wargames.

link

brookhursthobbies.com

Terry

I was thinking of buying the Strong Tone Quickshade from Army Painter, but after I heard of this Vallejo Wash Sepia (large), I'm very curious to know to what it compares:
-which Citadel wash?
-which Army Painter Quickshade Tone?
I'm about to start painting my Skaven Clanrats and want to do it quickly, by dipping/brushing on shades that can darken bright basecoats and be done with it in the shortest amount of time possible.

I have been using both Vallejo and GW washes since their release and am very pleased with both.

I have the impression Vallejo washes are more dense on condition you shake the bottles well enough, so I would recommend thinning them a bit for some situations; GW is ready to use from the bottle without diluting.

Be ware with Vallejos though as they tend to go glossy in my opinion. Nothing that a good coat of matt varnish would not solve though , but still.

The Vallejo Pale Wash is indeed a useful colour to shade whites, but it can also be used mixed with other washes in order to make the latter lighter in hue. I do that a lot especially with flesh washes.
Personally I prefer the Sepia Wash for skin tones. The flesh tone I use exclusively to highlight lips or to create pink hues.
For what it's worth….

I have no experience with Army Painter washes but saw the dipping agent used on some figures of a friend and must say it worked out right enough if you go for table top quality in a hurry. He diluted the dipping agent and painted it on his lizzardmen

Heres a question for you, is it actualy Vallejo Wash or Ink your talking about.

I got the Inks some time ago and find them very very pigmented, have to really dilute them to get them to work like GWs ink.

I suppose this is a matter of perspnal taste when it comes down to it. I have used inks in the past and washes for 10mm figures and kit for the past few years.

These include Vallejo, Army Painter Quick Shade and Games Workshop.

I found Army Painter Quick Shade to be much, much too heavy used as a dip, as intended. It is OK painted on but offers no advantage over Games Workshop or Vallejo and is less convenient to apply.

Vallejo and GW are much more useable than AP for small figures (I've not tried it on bigger figures).

I have recntly tried Vallejo but have returned to GW which needs no dilution does the job perfectly straight from the jar.

So for me it is GW for washes.

Bill

I use the quickshade and have had pretty good success with it…apart from a couple of 'milky' disasters with the matt spray.

General question about washes – it must be my (lack of) technique, but how do you get rid of the 'dirty look' eg painting french or British troops trousers. After primer , coat of foundry arctic grey. Then a wash of GW radab black. The shading works fine but leaves the rest of the trousers with a dirty grey look. What should I do then – careful top coat of white ??

Yes bombersmoon, try to re-highlight the areas that were made dirty by your washes. I would also recommend to use Vallejo Pale Wash instead of pure GW Radab Black to shade the trousers. Or if you really prefer a dark shade, mix some Pale Wash into the Radab, since the latter is really very dark to shade white with.

Theres a Youtube vid up now with the painter showing how he uses the Vallejo washes.

YouTube link

@bombersmoon,

First I haven't got round to Naps again yet but I used GW Devlan Mud almost universally on my 10mm ACW, Medievals and SCW. I finds Badab Black a wash too far.

I actually like the way it tones down the brighter colours, including whites. Soldiers on campaign are dirty!

I'm now looking for a scratch and sniff finish:-)

Can't comment on the effect on 15mm and 28mm figs though.

Bill

The product shown in the YouTube vid is not really the Vallejo washes I meant. The Vallejo washes I use come in the same dispenser as the paints.
I think there is a difference here between washes and the dip medium shown in the vid, although I never tried the dipping agent.

I use the Vallejo Game colors to paint most of minis with and recently bought some of the 17ml washes like the Fleshtone Shade, Umber Shade and Sepia Shade. I did a little test with the Fleshtone Shade.

- First primed the mini with Skull White (GW)
- Painted the skin parts with Dwarf Skin (72041)
- Applied the Fleshtone Shade (73204) undiluted straight on the skin parts

When it dries it leaves a grayish layer over the paint where the wash dries up. Usually in the recesses. This grayish layer can ruin a completely good paintjob.

It doesn't always seem to happen. The change for it to happen seem to increase the more washes I apply.

I have the same results with the other washes and it also happens with the Glaze Medium (72069).

Does anybody know why this is happening?

First two examples shows the grayish layer in the eye sockets.

Last two examples shows the grayish layer on the red shirt.

I just use Vallejo now and find them great ^^.

Try hitting the high spots with the original color. Or maybe try a clear gloss over the area before washing. Your paints (in this case flesh and red) may have too much "tooth" and not allowing the wash to "wash" off completely…just a possible suggestion

I've had that grey before myself on a sepia wash. I figure it was from not mixing enough.