normsmith | 12 May 2015 10:43 p.m. PST |
I will shortly be doing some napoleonic 1809 Austrians. My painting style has been to block paint, satin varnish, cover with a think brownish ink for shading and then mat varnish. The problem is that on my test attempts (10mm and 1/72) my inky wash has completely ruined the white, though does unite the figure, but when I try and go back in to highlight some whites, it just looks unpleasant and certainly not subtle. I am obviously something of a speed painter and getting the figures down is more important than painting for me …… but I am guessing I need to do something quite different in this situation if I am to get anything that looks nice. Any suggestions? thanks in advance. |
von Winterfeldt | 12 May 2015 11:21 p.m. PST |
I don't do a wash on white uniforms. Get Coat d'Armes unbleachhed wool and the dry brush ivory or a mix of ivory and white, in need do a fine lining with Paynes Grey |
piper909 | 12 May 2015 11:51 p.m. PST |
In the past, with white fatigue uniforms for the Foreign Legion, I have had good results by first heavily washing the figure (i.e., not too thin) with a dark grey. When that dries, dry brush an off-white -- not too bright, but also not too yellow or dingy -- over the uniform. Voila, instant (nearly) white uniform with the texture already done. Then finish up with the rest of the gear. If you want white belts to stand out, go over these with a pure white or even a gloss white. |
AussieAndy | 13 May 2015 2:57 a.m. PST |
It isn't too everyone's taste, but I just block paint, then brush on Army Painter strong tone dip before matt varnishing. I am a rubbish painter, but this works pretty well for me. As Clint said, a man has to know his limitations. |
gianpippo | 13 May 2015 3:11 a.m. PST |
Which kind of ink did you use for washing? I also found that Army Painter strong tone (both dip and wash) do not ruin too much the white looking. Better results can be obtained if you highlight with white after the wash has dried. |
Martin Rapier | 13 May 2015 4:05 a.m. PST |
I have used variety of methods, including wash & highlight. Yes, the wash will almost inevitably stain the white base colour, so you need to let it dry really thoroughly then just go over the highlights again – either manually or with a drybrush (depending on figure scale). I've also done it with successive layers of drybrushing over a grey base (which I think came out too insipid) and drybrushing/highlight over black, which is OK. |
Durban Gamer | 13 May 2015 4:46 a.m. PST |
My wash for white uniform (and much else) Windsor & Newton Blue black oil paint- a tiny dab with liquin added -to about 20 parts Windsor & Newton distilled turpentine. Keep figure upright to prevent pooling while drying. When you do it, it may look too weak; but when dry gives a beautiful subtle hint of shadows in crevices. I use it over the excellent Americana acrylics. |
Marc the plastics fan | 13 May 2015 8:08 a.m. PST |
White. Two coats of Klear floor polish, Army Painter strong or dark dip, brush with white spirits on it to clean off any particulalry murky areas. Can then repaint atraps. Quick, and the Klear helpa keep the white from staining too heavily |
Gonsalvo | 13 May 2015 10:36 a.m. PST |
I use a wash with Delta CC Wedgewood blue, a bluish hued light grey, over white, and then repaint the crossbelts with "pure" white. Fast and looks decent!
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wrgmr1 | 13 May 2015 12:38 p.m. PST |
I did my Boxer Rebellion figures, with a brown wash. However over white it looks terrible. I base coat with cream instead, it works much better. I used a fairly dark brown, but you can use a lighter one instead. White tunics in the background. [URL=http://s219.photobucket.com/user/tjm3/media/Colonial%20Gaming/IMG_3038.jpg.html]
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doug redshirt | 13 May 2015 4:18 p.m. PST |
Prime grey and then highlight with white works for me. |
Markconz | 13 May 2015 6:06 p.m. PST |
Grey then highlight white for me too. link |
Henry Martini | 13 May 2015 6:13 p.m. PST |
AP Soft Tone is the appropriate Quick Shade for white – unless you want a bright, clean white, in which case some sort of light or mid-grey shading effect is the way to go. Fortunately, with mainly colonial natives and Mexicans to paint I can get away with using the QS for a dingier, well-worn, off-white finished effect. |
Bandolier | 13 May 2015 7:52 p.m. PST |
For 10mm, I'd suggest picking up the Foundry Austrian White Shade(A) and Highlight(C) colours. If your eyes are up to it, prime in black. That means helmet/shako, boots and scabbards are taken care of. Use Shade(A) on the white bits. Then use Highlight(C) to pick out the raised detail and straps. |
Intrepide | 13 May 2015 8:21 p.m. PST |
Whites are sometimes categorized as cool or warm. In artists' colors, a titanium white would be cool, a flake or lead white would be warm. Something like the difference between chalk (cool) and cream (warm). These are best depicted with minis through the shades. A diluted or tinted ochre or raw umber will make a nice color for recessed areas of a warm white, and the paynes grey or similar for cool whites. Paint those as a wash, then dry brush or highlight with the white you want. A very nice effect for white on white, for instance whited leather over white coats, or French flags of the Ancien Regime is contrasting a cool white over the warm white, or vice versa. |
normsmith | 13 May 2015 10:04 p.m. PST |
Thank you all for helping – TMP at its best. |
Dexter Ward | 14 May 2015 2:10 a.m. PST |
I'd avoid a brown wash. I find Payne's Grey ink gives an excellent effect on white uniforms. It is a dark blue/grey, and is one of The Daler/Rowney range. Paint white, then wash with diluted ink. It gives the same effect as shading in a faction of the time. |
von Winterfeldt | 14 May 2015 5:02 a.m. PST |
paynes grey is realy good for fine lining – I like my white uniforms however to be more in a warm quality to reflect on the more cream like looking wool
and my method as it turns out
As Intrepide suggest, I use a cold white for the leather works to give a contrast to a warm white of the uniform |
Mrkev506 | 15 May 2015 4:28 a.m. PST |
The method I've used for my Austrians is to prime them white, brown wash over this, then drybrush the uniform with Vallejo ivory. I paint the straps of the uniform Vallejo white, which isn't as warm as the ivory and gives a nice contrast on the uniform. I'm not a fantastic painter but this works quite nicely. |
christot | 18 May 2015 3:22 a.m. PST |
I've painted A LOT of Austrians… variation on above methods. Spray white all over Army painter soft tone. dry brush all over figure with Vallejo grey white 993. then paint other details (flesh, equipment, shako etc) to taste Highlight belts with white 951 and uniform with ivory 918 and white 951 this was a fast method and produced reasonable results for painting 1,000 plus infantry in a year |
heavyhorse | 19 May 2015 5:39 p.m. PST |
I do the dark grey primer then use white acrylic paint from a tube..not liquid for the dry brushing.. it seems to highlight better than liquid paint |
per ardua | 24 May 2015 3:45 p.m. PST |
I ve just done some Austrians. I primed in white plastic primer then a thin block paint of uniforms in very pale beige. Then a brown ink/pva/water wash then pure white on the cross belts. |
spontoon | 24 May 2015 3:46 p.m. PST |
Don't wash white uniforms with sepia/brown wash! has a tendency to make your figures look like they're in throes of dysentery! Use Payne's grey!!! |
Henry Martini | 24 May 2015 5:03 p.m. PST |
As I indicated above I think it very much depends on the subject. Some types suit it, some don't. |
bobm1959 | 31 Mar 2016 5:25 a.m. PST |
Vallejo do a grey wash that gives a better effect than browns or black as a subtle shade for white (or off white) |
GARS1900 | 31 Dec 2017 1:50 p.m. PST |
I do Vallejo Game Color Ghost Grey, highlighted with Vallejo Game Color white Primer. Simple, and while it may not be a pure white, its close enough for me. |
Erzherzog Johann | 31 Dec 2017 4:15 p.m. PST |
I'm experimenting now. I've done some of my Austrians (15mm) in a mid sea-grey undercoat, then Vallejo Deck Tan. Over that I intend to do an off white or ivory, with white for the straps. It might turn out horrible of course . . . John |
Erzherzog Johann | 31 Dec 2017 4:25 p.m. PST |
One thing I've started doing with these Austrians is, because I brush on the undercoat, undercoat the base, boots, helmet (and shako when I get to doing some) in black, the rest in the grey. For the officers in Rock I'm trying Black Grey, then London Grey. I don't know what others have done. Caveat – I'm a rubbish painter unlike, for example, MarkCo, whose work I've seen in the flesh (or the lead, to be more accurate I suppose). However, I keep trying, or I'm very trying, take your pick . . . Cheers, John |