I have painted my Grant (my second model i have built) and then put a gloss varnish over.

I have read as many posts as possible but still am not sure about the Wash technique.

I have tried a MIG Dark Wash (Enamel) which seems very easy to use and a Vellejo Sepia Wash (Acrylic) which seems to need thinner down alot, not in the same areas of the tank mind!

In both cases i have 'spotted' the wash onto areas like rivets and panel joins as it seems to me that if i 'wash' the Wash over the entire area it just darkens everything as well as picking out the detail which leads to an overly dark area.

I think i prefer the first way as it does not darken everything down but i am not sure if i am doing it right to achieve the detail being picked ut in the best/easiest way.

Cheers for any pointers

Nev

i prefer washing over a satin or matte surface, using gloss to only seal on the details or for paint effects.
the way to go is to pin wash. that is only washing around details, otherwise you may end up with a smeary mess.
keep using the pin wash. BUT. stick with enamels over an acrylic base coat, that way the base coat is not affected.
i would try pre mixed washes or oils thinned with white spirit for best results.

hope that helps

if you are putting the wash over the entire model, its more of a filter at that point.
i normally just do a "pin" wash and locally apply the dark in the areas i want such as rivets and panel lines. filters on the other hand, they are almost always liberally applied over teh whole surface of the model. a filter will do a good job of giving the model some age and overall weathering to it.

yes but a filter is about 2-8% paint , a Wash is more, say 25-50% on average.
washes and filter guide

you would be correct on that for the most part. i sometimes use a thicker filter depnding on the outcome i want. a wash is most times only kept in certain areas of a project wheras a filter(regardless of thickness) would be applied over the entirety of a project and left like that to dry.
when the OP states that "if i 'wash' the Wash over the entire area it just darkens everything as well as picking out the detail which leads to an overly dark area" applying like this is more of a filter.
if you apply over the entirety, you have to keep control of what you dont want to get dark. this can effectively done with a q-tip or something of the sort. if you leave it without picking up the excess, its going to dry very dark. i use pin washes to avoid having to be proactive like that. however you want to do it or whatever way is easiest for you is the way you should go.

Thanks every one for the explanations and the link as well.

I have got it now! I am almost getting the results i thought i might get!!

Nev