Ok,
Here is a pic of the flak 38 i am doing. One of my biggest problems is washes.
I was hopeing to get some tips of what to/not to do when doibng washes.
I use artist oils for my washes. This is raw umber.
I will just show the photo, and i can get more in depth tommorow if need be.
Thanks.
Marc

Like all the "modelling things" washes can drive people mad until they don't find their way.
What I personally do is the following:
- I give the model a coat of Future (or another gloss varnish - acrylic if I'm going to use oils/enamels). This helps the wash to better flow into crevices/recesses and around the raised details
- I thin paint to thinner at a 20% to 50% ratio
- I usually do "selective" washes, so I use a non too big pointed paintbrush to let a little quantity of wash inside the recesses/crevices or around the raised details
- if too much wash is applied I dry the excess until wet with a cotton swab
- I ussually avoid to "soak" the model in washes, but this is a personal choice

I hope this can help
Ciao

Much lilke Fabio said, but my washes are even thinner than that. I don't laways have a gloss coat first, especially with figures. I find the slightly rouger edge gives a more realistic, IMHO, shadow effesct. Excess gets blended away with drybrushing so the end effect, hopefully and ideally, is a continuum from highlight through base color to deepest shadow with no harsh denarkation.
As to your flak, getting additional shadow/lowlight to a very dark subject is hard to do, but the highligting is easier. Using a base color a couple shades lighter than you envision the final result might give you more to work with.

Hi I agree. Washes can be maddening. You would think it would be a fairly simple process, but, unfortunately, it is not.

I haven't had much experience with washes, per say. But I am learning. I do not use any fixed ratio color to carrier in my oil washes. Just mixing a little color into a small dimpled paint pallet until it just looks 'right'. A dirty thinner type of solution is the key.

I always give my models a coat of clear gloss varnish before putting on any decals and then seal it again with either Semi- or Dull-cote. So really, it has two coats of sealer in the basic paint job. I hear oil thinners are really hard on model paints so I make sure I do this before using oil washes.

My biggest success so far is in using a small, and old, brush to dip in the wash and putting it in the places that I think it should go, just a little bit at a time. And I use the 'sharp' end of a napkin to dip into the wash if I think I've put on too much, to absorb the excess. Once I get this done I put things aside and let it dry and see how the finished wash looks and then if necessary apply a little more here and there if I think the model needs it.

I have always heard that in any weathering type of application it's better to have too little of soemthing than too much.

Like anything else in this hobby, you get better as you go along and nothing in it, esp. in the painting and weathering departments is simple to learn to do. Just takes lots of patience and practice. Also quite a bit of forethought before dipping brush to paint or washes.

By the way I think you did a good job on your flak 38. Looks good to me.

Take care, sgirty

I have seen articles /people say to use a heavily diluted paint (tinted thinner actually) in an airbrush and coat the model. Anyone do that. Personally, i probably will never do it.

But now down to the business of washing. What is really the point of washes? It is to give raised detail more depth right? My biggest question is, should i just do , say, around the adge of a rivet/bolt? That is what i try to do. But if that is the case, what about the raised dimples of the floor of the gun, where there is many small protrusions? Should i wass the whole thing (as i have tried)?

I usually wash several times .... adds even more. I wash all over with a very thin burnt umber. Then i use a slightly thicker wash of black in working areas and oily areas. Burnt sienna pin washes around items that would get rusty... mostly pin wash here. For these i use oils and/or humbrol enamels. I always use humbrol enamel thinner for washes for the best and safe result. In the last five or six projects have used washes with pastel dust and the same thinnner for a very nice result. I use this for dust on horizontal areas. i also wash sides with pastel dust and water and then brush down with a stiff bristle brush slightly damp with isoproponol to give a rained on effect. I only use a very light dry brush over the edges and it all turns out quite nicely.

Very, very thin washes of different colours... greens, reds, blues etc etc on the same model can give a nice effect and a realistic finish. I think thast what they call filters. It breaks the monotinous one tone effect.

I guess the most important thing is if you are not sure .... use thin washes. If, when it dries, you feel it should be heavier, wash again.... and again if needed, Its easier to build up.. than tone down if you know what I mean.

What I do the most of the times is to give general wash instead of selective washes. The only thing is that a general wash also acts like a filter and it could vary the colour a little. In this case you have to use well diluted washes and watch what happens with the colour.
Washes technique for me is one of the most complicated to manage. I ruined a lot of beautifull paintjobs applying this technique, but the only way to progress is practice.

I use that technique with heavily thinned Tamiya Smoke. It's a great way to get really subtle variations in tone.

As regards washes, I always apply them over a gloss coat, and apply several light coats.

Following an article many years ago in FSM, I've tried an acryic/detergent "sludge" technique. It's important to apply this over a gloss coat. The results are pretty good and it's easy to remove if you don't like the effect.

All the best

Rowan

When using Acrylics, I use Tamiya. After Reading Tony Greenland's Panzer Modeling Masterclass, I apply Tamiya Acrylic clear mixed in with the base coat. I am not sure if i put in enough in this mix though.

I use two really light washes and then a darker wet-on-wet local wash. Then drybrush. I saw this technique illustrated by Chris Mrosko and it seemed to be simple enough even for me. I now use variations of this depending on what I am trying to do.It seems a good place to start.
capnjock