I bought a tube of artist paint..black...awhile ago..directions state to mix with water. Has anyone did a wash with paint/ink and water??? And does some one have an EASY and quick way to wash armor???

I had made an ink wash. Used india ink and denatured alcohol (mixed until you like the consistency). I applied the wash over a Future coated model. Let dry a few minutes, and i was able to wipe off the excess with my thumb. It settled really nice in the panel lines. Fine detail recessed lines come out excellently.
Hope this answeres one of your questions

If it says dilute with water then what you got is not oil. Once diluted it may not adhere to the model very well. But for wash it may work just like acrylic model paint.

One of the reasons to use artistic oil for wash is that, the base paint on the model is usually done with acrylic these days, and when you use artistic oil diluted with white spirit or whatsoever, it won't interfere the acrylic paint underneath.

A quick way to do wash is just pour dilute oil in reccess areas, then use a cotton ball dipped with white spirit to clean the surface.

BTW, I use black wash only for "dirty colors", these are, green and blue tones. For other colors I always use dark brown mixed with black.

Thanks for the help guys...more techniques are welcome.....

I use artist oils for most washes these days. Mix oil and thinner till it responds to capillary actions, i.e., runs up thin crevaces. Dab a small amount where you want shadows and accents, and in panel lines/grills (okay, you can go grazy #:-) in grills!) rather than covering everything unless you want to tint everything. Doing this elimionates the need to wipe off the excess and allows you to use solvent over solvent without an acrylic barrier. Drybrushin will blend in any excess leaving just the shdow you want.

They've pretty much said it all, but I would recommend using dark browns as the base color for the oil based wash. Colors like "Dark Umber" and "Burnt Umber" are my fav's.



Matt