Good afternoon lads,
My modelling friend John has given me a 25ml bottle of Indian Ink. He loves the stuff and uses it in all of his washes.
This is the first time I’ve heard of the use of this ink in modelling. Tattoos, yes (I’ve got enough of them thanks-too painful) but not modelling?
Any pointers, do’s and don’ts etc. How do I prepare an Indian Ink wash should I want to use one?
ATVB
Ben [:)]
Your friend John should be able to answer your questions. Remember: India ink is very black and (some of it) very permanent. Keep it off your fingers, clothes, the cat, etc.
[:)]
Personally, I’ve never used the stuff outside of high school art class doing caligraphy, but I’d imagine that using it in a wash would be rather tricky since, even dilluted, it’s going to stain your other colors a bit darker than you may want unless you prctice with it… It’s not very forgiving stuff… Add to it, black ink is usually too intense for a wash…
I’m with Mike on this stuff… Best ask yer buddy for pointers on it…
I seriously doubt I will use it. I know he uses it on his old 1/76 scale stuff. His advice is to make a wash using the ink that is almost transparent and apply several washes-I’d imaging this stuff would lend itself to very small scale stuff as opposed to a 1/35 beast!
Anyway, it may come in handy some day!
Cheers lads,
Ben [:)]
Model Railroaders use this wash a lot. It will make freight cars look dirty and sooty. Steam engines give off a lot of soot and diesels give of the sooty exhaust. Mix 1 tablespoon of black india ink with 1 pint of alcohol. Some modelers use as much as a quart of alcohol to 1 tablespoon of ink. Vary the amount of alcohol depending on how stong you want the effect. Use a large soft brush and coat the entire area. Do not go back over it until it has dried are you will get a fisheye effect, which looks rather bad. It works quite good, but experiment first because sometimes the alcohol does weird things to your paint. I use the isopropal alcohol you get at the drug store which will come in various strengths. I tend to buy the most watered down “weaker” mix they have. It brings out the detail pretty well, but also makes it look sooty. Are to put it another way, Dirty Black. I want to stress that you need to experiment with it before applying it to your favorite build. It is a Permanent Ink. Have Fun.
I just used it on a building foundation for my model railroad roundhouse building. The foundation was stone styrene that I painted first with a reddish brown base color for the grout. Then went over that and hit just the stone faces with an aged concrete color. After everything was dried I did a wash of black india ink thinned with water. Brushed it on let it sit for about 15 to 30 seconds and very lightly wiped the surface of the stone with a cotton rag. Any areas that came out too light I hit it again with the wash. Came out like old weatherd sandstone. Looks real nice, if I ever get a picture of it I can post it for you. It would work great over cooling fins, grates, intakes, fan blades, jet exhaust, pulleys, you name it and it will work.
Mike