Hi! I recenly purchased a lot of Vallejo Model Color paints to try to move away from using Enamals like Humbrol for painting my armour models. I’ve tried a couple of products for thining it to a wash consistancy but they don’t seem to work. I used alcohol and the pigment separated , then tried Distilled water which seems to work but lightens the color . I try shaking the bottle for about a minute or so which seems to make it slighly thicker but I still get water or whatever is used with the pigment coming out of the tip into my mixing pallet. It’s not thin enough for a wash but then it’s not thick enough to brush paint. Stiring it up there doesn’t seem to help - I’m also having a poblem getting it thick enough to brush paint my figures with. Any suggestions?
I am no expert (see I rate “Box-Stock” too) but I have read quite a bit on this one. Try adding a drop of dish soap to your mix. This lowers the viscocity of your wash and helps it to flow over the model more.
Charlie, You have to SHAKE-SHAKE-SHAKE that stuff!! I mean SHAKE the the stuff!!! It is designed for figures and is very delicate but superb pigment. I’ve never had dstilled water lighten mine but then again I SHOOK-SHOOK-SHOOK it!!! I even go through my stash of Vallejo colors when I’m at the bench and Shake the stuf even when I’m not using them just to keep them somewhat mixed. I don’t know about using them for a wash as I use oils but if you get them mixed well enough they should work.
Hi! Thanks for the information and the welcome. I’ve never noticed the box stock designation on my ID nor the number of posts before you mentioned it - never knew I did so many! I checked out the website link you supplied and printed out the information he had as well. I’m currently working on a diorama using one of the Verlinden bases and have used the Vallejo paint to make the walls look dirty and grimy. I also used it on the Tamiya Duce and Half Boffer’s AA gun conversion that goes on the base. It looks OK but it’s alittle on the dark side so I’ll need to lighten it up a little - probably with light colored MIG Pigments. Really appreciate all your help.
Thanks for the information on shaking the stuff more. I have been shaking it (maybe 6 or 7 shakes) but not to any great length. Should I also be turning the tube upside down while shaking it? I’m headed down to my workshop in a little while and will definately give it alot more shaking. Where’s Elvis when you need him! I did notice that the white I have is pretty thick - I used it for a white camo job on one of my German tanks. I think it 's called fomation white -something like that but it’s alot thicker than the rest of the colors I’ve used.
You can solve the whole problem by using oils for your washes. Get some nice burnt umber and thin it to the consitency of dirty dish water with paint thinner and bob’s your uncle. You can run into problems when you use an acrylic wash over an acrylic paint. Try acrylic paint, future on top of that, decals, future to seal the decals, oil based wash, testors rattle can dull coat, weathering powders (pastels) Works great. I am a firm believer in that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Good luck.
As mentioned, you have to shake the bottles. I actually went out and bought a paint shaker because of the Vallejo colors. The pigment settles quickly in these bottles, so it’s imperative that you shake them. If you don’t, you eventually use the carrier up in the bottle, and the pigment hardens and the bottle is useless.
As for washes…when I use Vallejos, I’ve switched to Citadel MIniatures inks for all the washes, especially for figures. I still use oils, but have come to prefer the inks as they’re less hassle to work with. Citadel inks can be found at any Hobbytown USA or Hobby Lobby where they carry Warhammer gaming products.
They comes in all the standard colors, Burnt Umber, Brown, a Flesh Wash, black, and your primary colors as well, red, green yellow, blue, purple. These can really enhance models in places where you actually need color. Citadel also makes various shades of metal paint (acrylic) which I’ve found are awesome for drybrushing, chipped paint, and worn metal. All of the Metalizers that I’ve used are great for bare metal, but for some reason, these really work well for almost-rusted steel…etc.
Hi! Thanks for all this great information! I’ve learned alot about using the Model Color paints - need to get one of those paint shakers though. I should have included in my intial question that I use Humbrol Enamal for a base coat - that’s why I’m trying Acrylics as a wash . From what I’ve read in Fine Scale and other publications, I do things backwards. I use Humbrol to sort of drybrush the base color over a primer coat which seems to work well for me in lieu of using an airbrush (most people that see my stuff think it’s airbrushed so it works for me). Then I gloss over the model with Polly S clear, put on the decals, and seal with Polly S Flat. Never tried the Future which is something that I’ve read about but never had the guts to try. I originally used thinned out Model Master Flat Black and Burnt Umber as washes which looked good but sometimes took off the base color in spots and showed the primer coat. That’s why I tried the Model Color for the wash.