Hellboy (an old Spring Clean Challenge)

So what do I know of glazing, not enough to write home about. I mean I’ve occasionally thinned down a bit of paint to help with transitioning and blending but I’m certainly no expert and I’m about to endeavor on a project where I plan on almost exclusively glazing, ………until I get it wrong. So in the spirit of making mistakes that I can learn from instead of just getting frustrated with I dig out some redundant toy pirates and skellies from my kids toy box and give them a quick zenith and sketch layer so I have some pieces to test on.

Then I think to check my supplies. I figure glazing a full box of Hellboy miniatures will require a fair bit of glaze medium.  I’ve got about 15mm of Vallejo glaze medium, about 75mm of flow improver and no fancy paints like Citadels Contrast stuff. With the number of minis I’ve got to paint I could go through most that just trialing mixes before I make any real progress so I do a quick search on line of my usual suppliers. They’re all completely out of Vallejo stuff short of a few small 17mm bottles, panic buying for indoor hobby time seems to have taken its toll.

I get to thinking maybe I could make my own mediums. If I a can make myself a flow aid, a glaze medium, a contrast medium and maybe a wash medium I will have something consistent to add colour to and not get too lost in the chaos of remembering mixes every time I want a specific effect. I still have access to plenty of matte medium, dish soap, rinse aid, isopropyl and water. All things I’ve used in the past to help make washes and thinners so I guess if I can find ratios for the other mediums I might be able to get by making my own.

My research takes down a few rabbit warrens but after hrs of youtube and reading a few forum topics I have little specific information on washes and glazes but some good info on Flow aid and Contrast medium. Two of better pieces of advice were gleaned from the following

Flow aid- Luke Aps – Geek Gaming Scenics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=28&v=N_9JqC9ykBg&feature=emb_logo

Contrast Medium – Goobertown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU0rc0EOOys

Piecing together other commentary and throwing in my own meagre experience I take a guesstimate on washes and glazes, gather supplies and do a little supporting experimentation

Some right some wrong but so far no mistakes. Though I  do wonder if my base is white enough to make the most of the technique.