Quick but amazing looking washes for terrain? – OnTableTop – Home of Beasts of War

Quick but amazing looking washes for terrain?

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This topic contains 7 replies, has 4 voices, and was last updated by twistedpancreasgames 1 year, 5 months ago.

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July 14, 2023 at 5:28 am #1828183

twistedpancreasgames
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Hey there all,

I have these terrain pieces (both small and large) to paint which I’ve mostly undercoated in their main colours…

View post on imgur.com

I’d love to paint them so they look like this…

View post on imgur.com

But before I launch into them, just wondering if you have any tips on how you get quick but amazing looking washes for terrain.

I usually paint base colours, then do a wash (watered down acrylic paint), then highlight or drybrush areas. But I usually find my washes are splotchy and inconsistent.

What do you use for washes on large terrain pieces (ie oil washes from art stores, or varnish from a hardware store, etc)?

Thanks in advance.

July 14, 2023 at 10:43 am #1828292

stubbybrush
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I saw a recent suggestion that instead of using water for making washes and glazes, you should using acrylic medium instead.

Not tried it myself, but maybe your solution ( bad pun ).

July 14, 2023 at 11:13 am #1828318

blinky465
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I still have some Army Painter Strong Tone in a tin – the stuff that looks like you should be painting your fence with. It’s amazing on terrain. Base colour, then just slop it on. It provides a hard gloss finish (great for protecting your terrain, which always seems to get battered more easily than miniatures). Then some Testors dullcote to get rid of the shine – but it also reduces the vibrancy of the colour a little bit too (again, perfect for terrain, as it allows your minis to really pop against their backgrounds).

If you want your terrain to be bright and pop-py you can always go a shade or two “brighter” in your choice of colours for the base coats. But I’ve found base paint, Quickshade Strong Tone (from a tin, not the water-based stuff) and Dullcote a brilliant combo for terrain (I do tend to add in some edge highlights after this, if it’s for a scatter piece or something I want to stand out in its own right – like a computer terminal or an office desk or something; walls and buildings just get the basic treatment).

July 14, 2023 at 1:01 pm #1828350

twistedpancreasgames
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Hehe love the pun, and will definitely give that a go, thanks stubbybrush .

July 14, 2023 at 1:04 pm #1828353

twistedpancreasgames
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And sounds like a plan blinky465 I’ll have to look more into those, thanks for your time!

July 14, 2023 at 4:09 pm #1828407

lovecraft2020
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I tried numerous recipes for homemade washes with ink, flow aid and matte medium. Never really satisfied with the results: too splotchy as you mentioned and not quite the colors I was expecting.

Now I mainly use oil washes for terrain (and also sometimes for miniatures). The colors also come out more vibrant, which is probably what you want with the type of terrain that you are painting.

Super easy to make, super easy to use. Get an old brush plus some makeup sponges from the Dollar store. Only need oil paints (like a basic set) and some mineral spirit. When looking for mineral spirit, keep in mind that it is sometime called White Spirit / Mineral Spirit or simply Oil Colour Solvent.

I would recommend White Spirit from AK Interactive: it’s a small bottle, not too expensive to start with. Right now I am using a larger bottle of Winsor and Newton Oil Colour Solvents (probably bought on Amazon…).

Oil washes are actually easier to make and use than regular washes: if it is too strong, you just dilute it with mineral spirit. If you don’t like the results, you can wipe it away with a dab of mineral spirit, and so on.

July 15, 2023 at 11:53 pm #1828528

twistedpancreasgames
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Ok sweet, I’ll look into that too lovecraft2020

July 15, 2023 at 11:55 pm #1828529

twistedpancreasgames
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Oh and if you have any photos of your end results for me to compare feel free to post them here.
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