Note: The glaze medium is simply the carrier for the pigment in place of just water as to avoid surface tension and the breakdown of the binder. You can use different products in it's place and get mostly the same effect. For example as others have mentioned, matt medium, varnish, Pledge/Future Floor care, etc. I choose glaze medium because I use it in a variety of different ways so I'm familiar with it. Adding it does not mean we're creating a glaze because of how it's added and how it's being used. Just wanted to clear up any confusion.
I wander if matte medium was maybe more appropriare than glaze medium? Surely gw lahmian medium would work great, since it’s the medium used in the gw washes and you can add whatever ink you prefer
The wonderful thing is that they look great. really the difference between a speedpainted miniature and an unpainted miniature is incredible. Even with just a very basic paintjob you can already make your minis pop.
Your explanation of how these things are made is a huge revelation and so far you're the only one I've heard who has explained that. Thank you so much! By the way you're so-called quick and dirty paint jobs are aspirational high quality for me. I am a terrible painter.
If you want to be super cheap, there’s always the original method of purchasing a small can of Minwax PolyShades Tudor wood stain from a Wal Mart, Home Depot or Lowe’s here in the states. This is much cheaper than the Army Painter or Citadel stuff, but with similar results. As noted in the video, however, it will stain other things if you don’t cover the area with protective cloth or newspaper. I just use some disposable cheap plastic brushes to cover the figure, making sure to pull out any excess stain before it dries.
Great video! I've used GW washes for a while and I think they're pretty good. Really the only issue I have with them is that the bottle actively fights against you sometimes by not wanting to stay open or by wanting to fall over. But that's kind of a recurring theme with ALL GW paints. If you put it in a dropper bottle, the value goes up substantially.
Good video. I find the use of Army Painter Quickshade in a can for the money lasts longer and is more reliable. It can also be thinned with mineral spirits if needed and mineral spirits easily cleans up brushes.
The DIY sticking comes down to a missing ingredient. The other washes, especially the acrylic ones, contain flow aid. I add some to my DIY washes to great effect, though the option to not use it is always nice
I think you missed an important point which is price (well to me it is). GW pot while seeming a bonus is actually a disaster waiting to happen, the pots are quite top heavy and tip quite easily. If people do decide to go with GW I recommend sticking the pot down with some poster tack or double sided tape.
I’ve had that happen with citadel very few times and it never spilled anything out, thankfully, but I see what you’re saying. I have had this happen with P3 before. I was out and found a new game store and they had P3 paints, which I had never heard of before, and they were cheaper than the citadel and the army painter so I got 2. The bottle design is awful and when it falls the paint just flows out because it is much thinner compared to citadel.
I now lay claim to tipping over both large pots of nuln and agrax by accident . What's the point of decanting them and adding to cost . They are at a premium already . Vallejo has a 17ml dropper bottle and its cheaper
One thing I've had a lot of luck with is the FW Acrylic Artists Inks (I get it at hobby lobby) just watered down. It tends to work rather well for this kind of wash.
I was surprised. When I read the title, I was thinking this was going to be more like what MiniJunkie has been doing with speed painting by priming in white and using shades for adding color. I didn't expect a comparison of quick shade products, though I found it to be quite interesting. I hadn't thought of mixing my own. I need to pick up some glazing medium and try it!
Great comparison video. I've been using the AP Quickshade for years now, absolutely love it. Probably won't change what I use since it's worked so well for me.
I use Les's recipe which is distilled water, matte medium and flow aid and whatever ink you want like has been mentioned already. I've also used Les's recipe with no ink and mixed with whatever base coat paint I used and a little black ink to create a wash that is compatible with the base color. Another trick I started doing is to keep my airbrush handy with no paint in it and blow a little air on the mini after washing to knock some of the wash off the high points and even out the wash in the low points.
I use Pledge Future Floor Sealer Finish and artist inks. I usually raw umber and a drop of black gives me the same tone as what you have there. You can make a lot of shade for a very little amount of money.
Dr Faust posted a video several years ago about creating DIY washes using Pledge with Futureshine. It was one of the better resources I found for making washes and I still use this method for many colors... but I also use a couple of pre-made mainstays: Agrax Earthshade and Nuln Oil (both now come in a glossy variety, which I prefer as it pulls into recesses better - like my home-made future washes.)
Doctor Faust's Painting Clinic I used to use it, but in some cases I found that it started stripping the paint I was applying it over with a brush. I probably mixed it with a wrong ratio though. I doubt this is the same reason you stopped, since you have had great success in the past with magic wash. Thanks for all the great videos (and the website)!
I always put down a layer of clear coat (read: Future Shine) with an airbrush before applying a wash. It acts as a "save point" where the underlying paint job is protected from any accidents (spills/bumps/etc,) and also smooths out the surface which helps pull the subsequent wash into the recesses. My subjective experience is that paint only comes up if the model was not cleaned/primed properly.
Its interesting that you've had the Army Painter Quickshade Acrylic washes cloud up; I've thinned mine with water numerous times and never had that happen. It certainly makes me wonder what the difference might be. All in all though, I can't say I'm surprised that they all (with the exception of the dip/woodstain) pretty much preform similarly; I tend to stick with Army Painter primarily because of the price.
I prefer the Army Painter washes. They are pretty similar to the GW shades, but have a subtle difference that they tend to stain a bit less, and when dry, they tend to have smoother finish. I would also drop a bit of Army Painter mixing medium or Vallejo thinner medium to dilute them a bit.
Hey Doc, use Citadel Medium to “cut” the shades and make them less strong. I do this with shading light colors all the time. Works great. Using the black shade on light grey or white or similar would make it look dirty. I thin the shade 4 or 5 to 1. Apply it and its just right. Give it a try. Great vids by the way.
I had a lot of luck thinning the Army Painter (the canned version). I think I used turps, 2:1 or 3:2. it created a sort of blacklining effect and only stained the mid and highlight colours a tiny bit. It was the black dip, not the brown.
7:15 Use what you want, what you have, or what your store carries, but good to know making your own wash is possible, I have both Army Painter Strong and Citadels so yay
Can I add stuff on top off the layer? I mean base caoting, shade/whatever and then add on top before varnishing. Afterwards I will add matt varnish anyway so I doubt it looks strange but will is stick normally?
I never thin my gw shades. They are good right out of the bottle in my opinion and add some nice shade But yea this is a good method for quick and dirty when you just want a lot of miniatures ready for a game with little time to spend detailing
Oh how things move on. I think speaking from experience Military Miniatures and Miliart in the UK were the first 2 companies to produce ready painted 28mm figures, "block" painted and covered in a black varnish. The black varnish was a gloss varnish, with black enamel paint in small proportions added into the varnish, painted on, and left to run down the figure and dry. I worked for Military Miniatures from the early 1980's to 2000, not saying we invented this but we were the only companies producing figures this way. I thought this technique had died out. Black or Brown shading varnishes worked best on a white undercoated figure, then block painted, and the idea of the stainer varnishes was to hide the white showing through where 2 block colours had not come into contact. During the 1990's black undercoated figures became more popular so stainer varnishes died out, and wargamers moved onto spray varnish in satin or gloss or good old brush on varnish. It now looks like stainer varnishes are big in the market.
The reason your Army Painter wash could be clouding over is the hardness of your water. Had the same problem until I got a water filter. But for the price, Army Painters washes are by far my preference!
I used Army Painter for my Imperial Guard Army, there’s just so many damned models... turned out really well and from arms length away they look great on the table. But as you said won’t be winning any awards.
Nice comparison. But for me dropper bottles are best. In any case. The quality is great at all brands I used so far (gw,Ap,vgc) Again I bought a few colors with the top lid a few weeks ago and it reminded me fairly quickly why I went away from gw. Good paint but more expensive, awkward bottles and not better than others. And my personal preference Ist ap dark tone. Just because it is not too dark ^^
When I started painting, I actually invested in a pint of walnut wood stain. While it did work, I wasn't prepared for a) how long it takes to dry, b) how messy it was to dip the model and just flick them in a bin to get excess off, and c) the amount that still pooled at the base. On one hand it worked to my advantage since I like to decorate my bases, but for a few models that I didn't base it created a weird globby mess.
Doctor Faust's Painting Clinic I was going to ask about this too, since I have them as well but would’ve been nice to see it in the comparison. I also own the Army Painters washes as well. So the Vallejo washes dry “Chalky”. It was weird. No gloss to them either. A dry, chalk like finish. Now this goes for the package of 8 set (the Game color set). I think the big bottle ones may (hopefully) be better, like the rust colors, etc.
Thanks for the video! I'm painting up my first minis and am worried about varnish dulling the metallics -- these still look nice and shiny, did you just varnish on top of the metal bits with no problem? 🖖
Johny2bikes I sometimes water down my washes with a unspecified mix of airbrush flow improver and matte medium and it works just fine too. But for most part, water is good enough. Only in very specific circumstances would you need to use a medium like Lahmian Medium.
If you add "flow improver" when you make your own washes, it will act like a wash and less like a glaze. If you search on youtube on how to make your own washes, you will find recipes for making your own washes.
How are you defining what I'm doing as a glaze? A glaze is a thin very transparent tint meant to add a bit of even color. You're the second to mention glaze and I don't understand where it's coming from.
Nevermind. Finally figured out it's the "glaze"medium part. I thought it was in reference to application. It's the medium part that's the important factor. I should of used matt medium which would yield the same results without the confusion.
Hi. Thank you for answering. I agree with you, especially this: "A glaze is a thin very transparent tint meant to add a bit of even color". And I would say a wash is more meant to stay away from open even surfaces and pool in all crevices, so the term glaze and wash is used for different purposes. And to make a wash, I believe you want something to break the surface tension, like Flow Aid. In my limited experience, adding Flow Aid (with glaze or/and matt medium) makes the wash so much better. It will stay of flat surfaces more easily. Note. This is according to my very limited experience. I'm new to this hobby.
I just used Quickshade for the first time and it was a real hassle, so messy and I can’t touch it for 24 hours. Unless it’s MASSIVELY better I’m going back to a simple dark wash. I wish I had seen this video before wasting £20.
Wait: some of those dudes are wearing breastplates? I’ve been painting mine as tabards. Trying to freehand heraldry on them and everything T-T Edit: Looking at my minis again: well, I guess they’re wearing Tabbards over metal for mine. People did that sometimes. Not the end of the world.
looks good to me got get some fore my WHFB entpier army fill out ranks the price of theas are same as 10 GW but you get 40 of en and now to my thing SQUARE basse yes my thing why nun ? minis lok great but one thing si fi round lot history and fantacy square yes fire bad no fire good a joke to all who do not know will not go thare yes all my fantacy is and will be on square basses see vids and see more as post more ( well look better ranked up )
![[ ออกกอง ] วัยหนุ่ม 2544 โลกหลังลูกกรง..ทัวร์กองถ่ายหนังใน "คุกของจริง" | JUSTดูIT.](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vB--aOkZCpw/mqdefault.jpg)
Note: The glaze medium is simply the carrier for the pigment in place of just water as to avoid surface tension and the breakdown of the binder. You can use different products in it's place and get mostly the same effect. For example as others have mentioned, matt medium, varnish, Pledge/Future Floor care, etc. I choose glaze medium because I use it in a variety of different ways so I'm familiar with it. Adding it does not mean we're creating a glaze because of how it's added and how it's being used. Just wanted to clear up any confusion.
hello how you mix ink with glaze medium 1:1 ?
I wander if matte medium was maybe more appropriare than glaze medium? Surely gw lahmian medium would work great, since it’s the medium used in the gw washes and you can add whatever ink you prefer
The wonderful thing is that they look great. really the difference between a speedpainted miniature and an unpainted miniature is incredible. Even with just a very basic paintjob you can already make your minis pop.
Your explanation of how these things are made is a huge revelation and so far you're the only one I've heard who has explained that. Thank you so much! By the way you're so-called quick and dirty paint jobs are aspirational high quality for me. I am a terrible painter.
Thanks for this! Been following your painting since before TH-cam became popular!
If you want to be super cheap, there’s always the original method of purchasing a small can of Minwax PolyShades Tudor wood stain from a Wal Mart, Home Depot or Lowe’s here in the states.
This is much cheaper than the Army Painter or Citadel stuff, but with similar results. As noted in the video, however, it will stain other things if you don’t cover the area with protective cloth or newspaper. I just use some disposable cheap plastic brushes to cover the figure, making sure to pull out any excess stain before it dries.
I actually think the miniatures look really good just with the wash.
Shaun Daly They sure do!
Great video!
I've used GW washes for a while and I think they're pretty good. Really the only issue I have with them is that the bottle actively fights against you sometimes by not wanting to stay open or by wanting to fall over. But that's kind of a recurring theme with ALL GW paints. If you put it in a dropper bottle, the value goes up substantially.
I've brought more of these than I've used, ive knocked over so many, its ridiculous
Good video. I find the use of Army Painter Quickshade in a can for the money lasts longer and is more reliable. It can also be thinned with mineral spirits if needed and mineral spirits easily cleans up brushes.
The DIY sticking comes down to a missing ingredient. The other washes, especially the acrylic ones, contain flow aid. I add some to my DIY washes to great effect, though the option to not use it is always nice
I think you missed an important point which is price (well to me it is). GW pot while seeming a bonus is actually a disaster waiting to happen, the pots are quite top heavy and tip quite easily. If people do decide to go with GW I recommend sticking the pot down with some poster tack or double sided tape.
Dunbras I just decant them instead 😂
I’ve had that happen with citadel very few times and it never spilled anything out, thankfully, but I see what you’re saying. I have had this happen with P3 before. I was out and found a new game store and they had P3 paints, which I had never heard of before, and they were cheaper than the citadel and the army painter so I got 2. The bottle design is awful and when it falls the paint just flows out because it is much thinner compared to citadel.
I read your quote months ago before I owned any GW washes.... Then I thought of it again when I tipped over my pot of nuln oil.
I now lay claim to tipping over both large pots of nuln and agrax by accident . What's the point of decanting them and adding to cost . They are at a premium already . Vallejo has a 17ml dropper bottle and its cheaper
Yep. Nuln oil on my floor. Still see it ;)
Doc, super helpful, thank you!
Great video! There's a shortage of structured, high quality comparison videos on speed painting techniques.
One thing I've had a lot of luck with is the FW Acrylic Artists Inks (I get it at hobby lobby) just watered down. It tends to work rather well for this kind of wash.
I was surprised. When I read the title, I was thinking this was going to be more like what MiniJunkie has been doing with speed painting by priming in white and using shades for adding color. I didn't expect a comparison of quick shade products, though I found it to be quite interesting. I hadn't thought of mixing my own. I need to pick up some glazing medium and try it!
Great comparison video. I've been using the AP Quickshade for years now, absolutely love it. Probably won't change what I use since it's worked so well for me.
I liked the history lesson in this. Good to know where stuff came from.
I use Les's recipe which is distilled water, matte medium and flow aid and whatever ink you want like has been mentioned already. I've also used Les's recipe with no ink and mixed with whatever base coat paint I used and a little black ink to create a wash that is compatible with the base color. Another trick I started doing is to keep my airbrush handy with no paint in it and blow a little air on the mini after washing to knock some of the wash off the high points and even out the wash in the low points.
I use Pledge Future Floor Sealer Finish and artist inks. I usually raw umber and a drop of black gives me the same tone as what you have there. You can make a lot of shade for a very little amount of money.
Dr Faust posted a video several years ago about creating DIY washes using Pledge with Futureshine. It was one of the better resources I found for making washes and I still use this method for many colors... but I also use a couple of pre-made mainstays: Agrax Earthshade and Nuln Oil (both now come in a glossy variety, which I prefer as it pulls into recesses better - like my home-made future washes.)
The good ol' magic wash. Think there was a reason I stopped using it, but it's been so long I cannot remember.
Doctor Faust's Painting Clinic
I used to use it, but in some cases I found that it started stripping the paint I was applying it over with a brush. I probably mixed it with a wrong ratio though. I doubt this is the same reason you stopped, since you have had great success in the past with magic wash. Thanks for all the great videos (and the website)!
I always put down a layer of clear coat (read: Future Shine) with an airbrush before applying a wash. It acts as a "save point" where the underlying paint job is protected from any accidents (spills/bumps/etc,) and also smooths out the surface which helps pull the subsequent wash into the recesses.
My subjective experience is that paint only comes up if the model was not cleaned/primed properly.
Its interesting that you've had the Army Painter Quickshade Acrylic washes cloud up; I've thinned mine with water numerous times and never had that happen. It certainly makes me wonder what the difference might be. All in all though, I can't say I'm surprised that they all (with the exception of the dip/woodstain) pretty much preform similarly; I tend to stick with Army Painter primarily because of the price.
TheRunesmythe me to!
I am painting an ACW army (perrys) using army painter quick shades with base coats only and the results are quick and good.
Great tutorial with lots of useful information. Thanks for sharing this.
I have been wondering about this subject. Thanks for the comparisons.
I prefer the Army Painter washes. They are pretty similar to the GW shades, but have a subtle difference that they tend to stain a bit less, and when dry, they tend to have smoother finish. I would also drop a bit of Army Painter mixing medium or Vallejo thinner medium to dilute them a bit.
Hey Doc, use Citadel Medium to “cut” the shades and make them less strong. I do this with shading light colors all the time. Works great. Using the black shade on light grey or white or similar would make it look dirty. I thin the shade 4 or 5 to 1. Apply it and its just right. Give it a try. Great vids by the way.
I had a lot of luck thinning the Army Painter (the canned version). I think I used turps, 2:1 or 3:2. it created a sort of blacklining effect and only stained the mid and highlight colours a tiny bit. It was the black dip, not the brown.
Impressive, very impressive and effective !
7:15 Use what you want, what you have, or what your store carries, but good to know making your own wash is possible, I have both Army Painter Strong and Citadels so yay
Great video I’ll definitely have to try it out
Can I add stuff on top off the layer? I mean base caoting, shade/whatever and then add on top before varnishing.
Afterwards I will add matt varnish anyway so I doubt it looks strange but will is stick normally?
Yes you can.
I never thin my gw shades. They are good right out of the bottle in my opinion and add some nice shade
But yea this is a good method for quick and dirty when you just want a lot of miniatures ready for a game with little time to spend detailing
Oh how things move on. I think speaking from experience Military Miniatures and Miliart in the UK were the first 2 companies to produce ready painted 28mm figures, "block" painted and covered in a black varnish. The black varnish was a gloss varnish, with black enamel paint in small proportions added into the varnish, painted on, and left to run down the figure and dry. I worked for Military Miniatures from the early 1980's to 2000, not saying we invented this but we were the only companies producing figures this way. I thought this technique had died out. Black or Brown shading varnishes worked best on a white undercoated figure, then block painted, and the idea of the stainer varnishes was to hide the white showing through where 2 block colours had not come into contact. During the 1990's black undercoated figures became more popular so stainer varnishes died out, and wargamers moved onto spray varnish in satin or gloss or good old brush on varnish. It now looks like stainer varnishes are big in the market.
The reason your Army Painter wash could be clouding over is the hardness of your water. Had the same problem until I got a water filter. But for the price, Army Painters washes are by far my preference!
Or just use Distilled water!
I used Army Painter for my Imperial Guard Army, there’s just so many damned models... turned out really well and from arms length away they look great on the table. But as you said won’t be winning any awards.
Nice comparison. But for me dropper bottles are best. In any case. The quality is great at all brands I used so far (gw,Ap,vgc) Again I bought a few colors with the top lid a few weeks ago and it reminded me fairly quickly why I went away from gw. Good paint but more expensive, awkward bottles and not better than others. And my personal preference Ist ap dark tone. Just because it is not too dark ^^
When I started painting, I actually invested in a pint of walnut wood stain. While it did work, I wasn't prepared for a) how long it takes to dry, b) how messy it was to dip the model and just flick them in a bin to get excess off, and c) the amount that still pooled at the base. On one hand it worked to my advantage since I like to decorate my bases, but for a few models that I didn't base it created a weird globby mess.
Hello Doc please color primer grey,black,white ?? Many THX (i have to paint 15mm Essex.... War of the Roses)
What brown was that in the first painting clip? It covered black like a dream.
Thanks!
These are very good looking figs! Are they the plastics or the metals? Your "crude" and "slather" are better than my "efforts", I'll say.
I seem to be one of the rare ones who thinks this technique still looks better than the new contrast paints.
I gloss varnish and make my own washes with oil paint, and finish with a matte varnish.
what models were those. I'm looking for some medieval models for tabletop games and I really liked those.
Miniatures are Perry Miniatures Agincourt French Infantry
@@ThePaintingClinic thank you. After I commented on this I realize what they were. Thanks again.
Have you tried the game color washes by Vallejo?
Tried them and don't use them. There is likely a good reason why, but I cannot remember exactly.
Doctor Faust's Painting Clinic I was going to ask about this too, since I have them as well but would’ve been nice to see it in the comparison. I also own the Army Painters washes as well. So the Vallejo washes dry “Chalky”. It was weird. No gloss to them either. A dry, chalk like finish. Now this goes for the package of 8 set (the Game color set). I think the big bottle ones may (hopefully) be better, like the rust colors, etc.
Thanks for the video! I'm painting up my first minis and am worried about varnish dulling the metallics -- these still look nice and shiny, did you just varnish on top of the metal bits with no problem? 🖖
Old video, so I'm not sure what varnish I used, but I didn't do anything special to the metallic. Everything is matte varnished.
Hey Doc! How's summer treating you so far?
GW washes don't cloud at all when watered down. At least that's what personal experience tells me.
Johny2bikes I sometimes water down my washes with a unspecified mix of airbrush flow improver and matte medium and it works just fine too. But for most part, water is good enough. Only in very specific circumstances would you need to use a medium like Lahmian Medium.
THANK YOU FOR THIS IS JUST GREAT...
Hello! Where can I found ths kind of bases, please?
They are Games Workshop style bases from Ebay.
@@ThePaintingClinic Oh thank you very much Doctor Faust!! :)
Ahah... Prince of Space at the end
What about shellac?
What brand are these little soldiers?
redbeardboss Perrys
If you add "flow improver" when you make your own washes, it will act like a wash and less like a glaze. If you search on youtube on how to make your own washes, you will find recipes for making your own washes.
How are you defining what I'm doing as a glaze? A glaze is a thin very transparent tint meant to add a bit of even color. You're the second to mention glaze and I don't understand where it's coming from.
Nevermind. Finally figured out it's the "glaze"medium part. I thought it was in reference to application. It's the medium part that's the important factor. I should of used matt medium which would yield the same results without the confusion.
Hi. Thank you for answering.
I agree with you, especially this: "A glaze is a thin very transparent tint meant to add a bit of even color". And I would say a wash is more meant to stay away from open even surfaces and pool in all crevices, so the term glaze and wash is used for different purposes.
And to make a wash, I believe you want something to break the surface tension, like Flow Aid. In my limited experience, adding Flow Aid (with glaze or/and matt medium) makes the wash so much better. It will stay of flat surfaces more easily.
Note. This is according to my very limited experience. I'm new to this hobby.
I realize now that my initial comment sounded like I know more than you or something. I don't.
I just used Quickshade for the first time and it was a real hassle, so messy and I can’t touch it for 24 hours. Unless it’s MASSIVELY better I’m going back to a simple dark wash. I wish I had seen this video before wasting £20.
Nvm i found it in your description lol
Wait: some of those dudes are wearing breastplates? I’ve been painting mine as tabards. Trying to freehand heraldry on them and everything T-T
Edit: Looking at my minis again: well, I guess they’re wearing Tabbards over metal for mine. People did that sometimes. Not the end of the world.
looks good to me got get some fore my WHFB entpier army fill out ranks the price of theas are same as 10 GW but you get 40 of en and now to my thing SQUARE basse yes my thing why nun ? minis lok great but one thing si fi round lot history and fantacy square yes fire bad no fire good a joke to all who do not know will not go thare yes all my fantacy is and will be on square basses see vids and see more as post more ( well look better ranked up )
redgreen09 i also prefer square bases! Much better.
HAZAR yes you a good one square whay to go ::::::)) and you do history looking battels look at films with the square bass thing you see what mean
Chickens are terrible painters