by Bob Barnetson

Having considered block painting over dark primer last week, this week we’ll turn our attention to using a light colour primer. Some gamers do not like painting over dark primer, with the main complaints being that a dark primer dulls the colours, results in overly dramatic shadows, and is difficult to cover with weakly pigmented paints like red and yellow. It is certainly possible to block paint over a white primer. Figures painted in this way often benefit from an ink wash to create shadows.

For example, these Romans have been block painted and inked.

A second technique suitable for a light primer is using a wash to colour a figure. A wash is a diluted paint that stains what it touches, with the majority of the colour pooling in recesses on the figure. This technique results in a look similar to highlights, but often in one coat. Again, the application of a dark wash at the end to put in some shadows is often beneficial.

Block Paint over a Light Primer
When you block paint a figure that is covered in a light primer, you need to create the shadow effect that occurs naturally when you block paint a figure covered in dark primer (see Article 4). It is possible to add this shadow either before you paint or after by means of a wash.

I prefer to put in the shadows before I paint because the dark wash (which runs into the recesses of the figure) makes it clear where I should be applying paint. If I accidentally obliterate the shadows while painting (and this happens quite frequently), I will often put the shadows back using the magic dip after the figure has dried.

The picture below shows two figures primed white, with the left one having received the black wash over the white primer. I have also applied a bit of flesh and red to each figure. It was much easier to paint the dark-washed figure because the details stood out more and it was only necessary to paint the places were the primer was clearly visible. The armour on the left-hand figure has also essentially painted itself.

It is also possible to put these shadows in after you paint. Simply block paint the figure and try to cover as much white as possible. Once the figure is fully painted, you then use a black wash (either ink or the magic dip) to put in the shadows. The figures below show the results of the two approaches. I think the figure on the left (white primer, black wash, painted, black wash) is better looking than the figure on the right (white primer, painted, black wash).

The figure on the left does, however, show one peril of so many coats–not how the area between the figure’s left arm and torso is starting to fill in.

Using a Wash Over a Light Primer
A wash works by allowing light to pass through diluted paint, bounce off the light coloured primer coat and reflect back out. This lightens the paint colour and thereby mimicking the colour shift we talked about in Article 2.

To use a paint as a wash, it must be diluted. This is more easily accomplished with water-based paints (that you can dilute with water) than oil-based paints (which require thinner). And some paints seem to make better washes than other. For example, craft paints (e.g., Delta Creamcoat, Apple Barrel, Americana) are fine for block painting but don’t seem to dilute as well as specially made model paints (e.g., Vallejo). it may be that the pigment that gives the paint its colour is not as finely ground up.

To create a wash, I normally start with a bit of paint in a dish. I may also add just the tiniest drop of liquid dish soap into the dish (an alternative is using flow enhancer). This helps the wash move more freely on figure when you apply it, by breaking the surface tension of the water. This soap is more important when doing an ink wash so can be safely omitted at this stage.

I then add drops of water, mixing the paint as I go. Generally, only a few drops of water (perhaps 10-15% of the volume of the paint I have on the dish) are needed to thin the paint. It is easier to add more water to further thin the paint than it is to add paint to thicken the wash, so add water slowly. You can test the level of dilution by wetting your paintbrush and painting the wash onto a piece of white paper. This gives you a sense of how runny and thinned the paint has become. If you are satisfied with the wash, you can now apply it to a figure.

While I normally wash over white-primed figures, an alternative is to prime the figure black but then drybrush it with white. Drybrushing is a technique where a brush is dipped in light coloured paint, most of the paint is wiped off on a cloth, and the brush is then lightly dragged over the figure. The paint then adheres to the raised detail, creating a highlight. It is often useful to drag the brush across the grain of any raised detail. With figures, I normally brush downwards, from head to toe.

Applying a Wash
When you wash, start with a small amount of paint on your brush. Carefully apply the paint to the part of the miniature you want to cover, ensuring the wash gets into the recesses of the figure. If you are painting the entire miniature a single colour, then feel free to load up your brush. For example, when washing a base colour on a modern vehicle, I often use a large brush and am fairly sloppy. I find that it pays to be more careful when putting a wash on a figure. This prevents bubbles from forming when the brush moves over the figure. It also keeps the wash in the area you want.

Once you have painted the figure, examine it to see if the wash suitably stained the figure. If not, a second coat may be in order, either immediately, or after the figure has dried. Generally, you want the areas of raised detail to be only lightly stained by the wash. This creates a natural highlight. If you are going to apply an ink stain this will further darken your figure so a second coat of wash may not be required.

Detailing
A wash will often flow over straps or other equipment. One way to remedy this is to repaint the straps and equipment white and, once dry, apply an appropriate stain to these areas as well. I find this fiddly and simply paint these small areas with full strength colours. Similarly, I would block paint any flesh (e.g., face, hands, legs) that is exposed.

Assuming you chose to apply washes over a white primer coat, at this point, the figure is fully coloured but does not have the shading that you saw when we block painted over black. There are two easy ways to add this shading. The first is using the magic dip, an approach we’ll be addressing in Article 9 which is currently four weeks away.

The second approach is to thin black paint or black ink (sometimes with a bit of brown mixed in) with some water. Ink is available at most hobby stores. When mixing up an ink wash, I normally put in one part ink and four or five parts water. I also add a drop of liquid dish soap to break the surface tension of the water. This is very important because it helps the ink to run into the recesses of the figure and prevents the ink from beading and running off the figure.

I take a fine brush and apply the shadow wash to the edges of straps and backpacks, facial features, and the creases of clothing. This creates a nice shadow and gives the figure depth. Simply coating the figure in the ink wash is an option but this approach will often stain all of the paint and thus overly darken the figure.

Up Next
Having consider two of the most common approaches to painting figures, we’re going to turn to some more technical issues with painting, starting with different approaches to skin tones next week.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 29th, 2008 and is filed under Gaming in plastic.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.