"Tank-like subject" Citadel inks

Hi. I've used citadel colours on a regular basis for the past few years. They're quite good acrylics that dry in a very nice semi-gloss finish.
However, I don't have too much advice for their inks. I've only used their Flesh Wash ink, along with a few others. I'm not sure whether or not you want to use ink alone. You may wish to water it down. If you're using it as a wash, their recommendation is a 1 part ink to 4 parts water mix. I suggest trying out different ratios on some scrap models to see how the result is. Ink by itself is quite strong, and when dry will most likely just look black, but it is great when diluted with water as a wash, because it flows very freely.

Thanks, that is what I heard. I will give it a shot.

No prob. I think you'll like it. THe ease of which they work and clean up makes them the ONLY inks I use, and their colours are just great, I use them on a regular basis. DOn't know too many other people who do though.

I've run into a problem. Not knowing how to do the wash, I did the suggested 4 to 1 dillution of the ink and I deluted it more by dipping the brush into water. I was rather liberal with the application and did not try to remove any of it.

The sides aren't too bad I think because the ink wash was vertical rather than horizonal .

In any case the result is a mess. Would it be easier to just paint over the mess and start over or use something to remove the paint and start over. The tank was painted with Testors Acryl and the black ink wash was Citadel.

Wow, i've never seen that before. Unfortunately, since both the ink and the colours are waterbased, whatever you used to clean the ink would probably damage the paint as well, so it might be a better idea to soak the thing in windex (dilute it half/half with water) to try to get as much of the paint off as you can, then repaint
I have NEVER seen this before. Did you just splash the wash everywhere? Even if you did, it's really weird that it would produce a pattern like that...
Either way, try to localize your wash next time. These warhammer tanks do not have that many panel divisions, so try to use a very very small brush, or a microbrush if you can get a hold of one, then just apply the wash to the recessed details, to areas that are between panels, or corners. The broad open flat areas you can just leave bare.
Also, overthinning the ink won't produce this. It just means that when dry, it will be fainter. BUT, what you want to make sure is to mix the wash VERY WELL, and not splosh it on everywhere, as the water will carry the ink all over the place, just as it apparently did with yours, cuz those marks look like coloured water spots.
Remember, try to kee the wash localized. FOr these tanks it works a little differently. However, you CAN do an overall wash, then repant all the flat areas, and that way you'll have a nice, deep shadowing effect in the recesses.
It's up to you how much work you want to put into it now. I think cleaning and repanting will be a pain in the ass. Just deepen the wash in recesses as I said, then brush over the flat areas to bring out the details.

There is a site called Eldar Online. http://www.eldaronline.com/paintingtutorials/painting_wavetheme.shtml
At this particular link is a fantastic piece of work that mentions an over all wash like you have said. I appear to be doing it wrong.


I'm going to give a shot at carefully painting over the areas that look funky and go from there (as well as using the wash in small areas.

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Well, good news, Testors Acryl is not as water soluable as the Citadel. Or at least the Ink.

I could not get around the idea of painting over my funky paint scheme again, so I went with the dunking it. I found that scrubbing it with a toothbrush took off the ink but left the airbrushed finish

I don't know how to do washes, but now I have plenty of time to figure it out!

You can use Citadel inks as a wash, but they are not as easy to use as they appear. First, you need to dilute them. The 4 parts water to 1 part ink is about right. You then need something to break down the water's surface tension - a couple of drops of washing-up liquid will do the job. Alternatively, you can use economy car screen wash - again the 4:1 ratio is about right.

You then have to decide how you're going to use them. If you're going to use them as a point wash, then you can use a 0 or 00 brush to flow the diluted mix into panel lines, radiator grilles, and so on. Alternatively, you can use them for an overall wash. If you decide to do this, you must first protect the original paintwork. An easy way to do this is by painting the model overall with Future. 2 or 3 coats should work. You can then paint thin coats of the wash until you get the desired effect. The Future should repel the wash from the areas you don't want it, but you can also remove it with a damp cloth or cotton bud.

The key is, as ever, to experiment. Start first by trying this method on a old model, and then, since this method needs to be varied from model to model, on the underside of the hull (for an AFV), or some other area which is going to be either invisible or covered by weathering, when the model is finished.

This isn't, by any means, the only way of doing panel lines etc,but I find myself using it a lot, especially on figures and military vehicles.