can some one help me to get my washes right

my humble ............
what i've seen and experimented with is the look of dirty water.........& applied to a glossy surface so the solution flows and will be easier to clean up any over flow.....
and the contrast should be a shade or two darker than the surface the wash is being applied to..............

good luck to ya......hope this helps a wee bit.

thanks alot for the help

like cirikili said, the wash shouldn't look like thinned paint, but rather tinted thinner. I use enamels for the base coat on most of my models, so I generally use an acrylic wash to keep it from lifting the paint. then again if u use something like say future as an overcoat, u can probably use nething. but don't take my word for it, I wouldn't know so much as the other model maniacs on this forum....

Matt

I like to use acryilic washes and add a drop of liquid dish soap to the mixture. This breaks down the paints ability to bond so after the wash has dried you can take a very slightly damp piece of paper towel and wipe it gently across the washed item and make the high areas stand out much better. Give it a try - the results will surprise you.

thanks for the tips swanny and gringe

For my washes I use water color paints. I mixed up a bottle of burnt umber, black and brown about a year ago and it is still going strong as the day I first mixed it. These are the good type of water colors that come in tubes and are available at art supply stores.
Just apply it with a cotton swab or paint brush. You don't have worry about it attacking the paint, and if you apply too much or it goes in a place you don't want it to go..clean up is a breeze, just use a clean dappened swab and wipe the excess away.
Hope this helps...good luck.

What I usually do is paint my models with acrylic paints. I used to use tamyia but I'm goig to give a try with vallejo acrylics. According to them, their acrylic paints for airbrush can stand washes with the most violent thinner I know...turpentine. For what I read acrylic paints should stand this attack but I had a bad experience with tamyia paints in this matter. Generally I paint the base coat, and then, for insurance, I spray a coat of acrylic matt varnish to protect the first layer of paint.
For washes I usually use oil colours, thinned down with turpentine. They take a while to dry but the final effect is great. At the first I tried painting with enamels and do the washings with acrylics. I got the felling that acrylics do look great after you wash but when they dry they become blotchy and very unrealistic. A few guys manage to get a good effect though.
This is my humble opinion. Take care.

I forgot to tell you how I do a wash with oils. I don't exactly measure it... I mix a bit of oil colour (I use a lot burnt umber) with turpentine until it seems like coffee - you can use this as a reference for other colours. It's consistency doesn't differ from the consistency of turpentine alone. Like other guy said, it's tinted thinner we're after. When doing the wash, everytime you soak the brush, the mix should be stirred because the oil pigments deposit rather fast in the mix. If you need more help, please ask. Take care.

I use Burnt Umber oil colour and ModelMaster airbrush thinner. Use can use it without second thought, it´s just PERFECT!!