Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Goodbye GW Washes, hello... um...

So the general consensus has seemed to be that, while they are interesting and have their uses, the new GW washes aren't direct analogs to the ones they are replacing. That concerned me as I utilize both the badab black and devlan mud washes heavily in my World Eaters paint scheme. A thread on the Dakka Dakka forums led me to believe that the Army Painter Warpaints range had an ink line that might suit my needs. I ordered up a few bottles of each and a few days later they arrived. I grabbed a model off the shelf and set to giving the base a bit of the old GW washes and a hit of the new Army Painter versions:


I started off with the old favorite Devan Mud and the upstart Strong Tone. I painted one right after the other with as close to the same application as I could. Just a single pass and a light sweep. Have to say, they're pretty darn close!

 

What is less close is the amount you get in the bottle. $3.70 gets you 12ml of the GW wash, where you get 18ml for $3.25 (or cheaper, depending on where you order from).  50% more ink for 10% less money sounds like a deal to me!


Eagerly, I grabbed the other bottle of Dark Tone and gave it a run up against the Badab Black. Again, darn near a photo finish. If I hadn't labeled them, I probably wouldn't be able to tell you which was which.

 

I have to say I'm not a huge fan of the dropper style bottle for inks in particular (love them for regular paints, though). I need to get the hang of how much to drip out, as I'm finding more is drying in the inkwell than on the model...

In any case, I'm sold on these two inks and I honestly wish I'd found out about them sooner!

at

8 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 8, 2012 at 6:41 PM

    Great tip. I had never heard of them either, but intend to score some immediately.

    thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Damn The ValleyMay 8, 2012 at 6:58 PM

    My suggestion toyou would be to check out Secret Weapon's line of washes. They have something like 30 different washes, and I love them! I was a big fan of Badab Black and Gryphonne Sepia, but once I run out of those I'm gonna end up using only SW's stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  3. GormanMay 8, 2012 at 9:50 PM

    Good to know. Have you tested the water fastness of the inks? The old Citadel inks were pretty good, but I have some artist's inks that you have to be careful of if you paint over them.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mordian7thMay 9, 2012 at 7:59 AM

    @Brian - I'm well pleased with 'em, and would recommend them in a heartbeat!

    @Damn The Valley - I'll give 'em a look, I need to find an analog to the Gryphonne Sepia and Ogryn Flesh...

    @Gorman - It seems like they dry a little quicker than the old GW washes, but it's still worthwhile to let them sit for a while. I've done some painting over the inks and it seems like provided you're painting over once the ink has dried they don't run or smear at all.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sir TainlyMay 9, 2012 at 4:07 PM

    Good to see them side by side, I'm planning to move to the Army painter system for my paints (as my GW runs out) since their colours match the sprays, double bonus! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. KevinMay 9, 2012 at 9:03 PM

    I'm definitely going to have to try these out!
    Thanks for the recommendation.

    ReplyDelete
  7. 40kaddictMay 10, 2012 at 12:49 PM

    If you're no fan of the dropper bottles then you can always fill up the old Badab Black and Devlan Mud with their Army Painter equivalents.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Mordian7thMay 10, 2012 at 5:10 PM

    The more I use them, the more I like them - I'll be ordering more soon, no doubt!

    @dwez - Indeed, that is what I ended up doing. I've gone the other way (GW paints into dropper-style bottles), but for the inks I've found I prefer the ability to dip from the jar.

    ReplyDelete