Need some help the painting experts out there. Right now I have been using an old pot of GW/citadel "chestnut ink" for the past 10+ years. I mostly use it just for a "wash" applied after the first layer of skin-colored paint is added (paint --> ink wash --> highlight). It has finally run out, and I need a replacement for a dark brown ink. I have tried GW's Agrax Earthshade, but the pigment isn't nearly as concentrated as I want. Don't get me wrong, the earthshade works great for other things, but doesn't color up the recesses of the mini's faces nearly as good as the ol' reliable chesnut ink does. I have heard good things about Vallejo's ink collection, anyone have any experience? Do their inks have a higher level of pigment than GW earthshade or is it about the same? I am looking at the three brown colors: Vallejo Game Color Ink 17mL Sepial, Brown, and Skin Wash. Should I look into other paint line inks to get the consistency I am looking for?
All you can do is try it, Vallejo is good quality and I've heard really good things about their inks.
Haha you are not alone @Warden I am clinging on to the dregs of my chestnut ink - scared to finish the pot lol
Bit of digging and I found that Coat d'arms chestnut is almost identical https://www.essexminiatures.co.uk/collections/coat-darms-paints/products/paint137
Considering that Coat d`arms used to produce the Citadel paints back in the day that is perhaps not that surprising. (Talking about the old pots that looked like the ones Coat d`arms are selling) I assume there was some kind of a cooperation when Citadel moved on to produce the paint themselves.
@Warden ...in case Illinois is closer than Essex: http://www.scalecreep.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=2501_2502_2504
Thanks all! I feel like I have had to ask this question before but couldn't find the old thread I will test out Vallejo and Coat d'arms, thanks for the link (I am definitely closer to Illinois ).
My Coat d'arms Chestnut came in, and it will work great as a replacement! It is still a bit lighter than the old chestnut ink, but a second coat from either GW Agrax Earthshade or the lighter Strong Tone from Army Painter works perfect to mimic my old method of painting faces. Thanks for the tips, I am considering this request-for-help officially SOLVED
Is it an ink or a wash? I have not used true inks for an age and can't remember how to handle them effectively
I assume the Coat d'arms is actually a "wash," but I am inferring that only from what is written on the bottle... I am pretty sure the difference is that inks are even more concentrated. That would make sense because the old GW chestnut ink was even more concentrated than the Coat d'arms chestnut is.
Honestly does it dry shiny? that's what the difference was when I first started using washes versus inks
"Shades and washes are techniques. Ink is a medium. Calling a product a shade or a wash is marketing with the intended technique. Shade only recently started to refer to a type of wash. This is because in miniature painting almost all washes are meant to add shadows. Hence shade. Ink vs. Paint. The line is blurry here but generally paints are thicker or inks use a dye which is dissolved in the medium while paint uses pigments suspended in medium. However Liquitex Acrylic Inks use suspended pigments and Golden High Flow Acrylic Paint is used in pens. Wash: A thin application of translucent colour applied broadly over a surface. In mini painting the goal of a wash is to pool in recesses and provide shading. However it often pools on flat surfaces and then you need to paint over that pooling and at that point I start to wonder what is the point. I am not a fan of washes. Glaze: Back in the old days GW had both washes and glazes but when I asked their customer care they didn't know what the difference was. Glazing is a thin application of translucent colour over a large or small area intended to subtly change the surface colour. It isn't meant to pool and I prefer my glazes to be the same viscosity as my paint. This is often used when highlighting or shading or even creating a transition between two different colours. In the bad old days people discovered they could apply millions of glazes to create smooth blends. Because the first people to popularize this technique were French and we were reading bad babelfish translated tutorials it became known as juicing. If you got the mix perfect it would dry between brush strokes. Now most sane painters will apply highlights and shadows using mostly opaque paints and then glaze the transitions to smooth them while shaking our heads sadly at the painters who still want to spend 30 hours painting a single 5mm square patch of miniature." Not my words but pretty spot on.