Oil Washes on Historical Miniatures?

[Atheling]

Hi,

I've been looking into using oil washes on 28mm Historical miniatures and have found a ton of stuff on Fantasy/Sci Fi stuff in terms of tutorials/vids. Either my google foo is very off or the tutorials/vids simply do not exist.

I'm aiming to use them for The Crimean War, Ancients, Dark Ages and Late Medieval mini's.

Does anyone know of any such tutorials/vids using Oil Washes on 28mm Historical miniatures?

Thanks.

[Captain Blood]

I don’t know of any tutorials Darrell, but I can tell you that I use ultra thinned oil washes a lot these days, and I find them infinitely superior to acrylic washes and inks. Much more controllable and precise, and offer a better finish. Really good for weathering as well.

[Atheling]

I don’t know of any tutorials Darrell, but I can tell you that I use ultra thinned oil washes a lot these days, and I find them infinitely superior to acrylic washes and inks. Much more controllable and precise, and offer a better finish. Really good for weathering as well.

Thanks Richard. Do you have any particular brands you use?

Also, do you remove some of the oil paint after the wash has been applied or move it around with a brush similar to that of an acrylic glaze? What is the technique on a the average 28mm historical miniature?

I'm trying to get my head around trying it out on some historical mini's but the only decent videos I can find are on Sci Fi/Fantasy where the details are much more pronounced on the models.

[Blackwolf]

Hello Darrell,

Basically everything Richard has written is spot on. I’ll add that there is plenty of new mediums et cetera;  quick dry,matte and so forth. Ammo from Mig do oil brushes (sort of like makeup sticks) very handy and dry superbly.
Oils are brilliant,and another great tool in the box
Cheero
Guy

[Atheling]

Hello Darrell,

Basically everything Richard has written is spot on. I’ll add that there is plenty of new mediums et cetera;  quick dry,matte and so forth. Ammo from Mig do oil brushes (sort of like makeup sticks) very handy and dry superbly.
Oils are brilliant,and another great tool in the box
Cheero
Guy

Thanks Guy. Seems like I'm going to have to make the leap. I have some Crimean War Brits that might make a decent start and give me some idea if I can keep a degree of vibrancy but also have a more lived in look- atypical of how I paint normally.

[Blackwolf]

Have a look at Putty and Paint, a lot of sci-fi and so on,but also lots of historical. I check it everyday day for new work, and if it’s inspiring enough save it to my IPad, a great resource to see what others are up to. Mike Blank is one who stands out (though he only uses acrylic these days).

[Atheling]

Have a look at Putty and Paint

Ha! I'd never heard of it until you mentioned it just now- a lot to digest and more than meets the eye methinks.

a lot of sci-fi and so on,but also lots of historical. I check it everyday day for new work, and if it’s inspiring enough save it to my IPad, a great resource to see what others are up to. Mike Blank is one who stands out (though he only uses acrylic these days).

Thanks mate. It's going to be interesting to see how larger scales translate to 28mm (I hope!) 

[Dags]

One thing to remember,  and apologies in advance if I'm stating the bleeding obvious,  is that oil washes take a looooooooooong time to dry. So, although they can be, with a bit of practice,  very effective, they ain't really a time saver.

[Atheling]

One thing to remember,  and apologies in advance if I'm stating the bleeding obvious,  is that oil washes take a looooooooooong time to dry. So, although they can be, with a bit of practice,  very effective, they ain't really a time saver.

Thanks Dags, that's certainly an issue for me.

[Blackwolf]

Enamels aren’t so bad,24 hours usually, and the slow drying time is very useful;  applying your wash, letting it touch try then with a brush or cotton but lightly dipped in thinners you can remove the excess. You can also blend this in with other colours , very subtle . Lovely 😊

[Atheling]

Enamels aren’t so bad,24 hours usually, and the slow drying time is very useful;  applying your wash, letting it touch try then with a brush or cotton but lightly dipped in thinners you can remove the excess. You can also blend this in with other colours , very subtle . Lovely 😊

That's what all the Grimdark/Sci Fi/Fantasy oil wash techniques seem to reveal- it's translating those techniques onto an almost certainly smaller model with less pronounced details (as in historical miniatures) which I feel is going to be the challenge.

Going to do some research into the most used washes and paints etc tonight.

[Hobgoblin]

These aren't historicals (obviously!), but they are small (15mm) with shallow details, and I was quite pleased with how they came out using oil washes: just thin acrylic base colours over a white undercoat and then sloshed with a wash made from cheap Winsor and Newton oil paint (the £3-a-pop student range - whatever that's called). Excess wash was wiped off with cotton buds and white spirit:



I suspect you'll be going for much more high-end effects than grimy speed-painting, but oils do seem to work well with smaller and less detailed figures. I think they'd be particularly good for historicals; they seem to produce a kind of 'instant Breughel' effect.

[hubbabubba]

Do you need to seal the acryilcs with a matt/gloss varnish or someting like klear floor wax?

I've always understood that it was necessary to stop the white spirit/turps attacking the acryliics, although when I've done it myself, I often run into the problem of the spirits making the underlying varnish go permenently tacky.

[Blackwolf]

No that is not necessary. Painting a gloss coat allows the oils to run better, mattte provides more tooth. However if you do subsequent oil/ enamel  washes it is necessary (acrylic) because the white spirit will attack paint.
A good primer is important.

[2010sunburst]

If you use a less aggressive solvent such as Windsor and Newton Sansodor to make the wash you won’t risk stripping the underlying acrylics.  It is also much less pungent than enamel thinners or white spirit.  Helps the oils dry matt as well.