ImpendingDuff is here to up our painting skill with a quick tutorial on how to paint miniatures with oil washes- check it out!
ImpendingDuff may be somewhat new here, but he’s actually been doing this for a while now. He’s got great painting tutorials and is definitely worth checking out.
This week he has a solid tutorial for anyone looking to use oil washes to spruce up their minis and terrain. You can buy oil washes, but he’s actually going to show how to make your own this time. This is part of his new quick tips series, which focuses on one or two small things each time to up your painting game. Check it out!
How to Paint With Oil Washes: ImpendingDuff Tutorial
We’ll be experimenting on a piece of older terrain today. Just to note, he has done a gloss coat on this before we apply any of the washes.
How to Make Your Own Wash
To start, he just takes an old plastic container or cup, nothing fancy! He actually uses an old marinara cup from the pizza place. Then he breaks out some mineral spirits and three different oil colors. He wouldn’t go for anything expensive here, just something that is decent and cheap. Like the ones above. He’s going to make a wash with a mixture of all three of the oils above.
He will be leaning towards the burnt umber on this one, about 2:1 brown to black and just a tiny tinge of the blue.
First, just put in a very small amount of the spirits. He mixes about 4mm of the brown and less black, but it’s up to you how much you want because the perfect ratio doesn’t really matter. At first, he didn’t like the color, so he just throws in some more black, again, it’s not an exact science, it’s more just what you want!
Then, just mix it around with a cheap brush until it’s the color and consistency you want. With no chunks of paint or anything like that.
Applying the Wash
It’s not very technical because you just sort of slap it on and let the wash do the work for you. If you’re doing a big piece like this, you can just pull and dab it on wherever you want. This is just the first step, so just be sure to get good coverage and we’ll come back and fix it later.
Let it dry completely, about an hour, but before you let it dry, go back with the brush and soak up any of the pools that you don’t want. It won’t be fully dry, but that’s what we want. The simple method is just to take a paper towel and wipe it down on all the raised surfaces. This will take off some of the grime look and really make it look nice.
If you have some trouble areas that are harder, you can dip a Q-Tipin your spirits and get in a little harder. This also works great in hard-to-reach areas. Just keep going until it has the look you want.
Finished Piece
It’s really that simple! You get a great look in the crevices and get a natural-looking weathered look.
If you liked this feature, be sure to check out his channel for more great tutorials!
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
