How to do paint wash?

I am trying to paint wash a figure but I get miserable result. I have painted the figure and want to add detail with a black wash. The technique I used was trying to brush away the black with a tissue but I keep rubing my first coating away.

So what do you do guys?

Inks.

Okay, but how do you use it? do you clear the previous coat of paint before washing it or you use it right away? And how do you apply the paint wash??

Thanks!

You gotta let the 1st coat of paint dry. blot...don't rub or wipe I like a paper towel rather than a tissue. Make sure your paint is watery enough. If you go with inks like ZG suggests...you really only paint them into the places they should be...

a lot of weathering techniques are done by feel...there's no better teacher than trial and error.

[joemichaels70]

quite a bit of the time i will seal the first coat before weathering

I never use cloth or dry brushes to wipe away the paint I'm "washing" with.

One of the few things I'll routinely wash is hair, especially if it's factory color is bright yellow. Here's how I go about it:

1. Paint the entire area that will have "wash" on it when finished, with a dark or light color as needed. For the Hollow Point figure, I painted all of yellow over with brown.

2. Before the paint dries, take a slightly wet (but otherwise empty) brush and start going over the freshly painted area. Keep doing this.

3. The water from the brush will collect in the low points/crevasses on the surface of the plastic. It will pull the fresh paint off of the higher surfaces and down into the cracks.

The Hollow Point image isn't great, but you can get an idea for the finished look.

Another technique, usually for washing an entire figure:

1. Make a container of water "dirty" with black paint added to it.

2. Lower figure into the container.

3. Remove figure and allow to air-dry.

I did an artic S.E. once and found that the water based acrylics give a nice wash effect.