UMS "Agram" : Quest for my new favourite washes < Articles < Hobby

Quest for my new favourite washes

Ana Polanšćak, 22nd January 2025

Note from the editor: This is an article published on Ana’s blog that she kindly agreed to share on our club web pages. If you like the article, go for more on her site Gardens of Hecate!

Sometime in November I had reached the end of my stock of old formula Agrax Earthshade and Nuln Oil, and cracked open the new ones (I say new, but they’re a few years old by now). I was disappointed with the currently standing product… I’ve been steadily using Citadel washes since they were first introduced. Originally it was Badab Black and Devlan Mud, and they were fantastic (yes, there were inks before that - but I never used those). At some point they got replaced by Nuln Oil and Agrax Earthshade, respectively. Frankly I don’t recall how big of a change that was; it was a fairly long time ago. However, I know that I’ve gradually phased out most Citadel paints from my arsenal in favour of other brands (predominantly Scale 75, but there are several others represented) - while still continuing to use and recommend Citadel’s black and brown wash. However, now they’ve changed too far for the worse that I decided it’s time to look elsewhere.

I asked my Instagram audience for viable alternatives on the market and I got 60+ responses with suggestions. Based on that I purchased a variety of options for brown and black washes and inks to test. Additionally, a significant number of commenters expressed they were in the same predicament, so I promised to share my findings in a blog post. This is it.

Since making the purchases I’ve made swatches, tests in controlled conditions, and tried them out in real situations on whatever painting projects I was working on at the time.

Disclaimer: I am not sponsored by or affiliated with the manufacturers of any of these products. They were purchased with funds contributed by my Patreon supporters (thank you!). I’m honestly looking for a better alternative for myself and taking you along for the ride.

I’d also like to thank @noe.hammer and @hinter_light for sending me bottles of unused old Agrax Earthshade they had lying around.

What am I even looking for in a wash?

I use brown and black washes frequently. It’s normally for shading things such as leather, armour, fabrics, wood, human skin, and more.

My ideal wash would be well pigmented acrylic, usable out of the pot but dilutable with water if I want a less stark shade, reliably matte when dry, and not brazenly overpriced.

INTENSITY and HUE

Of the above, the current Citadel washes only fulfill the first thing on my list. They do still provide a good shade to those recesses and details on the sculpt. I also like the colour of the brown. Not too intense to be used as is, but often I want to dilute them slightly. I expected some brands of washes would be less intense, and if I wanted something stronger there are inks.

Inks definitely need to be combined with a medium for two reasons: they’re glossy and they’re too highly pigmented to be used straight out of the pot. I have the following three inks: AK Wood Brown, Vallejo Sepia, and Scale75 Inktense Wood. They all behaved as predicted, working nicely with Lahmian Medium. A little ink goes a long way and the medium successfully mattes out the ink’s original gloss. Each has its own hue, my favourite of the three being Vallejo’s.

Army Painter Warpaints Soft Tone, Strong Tone, and Dark Tone are overall the most similar to Citadel’s washes, including the intensity. ProAcryl and Two Thin Coats are the least intense, but ultimately they’re all acceptable.

Each brown wash has a slightly different hue, as you can see on the tombstone swatches basecoated white. They all work fine and the difference was less apparent when I applied on a brown basecoat.

ACRYLIC

Some of my Instagram friends recommended oils to me. I do occasionally use oil and enamel washes when I paint scenery. They’re effective and cool to play with. However, they don’t get along with other paints I use - meaning varnishing in between and thinking several steps ahead. They also have annoyingly long drying times. This is ok for terrain, but simply doesn’t work for the way I paint miniatures and I don’t want to drastically change my process right now. I like how it is. Same reason my airbrush sits in the drawer seldom used. Their time may come, it’s just not today.

That’s why there are no oils or enamels in this story.

BEHAVIOUR WITH WATER

Mixing a wash with water can leave a cloudy/chalky residue in the recesses (see image below for examples). Of the washes I've tried, most experienced the chalky residue when mixed with water at some point. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t. I hear hard water makes this worse. In any case, it’s safer to use an acrylic medium rather than water. With older Citadel Washes I usually used water and it would occasionally result in a nasty surprise. With the new formula the clouding happened most times I did it.

I can absolutely live with using medium instead of water to make sure the results are consistent. This is the part of my ideal wash I’m ready to forfeit easiest. Any matte medium will be more expensive than water, but there are way more affordable options than Citadel’s Lahmian Medium I currently use. It’s something to look into next.

MATTE FINISH

New Agrax and Nuln Oil straight out of the pot are glossy and this annoys me to no end. Mixing in Lahmian Medium, which normally does have a matting effect, is a must even if I don’t want to dilute my wash. But often that doesn’t help either. There were times new Agrax Earthshade refused to stop being glossy in the recesses even when I painted matte varnish over it.

Mind you, the shine in the recesses may also happen to other brands if one applies too much undiluted wash, or if not shaken properly before use.

A few people recommended a product called Instar Matte+. It’s a concentrated additive that’s meant to be mixed into paints to turn them matte. I got advice to put several drops directly into my bottle of my Agrax or Nuln. I did just that, and it actually killed the shine. That’s great news, since it means I can save those several bottles of new Citadel washes I stockpiled before I realised they were no good.

When playing around with Matte+ I tried mixing it with inks to see what happens. It does make them matte, but they get a similar residue problem washes get with water. In this case, though, the result looks like a decent rust effect. I’m not sure if it’s worth exploring further, but below is what it looks like.

PRICE

Price is not something I thought about too much before I started crunching these numbers. It was interesting and eye-opening.

Shipping is not included in the prices. Local tax of 25% is included. Keep in mind the price of each product can vary slightly from vendor to vendor. I had to order from multiple webshops depending on availability and stock. They come in different size vials so in order to compare properly I calculated their price per mL (given in brackets).

The most affordable was AK Deep Shade Grime at 4,89€ for a 30mL bottle (0,16€/mL). It’s closely followed by Vallejo washes at 3,10 € for 18 mL (0,17€/mL) and then The Army Painter tone trio at 3,49€ for 18mL (0,19€/mL).

Next tier are Pro Acryl 22mL for 5,99€ (0,27€/mL) and Duncan’s TTC washes at 4,41€ for 15mL (0.29€/mL).

And finally we have Citadel’s 18mL for 6.63€ (0,37€/mL), which makes it double the price of the stuff in the first group. Ugh.

I won’t compare the inks along with the washes because they must to be used with a hefty quantity of medium. A pot of ink will last you drastically longer than a pot of wash, but you need to purchase medium alongside it, complicating the calculation. I didn’t go into it this time. Here are the prices of the inks, though: AK Wood Brown INK was 4,68 € for 30mL (0,16€/mL), Vallejo Sepia Ink 18 ml was 3,10€ (0,17/mL), and S75 Inktense Wood 17mL for 4,04€ (0,24€/mL).

Instar Matte + additive was 2,03€ for their container of 10mL (0,20/mL). It gets cheaper if you buy a larger bottle, but you’re meant to be using it in very small doses anyway.

CONTAINER

This is not a deciding factor for me, but there are differences I can touch on briefly.

To get Citadel out of the way first: pot with a lid. Knocked it over and spilled so many times over the years. One may call that a skill issue. I don’t know. Dipping a brush in the pot rather than squirting it on the palette somehow makes more sense for washes to me, so that’s a point for it. When it comes to Citadel’s other paints I strongly dislike the pots, mostly because their design really helps the paint dry up faster. I’m not sure myself how I feel about it on the washes, though.

AK Pure Grime comes in a bottle with a screw-on cap. I haven’t used it enough to witness how easily it’s knocked over, but since it doesn’t have a lid sticking up my guess is it’s safer from spillage than Citadel.

Army Painter comes in a standard dropper bottle, same as Scale 75 uses. Vallejo used to have something just like it, but these washes and ink come in dropper bottles made of way thinner material. I accidentally squeezed them too hard lots of times, so not a fan. The reason behind it is ecological perhaps?

Two Thin Coats - bottle is fine but something is funky with the cap. The wash always heavily leaks inside it. Perhaps it must be screwed on 100% tight to stop doing that? Not happy about the mess. Again, you may say it’s a skill issue, but I haven’t had that problem with any other brand’s dropper bottle.

PorAcryl’s bottle has a special cap I hadn’t encountered before. It slightly twists off to allow drops to get out of the bottle. I’m pretty sure this is well resistant to clogging (which is an annoyance with dropper bottles) and doesn’t allow any air to get in. But it’s sort of messy to close it since there is always some paint stuck near the tip that has to be wiped off.

Finally, the AK Ink comes in a glass bottle with a dropper cap, and the Matte+ comes in a tiny dropper bottle with a safety cap. Works fine.

CONCLUSIONS

After this I’m definitely saying goodbye to Citadel’s washes. I’ll rescue the pots I already have with Instar Matte+ and never buy another again. The price is severly inflated when compared to any other brand, while the quality is poorer in most aspects and it requires me to spend even more money on third party products to make it work.

TwoThinCoats washes were a very common suggestion. It’s among the pricier options, but doesn’t stand out enought to compensate for that. It’s fine, but won’t be my new brand of choice.

Army Painter washes are a really popular option. They’re on the more affordable end and my LGS stocks them, making them extra accessible. They are also among the least matte ones, but matte medium consistently fixes that. Fine, but not a favourite.

Vallejo washes are high on my tier list. They’re nicely matte out of the pot and I rather like the hue of their Umber wash. The price is also among the best.

ProAcryl is also a good one. Nice flow, matte finish. The hue and price place it beneath Vallejo for me, though.

AK Deep Shades Pure Grime is quite a bit more viscous than the others. It stays where you put it, which usually means it will harder stain the areas you don’t want shaded. It was the least costly. The hue is nice, but the intensity feels lighter. Overall for me it’s mid.

The inks - AK, Vallejo, and S75 all three act the same in my limited experience. When it comes to hue I’m partial to Vallejo’s Umber. I’m actually interested in using them further in combination with matte medium. They are better value for money than an out of the pot wash.

Along similar lines, I tried to mix my own wash by combining Scalecolor Artist Burnt Umber with Lahmian Medium. It was prety good, and once again much cheaper than any out-of-the-pot wash.

If I had to choose which wash was my favourite I’d say Vallejo. But I think my future may be finding a decent but not overpriced matte medium and mixing my own washes. I already have to use a medium if I want to dilute a wash, so I migh as well get my pigment from an ink or a quality acrylic paint in the first place.

I’ll continue to use a selection of these washes further until they run out. If I change my mind about something I may revisit this topic in the future.

Everything in this article is my own opinion based on my experience trying the products.

Što uopće tražim u washevima?

Često koristim smeđu i crnu boju. Obično je za sjenčanje stvari kao što su koža, oklopi, tkanine, drvo, ljudska koža i drugo.

Moj idealan tuš bio bi dobro pigmentirani akril, koji bi se mogao koristiti i iz bočice, ali bi se mogao razrijediti vodom ako želim manje jaku nijansu, pouzdano mat kada se osuši, a ne drsko precijenjen.

INTENZITET i HUE

Od navedenog, trenutni washevi od Citadel ispunjavaju samo prvu uvjet na mom popisu. Još uvijek daju dobru sjenu u udubljenjima i detaljima na skulpturi. Sviđa mi se i smeđa boja. Nisu previše intenzivni da bi se koristili takvi kakvi jesu, ali često ih želim malo razrijediti. Očekivala sam da će neke marke washeva biti manje intenzivna, a ako sam htjela nešto jače tu su tinte.

Tinte svakako treba kombinirati s medijem iz dva razloga: sjajne su i previše su pigmentirane da bi se mogle koristiti izravno iz posude. Imam sljedeće tri tinte: AK Wood Brown, Vallejo Sepia i Scale75 Inktense Wood. Svi su se ponašali prema predviđanjima, dobro surađujući s Lahmian Mediumom. Malo tinte ide daleko i medij uspješno matira izvorni sjaj tinte. Svaka ima svoju nijansu, a meni je od te tri najdraža Vallejova.

Army Painter Warpaints Soft Tone, Strong Tone i Dark Tone općenito su najsličniji Citadel washevima, uključujući intenzitet. ProAcryl i Two Thin Coats su najmanje intenzivni, ali u konačnici svi su prihvatljivi.

Svaka smeđa boja ima nešto drugačiju nijansu, kao što možete vidjeti na uzorcima nadgrobnih spomenika s osnovnim bijelim premazom. Svi rade dobro i razlika je bila manje vidljiva kada sam nanijela smeđi bazni lak.

Što uopće tražim u washevima?

Često koristim smeđu i crnu boju. Obično je za sjenčanje stvari kao što su koža, oklopi, tkanine, drvo, ljudska koža i drugo.

INTENZITET i HUE

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Turnip28 demos at Black Queen H&MPC 2025

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Our most important weekend of the year, the BQ competition, was packed with content and everyone could find something for themselves - with all the lectures and workshops, I was very happy that there was a chance to play and learn new games!

Thanks to our dear friends from Slovenia, Vane and Luka from Amulet d20, we had the opportunity to learn and try out a game that has recently experienced global success, and is the dream come true for many painters and kitbashers in the hobby: Turnip28!

The game itself is simple enough for beginners: two armies (regiments) clash on the table, led by 3 nobles - one Snob, who is the most important part of the army, and 2 Toffs, who are slightly weaker. Each noble brings units with him - the Snob brings two, while each Toff brings one unit to the table. In total, each army consists of 3 nobles and 4 units.

What a table looks like with the guys gathered around it

Like most tabletop strategy games, the game is played in rounds, and during them the players change the order of activations. The player who is first in line activates one of his units or nobles, makes a move, and then the other player takes over the order, until all the units on the game board are activated. Nobles are important because they are activated first, and they issue orders to their units: attack, march, shoot. If you don't have a noble, if he is killed or missing, then your units are activated only after all the nobles have been played, which can put you in an awkward position.

What my demo game looked like

For my first turnip game, I had the honor and fortune of playing with our own Anna from Gardens of Hecate - we both wanted to try the game and now we had the perfect opportunity to learn the basics of the rules with the mentorship of the Amulet guys.

We got our regiments, which were pretty similar - we had a Snob, 2 Toffs, a large infantry unit with rifles, a smaller infantry unit with melee weapons, and a scout unit with rifles. The biggest difference was that my last unit was a cannon, while Anna's was a large hand-to-hand monster known as a Lump. I think her pink Furby Lump with glowing eyes was probably the most memorable figure on the table (kudos to the guys from Amulet on the miniatures).

p>The party itself started with Ana's initiative, and from the beginning started to win strategic points on the table. My response to her conquest of the field was to resolutely fire everything I had into her ranks. As I watched her troops slowly but surely fall under my fire, I got lucky and my scouts managed to get one of her Toffs in front of the firing squad - which gave me a pretty big advantage at the start.

Her troops continued to advance towards my side of the table, including a rogue who came uncomfortably close to me - and I tried in vain to attack him with my infantry, who were just out of powder. After failing to even scratch him, they fled, leaving room for the artillery to finish their job - and that unit definitely deserved a promotion in this game!

We finished the game quickly, because we had other workshops starting, but we are both excited to play a few more games, and with some other Agram members we are thinking about putting together our regiments - the number of miniatures needed is not large, and the creative possibilities are quite large!

Btw, the guys from Amulet gave us a lecture about their association and the activities they are planning - this year they have prepared H.R.E.N. 28, a turnip28 tournament, so be sure to check out their activities and projects - they are close by and you can visit them if you find something interesting!

Just some of the miniatures that the Amulet team prepared for the demo game - sugar at the end: Furby Lump!

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Naš najvažniji vikend godine, natjecanje Black Queen H&MPC 2025, bilo je krcato sadržajem i svatko je mogao pronaći nešto za sebe - uz sva predavanja i radionice, jako me razveselilo da je bilo prilike igrati i naučiti nove igre!

Zahvaljujući našim dragim prijateljima iz Slovenije, Vane i Luka iz Amulet d20, imali smo priliku naučiti i isprobati igru koja je nedavno doživjela globalni uspjeh, a predstavlja ostvarenje sna brojnih paintera i kitbashera u hobby: Turnip28!

Sama igra je dovoljno jednostavna za početnike: na stolu se sukobljavaju dvije vojske (regimente), koju predvode 3 plemića - jedan Snob, koji je najbitniji dio vojske, i 2 Toffa, koji su nešto slabiji. Svaki plemić sa sobom donosi jedinice - Snob donosi dvije, dok svaki Toff donosi po jednu jedinicu na stol. Ukupno se svaka vojska sastoji od 3 plemića i 4 jedinice.

Kako izgleda postavljeni stol s ekipom okupljenom oko njega

Poput većine stolno strateških igara, igra se na runde, te igrači tokom njih izmjenju redoslijed aktivacija. Igrač koji je prvi na redu aktivira jednu svoju jedinicu ili plemića, povuče potez, i onda drugi igrač prezume redoslijed, dok se ne aktiviraju sve jedinice na igraćoj ploči. Plemići su bitni jer se oni aktiviraju prvi, te oni izdaju naredbe svojim jedinicama: napadni, marširaj, pucaj. Ukoliko nemate plemića, ako je poginuo ili nestao, onda se vaše jedinice aktiviraju tek nakon što su odigrani svi plemići, što vas može postaviti u nezgodnu situaciju.

Kako je moja demo partija izgledala

Za svoju prvi partiju turnipa, imao sam čast i sreću igrati s našom Anom iz Gardens of Hecate - oboje smo htjeli probati igru te smo sada dobili savršenu priliku da usvojimo osnove pravila uz mentorstvo Amuletovaca.

Dobili smo svoje regimente, koje su bile poprilično slične - imali smo Snoba, 2 Toffa, veliku jedinicu pješaka s puškama, manju jedinicu pješaka s oružjem za blisku borbu, te jedinicu izviđača s puškama. Najveća razlika je bila u tome što je moja zadnja jedinica bila top, dok je Anina bila veliko čudovište za borbu prsa o prsa, poznatija kao Lump. Mislim da je njen roza furby Lump sa svijetlećim očima bila vjerojatno najupečatljivija figura na stolu (svaka čast dečkima iz Amuleta na minijaturi).

Sama partija je krenula s Aninom inicijativom, i od početka je krenula osvajati strateške točke na stolu, Moj odgovor na njeno osvajanje terena je bilo odlučno ispaljivanje svega što imam u njene redove. Dok sam gledao kako njene trupe polako ali sigurno padaju pod mojih pucanjem, posrećilo mi se pa su moji izviđači uspjeli dovesti jednog od njenih Toffova pred streljački vod - što mi je u startu dalo dosta veliku prednost.

Njene trupe su dalje napredovale prema mojoj strani stola, uključujući lumpa koji mi je došao neugodno blizu - te sam ga uzaludno pokušao napasti sa svojim pješacima koji su taman ostali bez baruta. Nakon što ga nisu uspjeli ni ogrebati, pobjegli su i ostavili prostora da artiljerija dovrši njihov posao - a ta jedinica je definitivno zaslužila promaknuće u ovoj partiji!

Ubrzo smo završili igru, jer su nam krenula druge radionice, no oboje smo uzbuđeni odigrati još koju partiju, te uz još neke članove Agrama razmišljamo o slaganju svojih regimenti - broj potrebnih minijatura nije velik, a kreativne mogućnosti su poprilično velike!

Btw, dečki iz Amuleta su nam držali predavanje o svojoj udruzi i aktivnostima koje planiraju - ove godine su pripremili H.R.E.N. 28, turnip28 turnir, te svakako bacite oko na njihove aktivnosti i projekte - blizu su i možete ih posjetiti ako nađete nešto zanimljivo!

Samo neke od minijatura koje su Amuletovci pripremili za demo partije - šećer na kraju: Furby Lump!

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Domagoj Krpan, 3th March 2025

AGRAM LEGO SECTION - Leonardo da Vinci's Flying Machine

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	U srijedu 26.2. u sklopu naše Izložbe minijatura i maketa Agram 2025, naša Agram Lego Sekcija je odradila svoj drugi projekt. Nakon Hogwartsa u 2024., prvi projekt u 2025. bio je Leonardov leteći stroj. 

	

	Kao što je već tradicija kod naše Lego Sekcije, prije izgradnje modela, valjalo se malo educirati o temi. Ovoga puta naš Mario Grgurev održao je predavanje o Leonardu da Vinciju kao izumitelju sa posebnim osvrtom na leteće strojeve.

	

	Ulaz na predavanje bio je besplatan, a prijave nisu bile potrebne!

	

	

	

	Izrada makete je rezervirana za članove Agram Lego Sekcije. 

	

	

	Ukoliko se želite uključiti u sljedeće projekte, javite se za više informacija na ums.agram@gmail.com .

	

	Sljedeći projekt bit će u travnju, a tema će biti Orient Express. Očekuju vas predavanja o parnim strojevima, parnim lokomotivama te o povijesti Orient Expressa, kao i o Orient Expressu u pop kulturi.

	

	Vidimo se!"
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Mario Grgurev, 27th February 2025

Star Wars Legion - Separatists Basing Article

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For the last year I’ve been trying to get my Star Wars Legion Separatists army ready for the table, so I can play a few games. One of the reasons I chose this faction (other than the fact that SW droids are great), is because droids paint, up quickly. I don’t need my army for this game to look display ready, I just want to get them ready fast, match their look from the films and be happy when I see them from a distance. To achieve this I’ve been fine-tuning their basing scheme throughout the year, and I’ve found a recipe that to me looks good enough, is relatively quick, and very easy to do (no brush control needed here). As I’m finishing my last unit for the game, I thought to share it. The scheme was originally supposed to look like Geonosis, but with time I’ve made it my own. But still this is fitting as the last unit I’m painting is the Star Wars Legion Geonosian Warriors (I love these sculpts - fiddly, but fantastic!)

I start out with a small ball of milliput that I place down in some random areas with my fingers. This is to create elevation. For me a flat base is always more boring than an uneven, elevated base.

I then use a sculpting tool (whichever I have on hand, doesn’t really matter as I’m not sculpting anything) with some water to smooth out the milliput, and make a few elevated areas.

I push a few small rocks down into the milliput before it cures. No need for glue here, that comes later. Also I’ve come to learn that uncured milliput and superglue is a very bad combo.

I crumple up a small piece of tin foil and poke it at the uncured milliput to create some texture.

Now the rocks will get fixed in place as I put a small amount of superglue all over the cured milliput, and the rest of the base as well. Then I use a teaspoon to sprinkle some baking powder all over the superglue. A minute later I wash the whole model under the sink, to get rid of excess baking powder.

I use a crackle paint from Citadel (Agrellan Earth) and cover the flatter area of the base with a good chunk of it.

When the crackle paint is dry I prime the model.

I paint the base using a combination of reddish and brownish, earthly tones. I just slap them all over the base haphazardly and without thinking, as later they will be brought together with a shade and some drybrushing. Paints I used here were Mephiston Red, Mournfang Brown and XV-88 from Citadel, as well as Burnt Sienna from Golden SoFlat.

Shade with Agrax Earthshade.

Lightly drybrush with a beige/grey/whitish color. I use Tyrant Skull and Wrack White as these are actual Dry paints from Citadel, and I still have them lying around.

I finish off the base with a few grass tufts. The drier they look the better. I also put a bit of Seraphim Sepia wash into the middle of the tufts to bring their color tone down a notch. And of course finish with a black base rim.

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Posljednjih godinu dana pokušavao sam pripremiti svoju vojsku Separatista iz Star Wars Legion, tako da mogu odigrati nekoliko partija. Jedan od razloga zašto sam odabrao ovu frakciju (osim činjenice da su SW droidi sjajni) je taj što droidi brzo bojaju. Ne treba mi vojska biti na visokom nivou obojana, samo ih želim brzo pripremiti, da odgovaraju izgledu iz filmova i biti sretan kad ih vidim iz daljine. Kako bih to postigao, fino sam prilagođavao njihovu shemu baziranja tijekom cijele godine i pronašao sam recept koji mi se čini dovoljno dobrim, relativno je brz i vrlo jednostavan za izvođenje (ovdje nije potrebna kontrola kista). Dok završavam svoju posljednju jedinicu za igru, mislio sam je podijeliti s vama. Shema je izvorno trebala izgledati kao Geonosis, ali s vremenom sam je napravio svojom. Ali ovo je ipak prikladno jer je posljednja jedinica koju bojam Star Wars Legion Geonosian Warriors (obožavam ove skulpture - nezgodne, ali fantastične!)

Započinjem s malom kuglicom miliputa koju stavljam prstima u neka nasumična područja. Ovo je za stvaranje uzvisina. Za mene je ravna podloga uvijek dosadnija od neravne, uzdignute podloge.

Zatim upotrijebim alat za oblikovanje (koji god imam pri ruci, zapravo nije važno jer ništa ne oblikujem) s malo vode da izravnam miliput i napravim nekoliko povišenih područja.

Gurnem nekoliko malih kamenčića u miliput prije nego se stvrdne. Ovdje nema potrebe za ljepilom, to dolazi kasnije. Također sam naučio da je nestvrdnuti milliput i superljepilo vrlo loša kombinacija.

Zgužvam mali komadić limene folije i ubodem ga u nestvrdnuti miliput kako bih stvorio malo teksture.

Sada će se kamenje učvrstiti na svoje mjesto jer stavljam malu količinu superljepila po cijelom stvrdnutom miliputu, kao i ostatku baze. Zatim čajnom žličicom posipam malo praška za pecivo po superljepilu. Minutu kasnije operem cijeli model u sudoperu, da se riješim viška praška za pecivo.

Koristim crackle boju od Citadela (Agrellan Earth) i pokrivam ravnije područje baze s debelim premazom.

Kad se crackle boja osuši, stavim primer na model.

Podlogu bojam kombinacijom crvenkastih i smećkastih, zemljanih tonova. Samo ih nasumično i bez razmišljanja udarim po cijeloj podlozi, jer će se kasnije spojiti s nijansom i malo suhog četkanja. Boje koje sam ovdje koristio bile su Mephiston Red, Mournfang Brown i XV-88 od Citadela, kao i Burnt Sienna od Golden SoFlata.

Zasjenim s Agrax Earthshade.

Lagano stavite sloj drybrusha bež/sive/bjelkaste boje. Koristim Tyrant Skull i Wrack White jer su to stvarne dry boje od Citadela i još uvijek ih imam uokolo.

Bazu dovršavam s nekoliko busenova trave. Što suše izgledaju to bolje. Također sam stavio malo Seraphim Sepia wash u sredinu busenova kako bih smanjio ton njihove boje. I naravno završiti s crnom bojom po rubu.

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Sebastian Søgård, 13th February 2025

We visited: Imp’s Shop in Ulm

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Last year I had the opportunity to visit Ulm, Germany again, and I wanted to take the opportunity to visit a hobby shop that is significantly different from most I have had the opportunity to visit in other places.

The store itself is located in the very center of the city, about 5 minutes walk from the Cathedral in the heart of the pedestrian zone. Passing through the old town, I strolled through a neighborhood where an incredible number of old houses and buildings have been preserved, and it looks like the architecture was straight out of GW's Old World. Arriving at the store, I was very surprised by the content on offer - like most hobby stores, they had a range of new goods, but they also had a range of second-hand products, some of them vintage by all standards. In glass cases stood painted, used figures for sale, some of them have been out of production for a long time. Shelves with old books and games that are real treasures for collectors, and some items are new, packaged, but again not something I would expect on the shelves of a typical hobby store.

New and Unexpected

Two full cabinets with shelves and boxes dedicated to DnD editions from the past

A large part of the store was dedicated to the local community, in my time During the visit, Magic was played, and the store is filled with players and hobbyists from different systems on different days.

The set was complete, I believe many people would benefit from having it in their collection

A large selection of miniatures of lesser-known games, including Schwartzes Auge RPG

After digging through the antiques in search of treasure, I filled my shopping bags and had very pleasant conversation with the owner. He was extremely kind throughout the visit, and helped me find things that I was interested in. My favorite part of the shopping was getting an Imp at Imp's Shop - if you're interested in seeing what it looks like when painted - visit our Black Queen Hobby and Miniature Painting Competition!

Imp from Imp's Shop!

And if your journey ever takes you to Ulm, be sure to visit this shop! If Ulm is not in your area, and you are interested in games and miniatures that are perhaps a little more mainstream or represented here, you can see Imp's offering on their website and web shop!

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Prošle godine imao sam priliku ponovno posjetiti Ulm u Njemačkoj, te sam htio iskoristiti priliku da posjetim jedan hobby dućan koji se bitno razlikuje od većine koju sam imao priliku posjetiti u drugim mjestima.

Sam dućan nalazi se u strogom centru grada, jedno 5 minuta pješice od Katedrale u srcu pješačke zone. Prolazeći starim gradom šetao sam se kvartom gdje je nevjerojatan broj starih kuća i zgrada očuvan, te izgleda kao arhitektura ravno preuzeta iz GW-ovog Old World-a. Dolaskom u dućan, bio sam jako iznenađen sadržajem koji se nudi - poput većine hobby dućana, imali su asortiman nove robe, no imali su i asortiman second hand proizvoda, neki od njih po svim mjerilima vintage. U staklenim vitrinama stajale su obojane, rabljene figure na prodaju, neke od njih već dugo vremena nisu u proizvodnji. Police sa starim knjigama i igrama koje kolekcijonarima predstavljaju pravo blago, a neki predmeti su novi, zapakirani, ali opet nisu nešto što bih očekivao na policama tipičnog hobby dućana.

Novo i Neočekivano

Dva puna ormara s policama i kutijama posvećeni edicijama DnD-a iz prošlih vremena

Veliki dio dućana je bio posvećen lokalnom community-u, u vrijeme moje posjete igrao se Magic, a u dućanu se tokom različitih dana nalaze igraći i hobisti iz različitih sustava.

Set je bio kompletan, vjerujem da bi mnogima dobro došlo u kolekciji

Veliki izbor miniatura manje poznatih igara, ukljućujući Schwartzes Auge RPG

Nakon što sam prekopao starine u potrazi za blagom, napunio sam vrećice za kupovinu i imao jako ugodan razgovor s vlasnikom. Tokom cijelog posjeta bio je izuzetno ljubazan, te mi je pomogao pronaći stvari koje bi me zanimale. Najdraži dio shopping mi je bila nabavka Imp-a u Imp’s Shopu - ukoliko vas zanima kako izgleda kad je obojan - posjetite našu Izložbu minijatura i maketa Agram 2025!

Imp iz Impove Trgovine!

A ukoliko vas put ikad odnese u Ulm, svakako posjetite ovaj dućan! Ukoliko vam Ulm nije usput, a zanimaju vas igre i minijature koje su možda malo main stream ili zastupljene kod nas, Impovu ponudu možete vidjeti i na njihovim web stranicama i web shopu!

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Domagoj Krpan, 4th February 2025

Preparation and painting with contrast/speedpaint paints – Cthulhu Wars

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In this article I describe my process of painting figurines with contrast and speedpaint paints. This is how I painted all the figurines I made for Cthulhu wars. I made them to be "tabletop ready", but I think that with these techniques, a higher quality figure can be achieved, with proper preparation and attention to the precision of details. An example from the pictures is an Acolyte model from the game.

The painting process was almost always the same, with slight variations in the primer and initial shading. The first step is of course the spray primer, which I started with white paint. This is where I did the most variation in the process because after a few tries, I ran out of white spray cans, then light gray, and ended up with a plain gray paint. I realized that the optimal color for this type of painting is light gray spray can – you want to emphasize the hollows of the figure, but not kill the shadow color (like you would with a black or dark gray primer). The light gray spray provides a good base for the shade colors that I apply in the second step, emphasizes the contrast with the white drybrush, and leaves me with the dark color that I apply in the later stages.

The next step, regardless of the tone of the primer I applied, was to apply the shade colors from GW. Which color it was, depended on the primary color I wanted to achieve. For example, for red, blue, and yellow, I prefer a purple, or at least an approximate purple shade. In the example of this model, I used Carroburg Crimson, which is a purple-red tone. Likewise, for green, I used Athonian Camoshade, but in retrospect I should have gone for a warm shade (like red), I like the difference in warmth between contrasting tones better. I colored the leather and books/papers with Seraphim Sepia, the easiest way to contrast the skin color later.

After the shade paint dried, I applied a white drybrush over the entire figure. This is the final step to prepare the figure for painting diluted colors such as contrast.

Let's start with contrasting colors. Given the simplicity of this model, I applied maybe two colors in total, but I did the same thing on more complicated figures. Red over the dress, paying attention to the separate parts I wanted more beige, skin color on skin, brown on the book and Skeleton horde for the beige parts (to get the dirty fabric effect). I used speedpaint medium on many of the dark contrasting colors to thin them out, but sometimes it didn't work very well. On large areas, such thinned paint leaves stains that need to be cleaned up.

The last step is to define the details of the model and potentially add highlights. In this case, I subtly touched up the red stain with a lighter red drybrush, painted the dagger with off-white, painted the belt, and added patterns to the open pages of the book. The model is now tabletop ready and the entire process takes about 20 minutes of painting. The only downside is that you have to wait for the various thinned layers to dry, but I usually plan on painting other models in that time.

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U ovom članku opisujem svoj proces bojanja figurica sa contrast i speedpaint bojama. Na ovaj način sam obojao sve figurice koje sam radio za Cthulhu wars. Ja sam ih radio da budu „tabletop ready“, no mislim da se ovim tehnikama može postići i veća kvaliteta figure, sa pravilnom pripremom i pažnjom na preciznost detalja. Primjer iz slika je jedan Acolyte model iz igre.

Postupak bojanja je skoro uvijek bio isti, sa blagim varijacijama u primeru i početnom sjenčanju. Prvi korak je naravno primer u spreju, koji sam počeo sa bijelom bojom. Tu sam radio najviše varijacija u procesu zbog toga što su mi se nakon par vojski ispraznili prvo bijeli sprej, pa onda svijetlo sivi i time sam završio na običnom sivoj boji. Shvatio sam da je optimalna boja za ovaj tip bojanja svijetlosivi sprej – želite da se naglase udubine figure, no ne i da se ubije boja sjene (kao što bi bilo sa crnim ili tamnosivim primerom). Svijetlosivi sprej daje dobru podlogu za shade boje koje stavljam u drugom koraku, naglašava kontrast sa bijelim drybrushem i ostaje mi tamna boja koju nanosim u kasnijim fazama.

Sljedeći korak, nevezano za ton primera koji sam nanio, je primjena shade boja od GW-a. Koja boja je bila, ovisilo je o primarnoj boji koju sam htio postići. Npr. Za crvenu, plavu, i žutu, preferiram ljubičasti, ili barem aproksimativno ljubičasti shade. U primjeru ovog modela koristio sam Carroburg Crimson, što je ljubičasto-crveni ton. Isto tako, za zelenu sam koristio Athonian Camoshade, no u retrospektivi sam trebao isto ići na topao ton sjene (poput crvenog), više mi paše raditi razliku u toplini između kontrastnih tonova. Kožu i knjige/papire sam bojao sam seraphim sepiom, najjednostavnije za odnos contrasta boje kože kasnije.

Nakon sušenja shade boje, nanio sam bijeli drybrush po cijeloj figuri. To je zadnji korak za pripremu figure za bojanje razrijeđenih boja poput contrasta.

Počinjemo sa contrast bojama. S obzirom na jednostavnost ovog modela, nanio sam možda dvije boje sveukupno, no istu stvar sam radio i na kompliciranijim figurama. Crvena preko halje, pazeći na odvojene dijelove koje sam htio više bež, boja kože na koži, smeđa na knjizi i Skeleton horde za bež dijelove (da bi se dobio efekt prljave tkanine). Koristio sam speedpaint medium za mnoge tamne contrast boje da bi ih razrijedio, no nekad nije najbolje upalilo. Na velikim površinama takva razrijeđena boja ostavi mrlje koje se trebaju sanirati.

Zadnji korak je definiranje detalja modela i potencijalno dodatno naglašavanje highlighta. U ovom slučaju suptilno sam popravljao mrljavu crvenu sa drybrushem svijetlije crvene, obojao bodež sa offwhite, obojao remen i dodao šare na otvorenim stranicama knjige. Model je time tabletop ready i sveukupni proces traje nekih 20ak minuta samog bojanja. Jedina mana je što čekate da se razni razrijeđeni slojevi osuše, no u tom vremenu najčešće planiram bojanje drugih modela.

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Mario Grgurev, 4th February 2025

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