3/08/2011

Magic Wash

I've been using wood stain to dip my miniatures for a time, but I haven't tried the Magic Wash with the Johnson floor wax so far, basically because that product does not exist in Spain. Now I have to paint around 80 Valiant German infantry to play DH&CF7B mainly, and the brown dip does not look OK on the German uniform IMO, so I decided to look for a floor wax to try to make a Magic Wash with black ink.

Llevo usando el dipping con barniz tintado desde hace un tiempo pero nunca he intentado el famoso Magic Wash, básicamente porque en España no se vende la cera acrílica para suelos de la marca Johnson. Ahora que tengo que pintar dos cajas de alemanes de Valiant para usarlos principalmente con Disposable Heroes, y que el dipping marrón no me gusta como queda con el uniforme alemán, me he decidido a buscar una cera que sirva para hacer un Magic Wash con tinta negra.

After looking in all the main shops in my town, I entered in Mercadona and there I found colourless brilliant floor wax by Bosque Verde. Next to that product there was Johnson soap for wooden floor, and the shape of the bottle was identical to the other one. Then I read the small print at the back of the bottles and noticed they both were made in the same factory in Valencia. Then I thought that maybe the Bosque Verde floor wax was a white brand of Johnson floor wax for Mercadona, that they were the same wax; so I bought one bottle for just two euros and run to try it at home.

Después de patearme todos los grandes comercios, acabé en el Mercadona de al lado de mi casa, y allí ví la CERA Autobrillante Incolora para suelos de Bosque Verde. Al lado estaba un jabón para parquet de la marca Johnson y la botella era exactamente igual a la de cera, así que leí la letra pequeña y descubrí que ambas se hacían en la misma fábrica en Valencia. Entonces pensé que quizás la cera Bosque Verde era una marca blanca de Johnson para Mercadona y me compré una botella por dos euros y volví a casa corriendo a probarla.

Once at home, I hastily block painted two Valiant German riflemen and then applied on them a mixture of Bosque Verde floor wax with a few drops of the old GW's black ink, and here you can see the results.

Una vez en casa pinté rápidamente dos alemanes de Valiant con color base y luego les apliqué una mezcla de cera con unas gotas de tinta, y aquí pueden ver los resultados.



I do not know if this wax is the same that Johnson's but I do not care as I am quite happy with the result and I am going to use it to paint all my Germans in one go! Now I must find the exact mixture of ink and wash, and maybe use lighter colours, especially for the uniform and the helmet.

Yo no sé si esta cera es o no la de Johnson pero la verdad es que me da igual porque me gusta como han quedados las miniaturas, y así es como voy a pintar el resto de una patada. Sólo tengo que encontrar la mezla correcta de tinta, y quizás usar colores más claros para el uniforme y el casco.

10 comments:

  1. Those came out great! Good find!

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  2. Pues no queda nada mal, sólo tres preguntas:
    ¿Cómo deja el pincel después usarlo?
    ¿Cuánto tarda en secar?
    ¿Cómo combinas ambos productos?

    Felicidades por tu nuevo invnsto

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  3. El pincel queda igual que cuando usas pintura, la cera es acrílica.
    He leído que hay que dejarlo secar 24 horas y así lo hice, aunque yo lo ví seco en media hora.
    Pones un poquito de cera en un bote y le añades unas gotitas de tinta o pintura al gusto.

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  4. They've come out really well.

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  5. They did come out great. The stain looks like it went into the recesses and stayed clear of the high areas. Thanks, Dean

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  6. Great article. Here is a great how to use magic wash by Allen Curtis.

    http://ancientbattles.com/Aecurtis/ptolemaic_project/Progress_04.htm

    Hope you find it helpful.

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  7. Didn't know that link, thanks for that LLC :)

    My idea of using dipping is making things simpler and faster. That is, priming, basecoating, dipping and varnish and that's all! :)

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  8. Thumbs up!!!! 2 euros for a whole bottle!! Your pictures are a bit dark but I can see that it works.
    Greetings
    paul

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  9. To be exact 2.05 euros :)
    Pics are a bit dark cause I didn't use flash. Once I based them I'll put another pic with more light.
    Cheers,

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  10. Thanks for the tip, Im going to pop down to my local Mercadonna right now. ... Damn it's Bank holiday monday (Dia de Roja).

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