Shade Paints

Good luck mate

absolutely

Valejo

Shades are fantastic and entirely worth the price. They last quite a while too because you don't use a huge amount of it.

Even with normal highlights, shades will still add to a good paint job.

Watch any Duncan tutorial. They show up in every single one at least twice, and the before and after is like night and day.

They're a good way to rapidly add shading and depth to the recesses on your models, which is great if you're a slow or less accomplished painter. There's nothing stopping you from giving a model a competition-winning paint job without using a single wash though, but it will require more brush control and layering.

I use P3 paints. They seem to work okay, and you get significantly more paint for about half the price.

it's not just that, they change the surface of the paint making it smoother and easier to apply highlights to and are a way of manipulating colours with a translucent medium. washes are used at the highest level of competition painting.

literally any other brand?
reaper, vallejo, army painter, p3. They're all cheaper and all good. Not that citadel is bad, it's just needlessly more expensive, much like everything else they sell.

Consistency of milk is what I water mine down to, costs nothing but a dab of paint from a pot you already have.

Reaper MSP
Vallejo

Use them and change your life if you paint your models with it though, you need to seal it after with a varnish to prevent chipping

Shades are designed to be a time and effort saver. they're a type of paint formulated to allow you to apply shadows on miniatures quickly and easily. You don't need to use them, but getting similar shadows via just layering normal paint like the old days is just a lot more work. And I suppose you could forego shading entirely and just paint your minis in a few flat colors, but why would you want them to look like crap when there's such an easy alternative?

Lester Bursleys washes are by far the best.

You can find them on some online stores and he has videos on how to make them.

there's a reason that devlan mud/ agrax earthshade is nicknamed "liquid skill".

vallejo, they basically released the old citidel paints under their own brand.

They're just liquid skill, if you feel unsatisfied with your models, throw some shade washes on them and be amazed how much better they look

It's not necessary, but the reason for its use should be mandatory for any good paintjob.

if good looking models are necessary

then shades are necessary

they are great for beginner painters, its called liquid talent for a reason

shade gets into the recesses of the model, which hightlights the raised area and blends the colors of the model together so it does not look so cartooney.

for advanced painters however line hightling and shading is the way to go. I take enamel black and think it does to the darkness of a shade. I Airbrush the model with a gloss layer so when i apply the line shader the cracks suck it up due to capillary effect. since i put down the gloss this happens much easier and the gloss protects the acrylic from the enamel, on top of this since its enamel i can use thinner to wipe away and spillage so i do not have to repaint the entire model,

Necessary? No. But they're damn helpful, especially for a beginner.

If you're just wanting tabletop ready models you can't go wrong with picking up a few washes. Learn how to drybrush on highlights and how to use shades/washes and you'll be good.

To make a cheap shade requires 3 things imho.
1) cheap Walmart $0.99 paint
2) wicked air w500 airbrush thinner $6-$8 at hobby lobby
3) clear mixing medium. $3 at hobby lobby

1 pt paint + 1 pt thinner + 2 pts medium is a good place to start.

maybe your technique would work but gw adds something to their shade that really breaks up the surface tension of the water and prevent tide marks

i have yet to find out what it is.

Lahmian medium

beyond this because thats just medium

adding just mediumt o paint wont achieve the effect that a shade will provide.

It's a surfactant. You can mimic the tension breaking by adding a drop of dish soap or using Windex.

ammonium based windex?

would airbrush thinner work just as well then?

I heard people say to only use ammonia-free, and I have heard others say it doesn't matter. Most people that use ammonia Windex are likely doing it through an airbrush, where ammonia doesn't make a difference and will be cleaned out.

If you are storing a custom mix in a plastic bottle, maybe go with ammonia-free just to be safe. And you don't need a lot of this stuff. It's like one or two drops per bottle with plenty of water, alcohol, or thinner to dilute.

>1) cheap Walmart $0.99 paint
what sort of paint?
If it's not model paint, the pigment ratio will probably be off.
house and canvas paints typically are much thicker than even normal model paints, let alone washes.
Mixing in enough liquid etc to get the right texture will result in a very low pigment level. So have fun doing a dozen coats, and getting even coverage.
Super cheap paints typically have shitty pigment levels as well, so they're shit for getting good coverage on fucking canvas, before you thin them down for model use.

I do use a little bit of canvas paints in some of my models, because model paints don't use organic pigments so some colors cannot be gotten without it. So speaking from experience.

Then you need to consider if the paint is designed to be handled. Will it chip or flack easily.