Make Your Own Flow Medium

In these uncertain times caused by the Coronavirus Pandemic, please stay safe. Stay at Home. Follow your Government's Advice. Practice Social Distancing. Look out for one another. And enjoy some hobby during lockdown..!

Here's something for anyone who has wanted to see their paints dry that little smoother.  Something for anyone who's used a wash and found it's dried a little more 'gritty' than they wanted it to; or to be able to create incredibly smooth transitions between colours on their models, but never quite managed it.  If any of these experiences have been yours, then this is for you!

I stumbled across this quite by accident.  I'd done a search for The Gellerpox Infected.  You know, because they are some really nice models.  If you like that sort of thing.  Which I do.  Anyhoo, I never found any deal worth parting that much cash for them.  But I did stumble on a rather interesting painting tutorial from Midwinter Minis.  And hidden in that speed painting tutorial is an absolutely wonderful piece of advice.  I'm sharing that tutorial here.  The bit you're after is at 4:18.  And it's well worth watching.
So I had a look online. At the time, I found two options. 250ml for £12.90 or 500ml for £14.00. Considering a single pot of Lahmian Medium (which is essentially exactly the same thing) costs £4.75 for 24ml, the price difference alone makes this a worthwhile experiment.

Of course, my brain might have seen the financial benefits to the enterprise, but it didn't realise how big the pot of medium would be...!


I also purchased a pack of four 17ml dropper bottles. I thought I had a good deal. Or at least I did until a few days later when I stumbled, quite by accident on a set from TT Combat. You can see them here. Okay, a quid more than I spent, but you get ten. 

Once I had them, all I did was half fill the dropper bottle with acrylic matt medium, and almost the other half with water. All that was left to do was to add a small drop of washing up liquid, put the dropper lid on, give it a good shake and before you know it, Bob's some relative or other...!

And,.I have to say, the stuff is bloomin' awesome. I use it all the time now. Where once I would add a little water to my paint, I now add a drop of this flow medium. When I want to create a smooth transition of colour as a wash, this is what I use to dilute my paints and washes.  Once dry, you can add the same again to recesses. 

I'm currently painting my Sylvaneth forces at the moment. I'm using two colours to shade their weapons which I'm painting to look like magical weapons. Now, when I did this before I madeyself that flow medium, I would water down my Vallejo Game Colour Electric blue and apply it to various patches of the weapon, which had been given a good base coat of Vallejo MC 70907 Pale Blue Grey. When that had dried completely, I then applied some patches of watered down Vallejo MC 70978 Dark Yellow.  When dried completely, I would then edge highlight with white.

I followed the same process the first few times I used my flow medium. Two washes applied after each other. 

And then I got to thinking. If this is a flow medium, would it not allow me to apply both together and let them flow into each other?  So I decided to have a go and see what happened.
And talk about an incredibly smooth result!

So honestly, give it a go. I promise you won't regret it. 

Happy painting. Stay safe. And let me know what you think if you try this yourself.

And as always, thanks for stopping by.


Comments

  1. Thanks for this! I have been wanting to try the GW brand of medium, hearing wonderful things about it, but the high cost had me holding out. With this lock down we have, I have so much time to paint all my figures, and I think this will greatly aid me in getting better results. You figures look amazing by the way!

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    1. I'm glad to be able to help. The flow medium is incredible. Frankly, it can turn any paint you have into a perfectly smooth wash. I can't wait to try it out on my Nighthaunts. And I have a feeling my historical armies are going to paint up quicker and better as a result. Happy painting, and please do let me know how you get on.

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  2. Thanks for that Stiubhart, this is excellent information for those of us who end up with uncooperative washes.

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