Product Review: Promodeller Weathering Wash. The Future of Wash Detailing?

Panel washes have always been a complicated question: you need a liquid with a low surface tension that will flow into minute recesses, carrying a pigment to contrast against underlying paint. The chemistry must be complimentary: how often have you heard a modeller bemoan the latest panel wash formula to have ruined the paintjob? You can spray acrylics and wash with enamels, and vice versa, you can use barrier clearcoats before and after wash application, and between decal applications, the variations are considerable, from the simplest to the most complex. If, like me, you like to keep finishing operations as simple as possible, reducing the possibility of something going wrong and ruining your work, then the still-new Weathering Washes made by English firm Promodeller come as a true gift. These solutions are clay-based, a very finely-ground pigment suspended in water with a small amount of detergent added to reduce surface tension and allow the pigments to flow naturally. Think of the way sanded filler debris collects in recessed panel lines, perfectly outlining them -- that’s the principle on which these washes work, and they work perfectly. Brush them on, either overall with a broad brush, or selectively with a pointed brush, allow to dry, then simply wipe away the excess. On a gloss finish, a dry paper towel is all it takes to remove the excess, leaving the recesses perfectly accented. As finishes grow duller, a softer cloth or paper with a little moisture is needed. On flat finishes you can swab the surface with a moistened Q-tip, rolling it against the direction of motion to lift the dried clay, but be warned, you won’t remove it all from the microscopic roughness of a flat finish. The effect this creates, however, is visually almost identical to post-shading, so it’s not necessarily a bad thing! A little practice and you’ll find the technique that’s best for you.

 

 The important thing to remember is, the clay is readily resoluble, so if you develop an effect you don’t like, it’ll wash away from all but a fully flat finish, no arguments. And clearcoats are really up to your personal taste: The Tamiya Bf 109 E-3 on which I first used the wash has none, simply the satin lustre of the RLM paints, and the wash seems very permanent, after months there is no change in its appearance. (These photos were taken before powder pigment weathering and the rigging of an antenna wire).  

 Promodeller sell four shades at the moment, Dark Dirt, Light Dirt, Black and Brown. They come in 50mL plastic bottles which will last a long time -- I’m confident I’ll accent dozens of models, both aircraft and armour, from a single purchase. You can check them out at http://www.promodeller.com and view a 20-minute instructional video online, extracted from their much-longer DVD presentation. I bought mine from Lucky Model in Hong Kong, one of the biggest mailorder firms in the Asia-Pacific region, http://www.luckymodel.com/

 

 Accenting panel lines, bolt and rivet detail, tight corners and divisions of any sort has, in my humble opinion, never been easier. That doesn’t mean I don’t still use oils suspended in enamel thinner for the capillary-action technique, but that method never was the right one for major panel lines. Now I can brush on the mineral wash and have the main panel divisions of an aircraft done in one sitting.