Vallejo Game Colour Washes Review

This is more of a partial review rather then an in depth look at everything that is possible. I bought this boxed set of washes from Vallejo after reading a review the Lascannons and Lances Blog which whetted my appetite as I was thinking of moving away, or at least experimenting with something other then Citadel Washes. Do not get me wrong, I like the Citadel Washes; in some circumstances I would be lost without Baddab Black, Sepia and Devlan Mud but although the Citadel washes naturally seem to find the crevices on a miniature they can leave a bit of a grainy inconsistent look when dry.

With this set you get a Black, a Burnt Umber, a Sepia, a Light Grey, a Flesh, a Deep Green, A Violate and a rich Dark Blue. The only colour missing that I would need would be a red but I can turn to other ranges to solve that problem.

I'm currently 'speed painting' some of the Perry Beja from their Sudan/Mahdist range (ironically this article will make the 'speed painting' a little less speedier). and was looking for earthy tones of which VMC Wash Burned Umber and Sepia were going to be prime candidates. However, I was very pleasantly surprised to find that the set includes a grey and a black. Bingo! I used to try to mix Windsor and Newton Artists White Ink with W&N Black Ink but could never find acquire the tone I was looking for to use over a grey-white. With this set it is not only possible to mix the Light Grey ink with a tiny amount of black to deepen the tone to go over a grey/white but it is easy.

The results are below the the mix of Black and Light Grey over Andrea White 5  (from the white boxed set), the Burnt Umber over Foundry Spearshaft A and Sepia over Foundry Boneyard A to form the base coat and a wash prior to highlighting. It's probably worth mentioning that I rarely use washed except for glazes when practising my normal technique. I tend to use at least five layers on larger surfaces of a miniature when in 'normal' mode so there's really no need for me to use a wash unless I want to tie the colours together with a very watered down glaze when all the highlights are complete. This is simply not the case nor is it desirable with the Beja as purely from a practical point of view; I have literally hundreds to paint and they are simply never going to see a table top unless I can find a way in which to speed up the painting process with prejudice.

As it stands with these miniatures, they will be getting two highlights over the base coat and ink wash. Please note: No highlights have been added- these is simply the base coat and the wash:

Vallejo Model Colour Light Grey (mixed with a pinch of black) Wash over Andrea White 5:

 Vallejo Model Colour Wash Burnt Umber over Foundry Spearshaft A:

Vallejo Model Colour Sepia Ink over Foundry Boneyard A:

EDIT: Also, I used the three primary and some of the secondary washes on the following Afghan Tribesmen and got some pretty good results. The only addition to the washes was a very quick highlight. Do let me know what you think as the washes speeded up the painting process by about 50%.