UMS "Agram" : Quest for my new favourite washes < Articles < Hobby

Quest for my new favourite washes

Ana Polanšćak, 22nd January 2025

Note from the editor: This is an article published on Ana’s blog that she kindly agreed to share on our club web pages. If you like the article, go for more on her site Gardens of Hecate!

Sometime in November I had reached the end of my stock of old formula Agrax Earthshade and Nuln Oil, and cracked open the new ones (I say new, but they’re a few years old by now). I was disappointed with the currently standing product… I’ve been steadily using Citadel washes since they were first introduced. Originally it was Badab Black and Devlan Mud, and they were fantastic (yes, there were inks before that - but I never used those). At some point they got replaced by Nuln Oil and Agrax Earthshade, respectively. Frankly I don’t recall how big of a change that was; it was a fairly long time ago. However, I know that I’ve gradually phased out most Citadel paints from my arsenal in favour of other brands (predominantly Scale 75, but there are several others represented) - while still continuing to use and recommend Citadel’s black and brown wash. However, now they’ve changed too far for the worse that I decided it’s time to look elsewhere.

I asked my Instagram audience for viable alternatives on the market and I got 60+ responses with suggestions. Based on that I purchased a variety of options for brown and black washes and inks to test. Additionally, a significant number of commenters expressed they were in the same predicament, so I promised to share my findings in a blog post. This is it.

Since making the purchases I’ve made swatches, tests in controlled conditions, and tried them out in real situations on whatever painting projects I was working on at the time.

Disclaimer: I am not sponsored by or affiliated with the manufacturers of any of these products. They were purchased with funds contributed by my Patreon supporters (thank you!). I’m honestly looking for a better alternative for myself and taking you along for the ride.

I’d also like to thank @noe.hammer and @hinter_light for sending me bottles of unused old Agrax Earthshade they had lying around.

What am I even looking for in a wash?

I use brown and black washes frequently. It’s normally for shading things such as leather, armour, fabrics, wood, human skin, and more.

My ideal wash would be well pigmented acrylic, usable out of the pot but dilutable with water if I want a less stark shade, reliably matte when dry, and not brazenly overpriced.

INTENSITY and HUE

Of the above, the current Citadel washes only fulfill the first thing on my list. They do still provide a good shade to those recesses and details on the sculpt. I also like the colour of the brown. Not too intense to be used as is, but often I want to dilute them slightly. I expected some brands of washes would be less intense, and if I wanted something stronger there are inks.

Inks definitely need to be combined with a medium for two reasons: they’re glossy and they’re too highly pigmented to be used straight out of the pot. I have the following three inks: AK Wood Brown, Vallejo Sepia, and Scale75 Inktense Wood. They all behaved as predicted, working nicely with Lahmian Medium. A little ink goes a long way and the medium successfully mattes out the ink’s original gloss. Each has its own hue, my favourite of the three being Vallejo’s.

Army Painter Warpaints Soft Tone, Strong Tone, and Dark Tone are overall the most similar to Citadel’s washes, including the intensity. ProAcryl and Two Thin Coats are the least intense, but ultimately they’re all acceptable.

Each brown wash has a slightly different hue, as you can see on the tombstone swatches basecoated white. They all work fine and the difference was less apparent when I applied on a brown basecoat.

ACRYLIC

Some of my Instagram friends recommended oils to me. I do occasionally use oil and enamel washes when I paint scenery. They’re effective and cool to play with. However, they don’t get along with other paints I use - meaning varnishing in between and thinking several steps ahead. They also have annoyingly long drying times. This is ok for terrain, but simply doesn’t work for the way I paint miniatures and I don’t want to drastically change my process right now. I like how it is. Same reason my airbrush sits in the drawer seldom used. Their time may come, it’s just not today.

That’s why there are no oils or enamels in this story.

BEHAVIOUR WITH WATER

Mixing a wash with water can leave a cloudy/chalky residue in the recesses (see image below for examples). Of the washes I've tried, most experienced the chalky residue when mixed with water at some point. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t. I hear hard water makes this worse. In any case, it’s safer to use an acrylic medium rather than water. With older Citadel Washes I usually used water and it would occasionally result in a nasty surprise. With the new formula the clouding happened most times I did it.

I can absolutely live with using medium instead of water to make sure the results are consistent. This is the part of my ideal wash I’m ready to forfeit easiest. Any matte medium will be more expensive than water, but there are way more affordable options than Citadel’s Lahmian Medium I currently use. It’s something to look into next.

MATTE FINISH

New Agrax and Nuln Oil straight out of the pot are glossy and this annoys me to no end. Mixing in Lahmian Medium, which normally does have a matting effect, is a must even if I don’t want to dilute my wash. But often that doesn’t help either. There were times new Agrax Earthshade refused to stop being glossy in the recesses even when I painted matte varnish over it.

Mind you, the shine in the recesses may also happen to other brands if one applies too much undiluted wash, or if not shaken properly before use.

A few people recommended a product called Instar Matte+. It’s a concentrated additive that’s meant to be mixed into paints to turn them matte. I got advice to put several drops directly into my bottle of my Agrax or Nuln. I did just that, and it actually killed the shine. That’s great news, since it means I can save those several bottles of new Citadel washes I stockpiled before I realised they were no good.

When playing around with Matte+ I tried mixing it with inks to see what happens. It does make them matte, but they get a similar residue problem washes get with water. In this case, though, the result looks like a decent rust effect. I’m not sure if it’s worth exploring further, but below is what it looks like.

PRICE

Price is not something I thought about too much before I started crunching these numbers. It was interesting and eye-opening.

Shipping is not included in the prices. Local tax of 25% is included. Keep in mind the price of each product can vary slightly from vendor to vendor. I had to order from multiple webshops depending on availability and stock. They come in different size vials so in order to compare properly I calculated their price per mL (given in brackets).

The most affordable was AK Deep Shade Grime at 4,89€ for a 30mL bottle (0,16€/mL). It’s closely followed by Vallejo washes at 3,10 € for 18 mL (0,17€/mL) and then The Army Painter tone trio at 3,49€ for 18mL (0,19€/mL).

Next tier are Pro Acryl 22mL for 5,99€ (0,27€/mL) and Duncan’s TTC washes at 4,41€ for 15mL (0.29€/mL).

And finally we have Citadel’s 18mL for 6.63€ (0,37€/mL), which makes it double the price of the stuff in the first group. Ugh.

I won’t compare the inks along with the washes because they must to be used with a hefty quantity of medium. A pot of ink will last you drastically longer than a pot of wash, but you need to purchase medium alongside it, complicating the calculation. I didn’t go into it this time. Here are the prices of the inks, though: AK Wood Brown INK was 4,68 € for 30mL (0,16€/mL), Vallejo Sepia Ink 18 ml was 3,10€ (0,17/mL), and S75 Inktense Wood 17mL for 4,04€ (0,24€/mL).

Instar Matte + additive was 2,03€ for their container of 10mL (0,20/mL). It gets cheaper if you buy a larger bottle, but you’re meant to be using it in very small doses anyway.

CONTAINER

This is not a deciding factor for me, but there are differences I can touch on briefly.

To get Citadel out of the way first: pot with a lid. Knocked it over and spilled so many times over the years. One may call that a skill issue. I don’t know. Dipping a brush in the pot rather than squirting it on the palette somehow makes more sense for washes to me, so that’s a point for it. When it comes to Citadel’s other paints I strongly dislike the pots, mostly because their design really helps the paint dry up faster. I’m not sure myself how I feel about it on the washes, though.

AK Pure Grime comes in a bottle with a screw-on cap. I haven’t used it enough to witness how easily it’s knocked over, but since it doesn’t have a lid sticking up my guess is it’s safer from spillage than Citadel.

Army Painter comes in a standard dropper bottle, same as Scale 75 uses. Vallejo used to have something just like it, but these washes and ink come in dropper bottles made of way thinner material. I accidentally squeezed them too hard lots of times, so not a fan. The reason behind it is ecological perhaps?

Two Thin Coats - bottle is fine but something is funky with the cap. The wash always heavily leaks inside it. Perhaps it must be screwed on 100% tight to stop doing that? Not happy about the mess. Again, you may say it’s a skill issue, but I haven’t had that problem with any other brand’s dropper bottle.

PorAcryl’s bottle has a special cap I hadn’t encountered before. It slightly twists off to allow drops to get out of the bottle. I’m pretty sure this is well resistant to clogging (which is an annoyance with dropper bottles) and doesn’t allow any air to get in. But it’s sort of messy to close it since there is always some paint stuck near the tip that has to be wiped off.

Finally, the AK Ink comes in a glass bottle with a dropper cap, and the Matte+ comes in a tiny dropper bottle with a safety cap. Works fine.

CONCLUSIONS

After this I’m definitely saying goodbye to Citadel’s washes. I’ll rescue the pots I already have with Instar Matte+ and never buy another again. The price is severly inflated when compared to any other brand, while the quality is poorer in most aspects and it requires me to spend even more money on third party products to make it work.

TwoThinCoats washes were a very common suggestion. It’s among the pricier options, but doesn’t stand out enought to compensate for that. It’s fine, but won’t be my new brand of choice.

Army Painter washes are a really popular option. They’re on the more affordable end and my LGS stocks them, making them extra accessible. They are also among the least matte ones, but matte medium consistently fixes that. Fine, but not a favourite.

Vallejo washes are high on my tier list. They’re nicely matte out of the pot and I rather like the hue of their Umber wash. The price is also among the best.

ProAcryl is also a good one. Nice flow, matte finish. The hue and price place it beneath Vallejo for me, though.

AK Deep Shades Pure Grime is quite a bit more viscous than the others. It stays where you put it, which usually means it will harder stain the areas you don’t want shaded. It was the least costly. The hue is nice, but the intensity feels lighter. Overall for me it’s mid.

The inks - AK, Vallejo, and S75 all three act the same in my limited experience. When it comes to hue I’m partial to Vallejo’s Umber. I’m actually interested in using them further in combination with matte medium. They are better value for money than an out of the pot wash.

Along similar lines, I tried to mix my own wash by combining Scalecolor Artist Burnt Umber with Lahmian Medium. It was prety good, and once again much cheaper than any out-of-the-pot wash.

If I had to choose which wash was my favourite I’d say Vallejo. But I think my future may be finding a decent but not overpriced matte medium and mixing my own washes. I already have to use a medium if I want to dilute a wash, so I migh as well get my pigment from an ink or a quality acrylic paint in the first place.

I’ll continue to use a selection of these washes further until they run out. If I change my mind about something I may revisit this topic in the future.

Everything in this article is my own opinion based on my experience trying the products.

Što uopće tražim u washevima?

Često koristim smeđu i crnu boju. Obično je za sjenčanje stvari kao što su koža, oklopi, tkanine, drvo, ljudska koža i drugo.

Moj idealan tuš bio bi dobro pigmentirani akril, koji bi se mogao koristiti i iz bočice, ali bi se mogao razrijediti vodom ako želim manje jaku nijansu, pouzdano mat kada se osuši, a ne drsko precijenjen.

INTENZITET i HUE

Od navedenog, trenutni washevi od Citadel ispunjavaju samo prvu uvjet na mom popisu. Još uvijek daju dobru sjenu u udubljenjima i detaljima na skulpturi. Sviđa mi se i smeđa boja. Nisu previše intenzivni da bi se koristili takvi kakvi jesu, ali često ih želim malo razrijediti. Očekivala sam da će neke marke washeva biti manje intenzivna, a ako sam htjela nešto jače tu su tinte.

Tinte svakako treba kombinirati s medijem iz dva razloga: sjajne su i previše su pigmentirane da bi se mogle koristiti izravno iz posude. Imam sljedeće tri tinte: AK Wood Brown, Vallejo Sepia i Scale75 Inktense Wood. Svi su se ponašali prema predviđanjima, dobro surađujući s Lahmian Mediumom. Malo tinte ide daleko i medij uspješno matira izvorni sjaj tinte. Svaka ima svoju nijansu, a meni je od te tri najdraža Vallejova.

Army Painter Warpaints Soft Tone, Strong Tone i Dark Tone općenito su najsličniji Citadel washevima, uključujući intenzitet. ProAcryl i Two Thin Coats su najmanje intenzivni, ali u konačnici svi su prihvatljivi.

Svaka smeđa boja ima nešto drugačiju nijansu, kao što možete vidjeti na uzorcima nadgrobnih spomenika s osnovnim bijelim premazom. Svi rade dobro i razlika je bila manje vidljiva kada sam nanijela smeđi bazni lak.

Što uopće tražim u washevima?

Često koristim smeđu i crnu boju. Obično je za sjenčanje stvari kao što su koža, oklopi, tkanine, drvo, ljudska koža i drugo.

INTENZITET i HUE

Latest articles

We visited: Kontrast Miniature Painting Festival

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This year, our member Ivan Knezović and his brothers, Petar and Filip, (popularly called the Knezović Clan) visited the Kontrast international miniature painting competition in Poland. And this is his report.

One of the largest miniature painting competitions in the world has been taking place in Warsaw since 2021. The Knezović clan visited Kontrast for the first time in 2023. The event was great and we enjoyed almost 1500 works, many of which were made by masters at the highest artistic level. We decided to visit Warsaw again in 2025, after completing enough works to justify the 12-hour drive one way.

We came to Kontrast as a kind of UMS Agram emissaries, and we handed out flyers for Black Queen 2026 and met a number of other enthusiasts, and we hope that some of them will visit Zagreb. We also brought home the Best of Show medal for the work that impressed us the most. We awarded the UMS Agram Best of Show to Dimosthenis Xylas, a miniaturist from Athens, for his dwarf. The work impressed us with its phenomenal atmosphere, smooth transitions, the play of multiple light sources, the level of quality on each individual element, and the convincing textures of the metal. Also, we simply love dwarfs.

The number of phenomenal works was large, because in 2025 more than 1700 works were exhibited in 2 classes - Standard for beginners and hobbyists and Master for professionals and those who have already proven themselves at international competitions (everyone who won gold in Standard will compete in Master in the future).

Petar won silver in the Master in 2023 and exhibited his works in the Master in 2025, while Filip and I did not have such good results and entered our works in the Standard.

One of the works that particularly stood out was Captain Titus from the game Space Marine 2 in a huge scale, it seems to me to be 1/4. It may not be the best, but it is a work that all visitors noticed.

One of the works that impressed us was a truly enormous diorama of Khorne Chaos Space Marines vs. Ultramarines. The diorama is huge, but each model is painted to a very high standard and contains about 30 models in various sizes. It is an imitation of a famous painting depicting a battle in Warhammer 40k.

Going through every work that impressed us would make this article too long, and words convey much less than photographs. Luckily, Filip came with a very good camera, so I leave some pictures for the readers to enjoy.

Our results were beyond expectations. Petar did not return with a medal, because during the 2 years he worked mostly on orders. He painted more than 400 models, but almost all of them were orders. In 3 days he painted the Durgin Paint Forge Orca. The model is really excellent, but the competition was great. With a few more days of work he would definitely be in the running for a medal. I think he can be satisfied with his work and next time aim for a medal with 6 days of painting.

Jure Cukar, for whom we carried 3 models, won 1 silver in the Standard class.Filip won 2 silvers in the Standard class for his lizards (dioramas) and for his ambient soldier (single model up to 54 mm).

I came to Kontrast with 5 exhibits. I came back with results that I did not expect even in my most optimistic dreams, because this is a truly huge competition with numerous top artists. I entered all my works in the Standard class.

For my Midori bust, I won gold in the Standard Historical and Realism category and an award from Alternity Miniatures, the company whose bust it is a product.

For my cat Albert, I won silver in the Standard Storytelling category.

For Dwarf Lord, I won gold in the Standard category for models larger than 54 millimeters.

For my dwarf adventurers, I won gold in the Standard Diorama category, a medal from Verko's Vault (miniature museum in Las Vegas) and what I really didn't expect, Best of Standard – the award for the best work of all works in the Standard category.

Finally, and this is perhaps the greatest recognition for my work, I won silver in the Master category for my Infinity regiment. Namely, all competitors submitted their works in only one class, either Standard or Master. However, the judges reserved the possibility of moving the model from Standard to Master.

All in all, Kontrast is a great experience. I hope we will visit Warsaw again, if not in 2026 then in 2027. In the meantime, I hope our Black Queen will also visit some of the new people we met in Poland.

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Ove godine naš član Ivan Knezović je sa svojom braćom, Petrom i Filipom, (popularno nazvanima Klan Knezović) posjetio međunarodno natjecanje u bojanju minijatura Kontrast u Poljskoj. A ovo je njegov izvještaj!

Jedno od najvećih natjecanja u bojenju minijatura na svijetu odvija se u Varšavi od 2021. godine. Klan Knezović je posjetio Kontrast prvi puta 2023. godine. Događaj je bio sjajan te smo uživali u gotovo 1500 radova, od kojih su mnogi rađeni od strane majstora na najvišoj umjetničkoj razini. Odlučili smo i 2025., nakon što smo dovršili dovoljno radova da opravdamo vožnju od 12 sati u jednom smijeru ponovno posjetiti Varšavu.

Na Kontrast smo došli kao svojevrsni izaslanici UMS Agrama te smo podijelili letke za Black Queen 2026. te upoznali veći broj drugih entuzijasta te se nadamo da će neki posjetiti Zagreb. Donijeli smo i Best of Show medalju za rad koji nas se najviše dojmio. UMS Agram Best of Show dodijelili smo Dimosthenisu Xylasu, minijaturistu iz Atene za njegovog patuljka. Rad nas je dojmio fenomenalnom atmosferom, glatkim prijelazima, igrom više izvora svjetla, razinom kvalitete na svakom pojedinom elementu i uvjerljivim teksturama metala. Također, jednostavno volimo patuljke.

Broj fenomenalnih radova bio je velik, jer je 2025. bilo izloženo više od 1700 radova u 2 klase - Standard za početnike i hobiste te Master za profesionalce i one koji su se već iskazali na međunarodnim natjecanjima (svi koji su u Standardu osvojili zlato ubuduće se natječu u Masteru).

Petar je 2023. osvojio srebro u Masteru te je i 2025. izlagao radove u Masteru, a ja i Filip nismo imali tako dobre rezultate te smo svoje radove prijavili u Standard.

Od radova koji su se posebno isticali bio je kapetan Titus iz igre Space Marine 2 u ogromnoj skali, od oka čini mi se da je 1/4. Možda nije najbolji, ali je rad koji su svi posjetitelji primijetili.

Jedan od radova koji nas se dojmio je i zbilja ogromna diorama Khorne Chaos Space Marinaca protiv Ultramarinaca. Diorama je ogromna, ali svaki model pobojen je na vrlo visokoj razini te sadrži oko 30 modela u različitim veličinama. Imitacija je poznatog slikarskog prikaza bitki u Warhammeru 40k.

Proći svaki rad koji nas se dojmio oduljilo bi ovaj članak, a riječi prenose puno manje nego fotografije. Srećom, Filip je došao s vrlo dobrim foto aparatom te ostavljam neke slike za uživanje čitateljima.

Naši rezultati bili su iznad očekivanja. Petar se nije vratio s medaljom, jer je kroz 2 godine radio većinom na narudžbama. Pobojio je više od 400 modela, ali gotovo sve su bile narudžbe. U 3 dana pobojio je Durgin Paint Forge orka. Model je zbilja izvrstan, ali konkurencija je bila velika. S još nekoliko dana rada zasigurno bi ušao u konkurenciju za medalju. Mislim da može biti zadovoljan samim radom i sljedeći put ciljati na medalju sa 6 dana bojenja.

Jure Cukar, za koga smo nosili 3 modela osvojio je 1 srebro u Standard klasi. Filip je osvojio 2 srebra u Standard klasi za svoje guštere (diorama) i za svojeg ambientalnog vojnika (single model do 54 mm).

Ja sam na Kontrast došao s 5 izložaka. Vratio sam s rezultatima koje nisam očekivao niti u najoptimističnijim snovima, jer se radi o zbilja ogromnom natjecanju s brojnim vrhunskim umjetnicima. Sve svoje radove prijavio sam u Standard klasu.

Za svoju Midori bistu osvojio sam zlato u Standard Historical and Realism kategoriji te nagradu Alternity Miniaturesa, tvrtke čija je bista proizvod.

Za svojeg mačka Alberta osvojio sam srebro u Standard Storytelling kategoriji.

Za Dwarf Lorda osvojio sam zlato u Standard kategoriji za modele veće od 54 milimetra.

Za svoje patuljke avanturiste osvojio sam zlato u Standard Diorama kategoriji, medalju Verko's Vaulta (muzej minijatura u Las Vegasu) te ono što stvarno nisam očekivao, Best of Standard – nagradu za najbolji rad od svih radova u Standard kategoriji.

Na kraju, a ovo je možda najveće priznanje za moje radove, osvojio sam srebro u Master kategoriji za svoj Infinity regiment. Naime, svi natjecatelji svoje radove prijavljivali su samo u jednu klasu, ili Standard ili Master. No, suci su pridržali mogućnost pomicanja modela iz Stanarda u Master.

Sve u svemu Kontrast je sjajno iskustvo. Nadam se da ćemo ponovno posjetiti Varšavu, ako ne 2026. onda 2027. U međuvremenu, nadam se da će i naš Black Queen posjetiti i neki od novih ljudi koje smo upoznali u Poljskoj.

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Marko Paunović, 5th June 2025

Dalibor's Trip Tip: Plzen and Prag

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	A quick report because I literally had 10-15 minutes to look at this model, take pictures of it and listen to some details about the city it represents. So, if your trip brings you to Plzeň in western Bohemia, I recommend you look for this beautiful model of the old city center in a scale of 1:200. The model is approximately 2x2 meters in size and is located on the ground floor of the city hall, which is located on the main square opposite the Cathedral of St. Bartholomew.

	  

	  

	  

	Regarding our hobby, and while you're here, I believe it's also worth visiting the General Patton Museum, the Puppet Museum, and the Colors of Warriors hobby shop. Unfortunately, due to work and previously scheduled obligations, I wasn't able to see them, and therefore didn't get to take any pictures. But at least, besides the excellent beer, I have an additional reason to visit this beautiful Czech city again. So here are some more photos of the model of Plzen.

	  

	  

	And if you happen to be in Prague, be sure to visit the toy store Hračky u Zlatého lva. Yes, toys, I know. But you will enjoy classic wooden toys, dolls and metal model cars. Although it is not large by some general standards, the store is spread over 2 floors with a small note: if you are looking for transformers, WH 40k, minions and other modern wonders there, you will be quite disappointed. I was not.

	  

	  

	  

	  
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	Jedan brzinski izvještaj jer sam imao doslovno 10-15 minuta pogledati ovu maketu, poslikati ju i poslušati neke detalje o gradu kojeg predstavlja. Dakle, ako vas put dovede u Plzeň u zapadnoj Češkoj, preporučam da potražite ovi prekrasnu maketu stare gradske jezgre u mjerilu 1:200. Maketa je otprilike veličine 2x2 metra i nalazi se u prizemlju gradske uprave, a koja se nalazi na glavnom trgu nasuprot katedrale Sv. Bartolomeja.

	  

	  

	  

	Vezano uz naš hobi, a dok ste ovdje, vjerujem da se još isplati posjetiti Muzej generala Pattona, Muzej lutaka i hobby shop Colours of Warriors. Ja ih, nažalost, radi posla i ranije isplaniranih obaveza nisam uspio vidjeti, a samim time niti poslikati. Ali bar, osim izvrsnog piva, imam dodatni razlog opet posjetiti ovaj lijepi češki grad. Stoga još malo fotki makete Plzena.

	  

	  

	A ako vas put slučajno nanese u Prag, obavezno posjetiti trgovinu igračaka Hračky u Zlatého lva. Da, hrački, I know. Ali ćete zato uživati u klasičnim drvenim igračkama, lutkama i metalnim modelima autića. Iako nije velika za neke generalne pojmove trgovina se prostire na 2 etaže uz malu napomenu: ako ćete tamo tražiti transformerse, WH 40k, minione i ostala moderna čudesa prilično ćete se razočarati. Ja nisam.

	  

	  

	  

	  
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Dalibor Čavić, 4th June 2025

Miniature Painting Workshop - Kitbashing and Converting

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	U subotu i nedjelju, 17. i 18.5. održali smo novu vikend radionicu bojanja minijatura. Ovog puta tema je bilo konvertiranje i kitbashanje.

	Radionica se provodila kroz dva dana (cijeli vikend) i bila je fokusirana na izradu dvije (do tri) vlastite minijature od raznih dijelova (više različitih minijatura) uz dodatak modeliranja dijelova uz pomoć modelarskih masa (Green Stuff). Sastojala se od dva dijela, teorijskog i praktičnog dijela. Tijekom radionice polaznici su se upoznali s alatima, materijalima i tehnikama za izvođenje jednostavnih i kompleksnih konverzija, uključujući uporabu masa za modeliranje.

	

	

	

	Teorijski dio uključuje savjete za planiranje, nabavu dijelova i smisleno sklapanje personaliziranih minijatura da bi polaznici naučili izbjeći početničke greške i podigli svoje vještine na viši nivo.

	U praktičnom dijelu, uz pomoć voditelja primijenila su se stečena znanja na vlastitu konverziju.

	

	

	

	Praktični dio Radionice se odvijao na sljedeći način:

	Prvo, predavač sjedi za svojim stolom te objašnjava i demonstrira pojedini korak na svojem primjerku dok polaznici slušaju, gledaju, ali i postavljaju pitanja. Potom, polaznici sjedaju za svoje stolove i primjenjuju stečeno znanje. Predavač potom kruži između polaznika i provjerava kako svakom polazniku ide. Na taj način, može se prilagoditi svakom polazniku ponaosob.

	

	

	

	U nedjelju od 16:00 svi polaznici su dobili profesionalni feedback na urađene radove od Ane Polanšćak iz Gardens of Hecate.

	

	
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Marko Paunović, 18th May 2025

March to Hren28 week 7

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	Our team is preparing to perform at the Turnip28 tournament called H.R.E.N.28 in Slovenia in July. Ana, Mario, Domagoj, Seb and Antoni assemble their armies and paint, and we follow them on their way!

	  

	ANTONI: „As for my latest pair of Fodder models, one carries a flag and the other carries a nest on its shoulders. The flag is made from a thin piece of copper that is clamped around a brass rod, secured with superglue, and then bent to look like fabric in the wind.

	  

	The nest is made of a mixture of green stuff and milliput that I cut lines into. I put two chicken eggs from the Tamiya farm animal set inside and secured them with a drop of superglue. The other models have all sorts of new heads, from simple medieval helmets to gas cylinder caps. To make it easier to see what they are doing, most of them have candles on their caps. “

	  

	MARIO: „As an unexpected addition to my army, I found an old pipe in the apartment and decided to turn it into a cannon. I had the legs from some bird monsters on the sprue and they turned out great for the conversion. My other toadie (which is supposed to be for Brutes) is a small knight and I wanted to give him some creature to stand out on to compensate. I found a stork from Muller, added the head of the pterodactyl I found on the floor of the Sferakon, and redid the legs. There are more things on the bird coming soon, but I have to decide which ones.“

	  
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	Naša ekipa se sprema za nastup na Turnip28 turniru pod nazivom H.R.E.N.28 u Sloveniji u srpnju. Ana, Mario, Domagoj, Seb i Antoni slažu svoje vojske i farbaju, a mi ih pratimo na njihovom putu! 

	  

	ANTONI: „Što se tiče par najnovijih Fodder modela, jedan nosi zastavicu, a drugi nosi gnijezdo na ramenima. Zastavica je napravljena od tankog komada bakra koji je kliještima stisnut oko mjedenog štapića, učvršćen superljepilom te potom savijen da izgleda kao tkanina na vjetru.

	  

	Gnijezdo je napravljeno od mješavine green stuffa i milliputa u koju sam urezao crte. Unutra sam ubacio dva kokošja jaja iz Tamiya seta domaćih životinja i učvrstio ih kapljicom superljepila. Ostali su modeli dobili svakakve nove glave, od običnih srednjovjekovnih kaciga do poklopaca od plinskih boca. Kako bi bolje vidjeli što rade, većina ih ima svijeće na kapama. “

	  

	MARIO: „Kao neočekivani dodatak mojoj vojsci, našao sam staru lulu u stanu i odlučio pretvoriti ju u top. Imao sam noge od nekih ptičjih čudovišta na sprue-u i ispale su super za konverziju. Moj drugi toadie (koji bi trebao biti za Brutes) je mali vitez i želio sam mu dati neko biće na kojem će se istaknuti za kompenzaciju. Našao sam rodu iz Mullera, dodao glavu pterodaktila kojeg sam našao na podu Sferakona i prepravio noge. Uskoro dolazi još stvari na pticu, ali se moram odlučiti koje.“

	  
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Antoni Pastuović, 18th May 2025

Scratchbuilding Star Wars Crates

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	In this article I’ll explain how I scratchbuild crates for the Star Wars Universe, to use on bases or in dioramas. It’s pretty simple and fun, and the required tools and barrier to entry is really low. These are the tools and materials I have at my disposal when I start the build.

	  

	My materials are two polystyrene sheets of different thicknesses. I choose the 1mm and the 0.25mm for this build, as well as square tubes of polystyrene 7.9mm X 7.9mm and a ruler. These are produced by Evergreen, and are widely available in hobby stores around the world. The tools I use are plastic cement (preferably with a brush), a hobby knife and a nail file.

	  

	I cut off a tip of the square tube, trying to make the length as equal to the width as possible, so 7.9mm. Now I have a cube.

	  

	Then I cut out smaller details for panels and parts (called greeblies in Star Wars lingo) from both the thinner and the thicker polystyrene sheets. Here I cut out as many as possible, to give myself options when assembling the crates.

	  

	An important aesthetic detail of the Star Wars universe is notches, and so I cut notches into several of my panels, like in this illustration.

	Another stylistic factor of SW is that very few things are symmetrical. So I chose to make all sides of my crates different, varying the panelling and details, using both thick and thin polystyrene for variation in depth. Here are some examples of different sides of my crates.

	  

	The larger crate is created only using the polystyrene sheets, and not from the square tube. So I measured and cut out five equal sides (the bottom is open) of the 1mm thick polystyrene and glued them together to form a cube. I used the thinner polystyrene to cut out and create lids for all my crates as well. Everything is glued together using plastic cement which creates a strong bond relatively fast by melting the plastics together. Because of this I now have sturdy crates that I can then use the nail file to polish and clean up - making sure all sides of the bigger crate are flush, that all crates are flat at the bottom, and file down all the hard corners of the crates into more rounded shapes.

	  

	I test out the placement of the crates on my base, and make sure the scale works, before I finish the base.

	  
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	U ovom ću članku objasniti kako izrađujem sanduke za Star Wars svemir, za korištenje na bazama ili u dioramama. Prilično je jednostavno i zabavno, a potrebni alati i prepreka za ulazak su stvarno niski. Ovo su alati i materijali koje imam na raspolaganju kada počnem graditi.

	  

	Moji materijali su dvije polistirenske ploče različitih debljina. Odabrao sam 1 mm i 0,25 mm za ovu konstrukciju, kao i kvadratne cijevi od polistirena 7,9 mm X 7,9 mm i ravnalo. Njih proizvodi Evergreen i dostupni su u hobi trgovinama diljem svijeta. Alati koje koristim su plastični cement (po mogućnosti s četkom), hobi nož i turpija za nokte.

	  

	Odrezao sam vrh četvrtaste cijevi, pokušavajući da duljina bude što jednaka širini, dakle 7,9 mm. Sada imam kocku.

	  

	Zatim sam izrezao manje detalje za panele i dijelove (koji se u žargonu Ratova zvijezda nazivaju greeblies) i od tanjih i od debljih polistirenskih ploča. Ovdje sam izrezao što je više moguće, kako bih imao mogućnosti pri sastavljanju sanduka.

	  

	Važan estetski detalj Star Wars svemira su urezi, pa sam izrezao ureze u nekoliko svojih ploča, kao na ovoj ilustraciji.

	Još jedan stilski faktor SW-a je da je vrlo malo stvari simetrično. Stoga sam odlučio napraviti različite strane svojih sanduka, mijenjajući obloge i detalje, koristeći debeli i tanki polistiren za varijacije u dubini. Evo nekoliko primjera različitih strana mojih sanduka.

	  

	Veći sanduk izrađen je samo od polistirenskih ploča, a ne od četvrtaste cijevi. Tako sam izmjerio i izrezao pet jednakih stranica (dno je otvoreno) polistirena debljine 1 mm i zalijepio ih da formiraju kocku. Koristio sam tanji polistiren za izrezivanje i izradu poklopaca za sve svoje sanduke. Sve je zalijepljeno plastičnim cementom koji relativno brzo stvara čvrstu vezu topljenjem plastike. Zbog toga sada imam čvrste sanduke koje zatim mogu upotrijebiti turpiju za poliranje i čišćenje - pazeći da su sve strane većeg sanduka u ravnini, da su sve sanduke ravne na dnu i isturpijam sve tvrde kutove sanduka u zaobljenije oblike.

	  

	Prije nego što dovršim bazu, testiram položaj sanduka na svojoj bazi i uvjeravam se da vaga radi.

	  
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Sebastian Søgård, 12nd May 2025

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