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How to apply Quickshade Wash

Depth and shading

Quickshade Washes are designed to quickly create spectacular depth and shading for your miniatures. Simply apply a wash to bring out impressive detail. There are a wealth of colour options at your disposal, and each of our washes are 100% mixable, making your go-to shading solution options virtually endless! For really fast paint jobs, try skipping the basecoat and adding Quickshade Wash over a primed miniature! For fantastic metallic effects, apply a coloured Quickshade Wash on top of a coat of metal! Try it out and marvel at how quickly you can take your painting to the next level.

Choose the right wash for your purpose

If you are new to painting, covering the whole miniature in the same wash will give you a good result. But you can take the next step by starting to apply different colours of wash on to different parts of your miniature for even better effects. I.e.: Use a Flesh Wash on the skin, Dark Tone fore metals and Red Tone for red cloth and Strong Tone to tie the rest of the miniature together.

How to apply Quickshade Wash


You can use Quickshade directly from the bottle or on the Wet Palette like we do in this guide.


Generously apply your Quickshade Wash of choice to the miniature. Here we are using Military Shader for the green skin.


Sometimes the wash will pool in areas where you don’t want it. Remove excess by soaking it up with the tip of your brush.


Quickshade Wash will pool where the brush is lifted from. You can use this knowledge to control where the wash flows by lifting your brush in the areas you want the wash to flow to. Generally aim for the lower parts of the model and not the raised areas. When you are happy with the result let it dry before moving on to shade the next colour.

Dipit says

Controlling the flow of wash is a skill you will get better at over time and improve your results!

Dipit says


We chose Soft Tone to shade the yellow armor. That way it won’t be darkened too much and keep the yellow looking bright and vibrant.


For the rest of the model – the metal parts, trousers, and bandages – we chose Dark Tone. Now you are ready to highlight the model.


Gold benefits especially well from Red Tone Quickshade Wash which helps create depth and character.


You can change the colour of metallic armour by using half Quickshade Wash and half Quickshade Wash Mixing Medium.

Our go-to Washes