I am sure somebody who is a more capable painter than me will come along and add to this, but basically the GW washes are straight from the pot, idiot-proof shading. You will need to cover the whole area as the wash will colour whatever it is painted on to, then just make sure that some runs in to the recess, and repeat if necessary.

 

Washes are more a kin to watered down paint. It is more so designed to cover everything and darkens and shades. Inks are more so designed to flow into cracks. I would recommend watering them down slightly.

The GW washes are nice but the P3 inks are great, as well as their Armor Wash.

 

Djinn has it right with the difference between the washes and inks. However, there are some things that inks can do that washes can't really. One is that you can paint a model a very light undercoat, like white, and then use a pure ink on top. This is especially effective in animals and other fur type stuff. Another thing inks do well is mix into paint. For example, you can create a "blued steel" look by adding some blue ink to your favorite metallic paint. Or, make a gold more rich by adding in some red or chestnut ink, then paint it on the figure.

 

It's pretty much all been said for you already. As Djinnsaid, make sure you DO water down the inks (especially GW inks, I've never used P3 inks so am not sure about them but I'm sure it applies for them aswell) as pure inks straigt from the pot usually leave a shine as if it's been Gloss Varnished which is okay when you want it shiny, but a shiny face is strange sometimes

 

thats not entitrelly true Recluce you can do all that with the washes as well.

 

Inks and washes can both achieve a similar effect: painted liberally onto a rough surface, they will flow into the creases and add depth or shading to a mini. The main difference I have found is that the washes have more of a matte finish while inks tend to be shiny. This makes the inks useful for adding colour to metallics, or giving a 'wet' look to surfaces like leather, jewellery etc. Washes, on the other hand, are excellent for adding depth to duller surfaces like skin, clothing and terrain features.

 

Oh yeah inks can also be added to painted to caue the color to become richer, like I mix turqoise paint to turquiose ink when I blend to help the color have more of a pop to it.

The biggest difference I could see if that Inks are transparent causing things to tint and washes are opaque. When you put a single coat down the difference is not as appartent, but as you layer more you can see it. You can eventually paint with a wash if you layer enough, inks may appear to take on the color of the ink but it is in fact just tinting what you painted.

 

anyone know where too buy good inks now that GW has stopped selling them?

 

Privateer Press aka P3 makes really good inks. They are the ones I use.