XXXVII - Review: Winsor&Newton Inks

Hi!
This post is the first one of this type, a review of something, in this case some colours, the Winsor&Newton inks.
I'm always fashinated by new colours and new techniques, so I have put my eyes on those marvellous objects some months ago. I have tried to find some review or tutorial with a step by step and/or some confrontation if Winsor&Newton inks with washes, but I have never found something like that (if you have one please tell me!).

Generally I do not like to buy a black box, but those guys are very charming on their nice small glass bottles, and I have found something like "I have used it.." and according to the law "you'll never waste some colour, you have only to find where it fits " (formalized now, invented a lot of time ago) I decided to spend a very small amount of money (more or less 20€ on Amazon for the full set) to have them. The goal of this post is to see what those colours can give (finish etc.) more or less than a classical wash.

We are going to talk about price, package, tests on paper and on miniatures, some real applications and a conclusion.

I'll try to do a rather precise review but, if you have questions, ask without mercy!

PRICE:
I've spent very few money for them, eight colours for 19.86€ and if you want two sets of more or less different colour, you can have them for less than 40€. My interest was feed only by the first set.
With a price of 2.48€ they are a bit more expensive at the same price of a Vallejo here, approx 0.17€ per ml. To do a comparaison, divided the price of a colour for the quantity in a bottle, and you'll have the €/ml (or £, ¥, $ and so on).


PACKAGE:
Ok this is a quite futile point, but I love their vintage feeling!

I have bought a kit: each ink is in its small card box, in a bigger plastic box, with a small guide. The pots are made by glass with a plastic top, giving a nice feeling of weight -like old metal miniatures-.

FIRST CONTACT:
The colours are eight: must be sincere, I was interested in 6 out 8, but one of the last (and I know you can understand which ones I was not convinced about) is extreme and I have already used it before the most wanted.

In the middle there is the vallejo flat red, a kind of classical red you surely have used also in the GW's version, to use it as a compass to see if there is any sort of alteration due lights.
The colours are amazingly vibrant: very thin, you do not need to water them down for a regular use, but as we are going to see, put a large amount of them on your brush change the result a lot.
Also, they are always transparent, but with an intense colour above all with a full brush.

TEST:
First I used to test three similar colours from different range: must say I should have a different hue for the vallejo and the gw, a more reddish one like old ogrin flesh, but the goal is not to see the perfect colour, but the finish, so I hope you can forgive me this small imprecision. So here we go, Vallejo umber wash, Citadel agrax earthshade, Winsor&Newton nut brown

TEST ON PAPER:
For the paper test I have used some stripes of Ceramite white, vallejo black and Gw leadbelcher.
I have filled a brush of colour and passed it on the stripes.

As you can see the ink is more homogenous and less oily on paper. The vallejo wash is the less homogenous but it has the same behaviour in paper and colours, and the citadel is halfway between the two but imho is quite equal to the vallejo.

On white seems the inks covers better than washes, black not worth of mention for everybody.
It is quite nice on metal and seems that it has an homogenous feeling, different from the others. The washes when the colour makes puddles, cover more metal than the other two.

In the end, the washes have more variability and where the concentration is higher, they cover more, the inks is quite homogenus.

TEST ON MINIATURES
The test on the miniatures are made with the same colours above. On the left the ink, middle the vallejo wash, right the citadel.
I filled the brush with the colours and pass them on the miniatures.

The results are very strange: in the white, the ink has a glossy finish where the concentration is higher, the washes no. As you can see the vallejo is more "glazing" and the citadel goes more in the deepest part with less "glazing".
The metal is the most interesting one: the ink goes in the deepest part and leave the metal shining, with slightly glossy finish. The vallejo make the metal matt, the citadel seems to do the vallejo work with less matt finish.
Blacks are worth of mention only the ink, a kind of glossy, and the vallejo, it covers and glaze everyting!
I am arriving to some conclusions, but before them, we are going to see some applied use.

SOME EXAMPLE OF USE
Here some applied use: I used the yellow like a glaze, very few colour on the brush.
The colour is quite vibrant and very slightly glossy. The yellow here gives a really sick finish, but with more than a layer it could be more live, vibrant and glossy.

 Here a use like the example on the tests: huge amount of colour in one layer on the minis. I wanted a leathery finish, and the glossy (not too much however) is very pleasant.

Last I used with two thin layers the yellow, a layer of nut brown  ( the test one) on some dry layers of vallejo washes, and a bit of scarlett in the mouth with a big blob of colour.
I really like it, must be sincere.

CONCLUSIONS:
Those colours are different from washes: they are more homogenous, they have a range from slightly glossy to glossy, the colours are strong and very vibrant. You can control the grade of glossy finish, and it is quite useful.
Ah, more or less same dry time of washes.

They remind me the old GW inks like -my beloved- chestnut ink, OOP now: when there were only them (and I did not know the vallejo range), it was a problem also because they were very glossy (more than these one) but now I miss a bit them. I you have ever tried them, the w&n are similar in use but less glossy with more control in it.

Imho they are a bit strange, maybe not to use everytime -despite the temptation is strong- and they have very cool finish.
Happy to have bought them!

P.S.
As you have understood the Plague Lords are finished: soon the Showcase but, if you are curious, here you can find them!