VANTABLACK – INK

Vantablack, acrylic ink

An extremely dark black ink from the acrylic The Inks range. The name alludes to the idea of a maximally absorbing black; this is, however, an ordinary modeling acrylic ink and not a technical coating. It is thinned with water or with an acrylic thinner and, like the other inks, it works by layering rather than by one covering coat.

Use

• The deepest shadows in folds, gaps and under overhangs, where the eye is meant to reach last.
• Darkening a shade you have already mixed without shifting it toward blue or brown.
• Underpainting in a dark color over which a lighter acrylic is then laid.
• Bringing out parting lines and engraved detail on small figures.

When a primer is left out instead

A primer belongs under paint almost always, but black is where the most common exception lies. If the model is already primed in black, another black layer under the ink will help nothing and will only clog the detail. Nor is there any point in priming an area that is meant to be entirely in the darkest tone and where brightness will not be worked anywhere. Adhesion still decides: on smooth plastic or resin with no primer the paint rubs off, so if you leave the primer out, do it only on a surface that is already painted and flattened. And beware of the opposite extreme: a deep black with not a single lighter transition merges into one flat area and the detail disappears, so it pays to leave a lighter base under it at least on the edges.

Who the ink is for

For painters of figures and gaming models who build contrast by layering, and for modelers who need the darkest tone for recesses and shading.

Keep out of the reach of children, shake before use and ventilate the room when spraying.