Vallejo Paints for Dioramas: Earth Textures, Pigments and Washes

Vallejo is one of the most comprehensive diorama material manufacturers available. Their product ecosystem covers every stage from texture base to final weathering effect — and unlike some alternatives, the products are designed to work together. Here's a practical guide to the key ranges.

Vallejo Texture Products (Water-Based Gels)

The Vallejo Texture range (also sold as Pumice, Sandy Ground, Earth Texture, Dark Earth, Lava) are thick acrylic gels with aggregate mixed in. Apply with an old brush, palette knife, or spatula directly to your base:

• Sandy Ground (light tan aggregate): ideal for desert, beach, and general earthy terrain. Dries with a natural sandy texture
• Dark Earth (fine dark aggregate): wet, freshly turned soil. Excellent for agricultural scenes, muddy trails, forest floor
• European Mud (coarser, warm brown): the definitive mud texture. Apply thickly for deep mud tracks; thin for dried surface mud
• Arctic Snow: thick white gel that dries with a granular snow texture. Mix with white PVA for deeper snowfall effects
• Lava (orange-red coarse aggregate): volcanic terrain, also useful for rubble and debris bases

These gels dry in 2–4 hours. Once dry, they accept any acrylic paint directly — no primer needed. Apply a wash (see below) immediately after the basecoat for instant depth.

Vallejo Still Water and Water Effects

• Still Water: a water-clear, self-levelling gel for standing water surfaces. Pour into a pre-painted, sealed base in thin layers (max 5mm per pour to avoid cracking). Tint with a tiny drop of Vallejo Transparent colour for depth
• Water Effects: thicker, more gel-like. Apply with a brush or palette knife to create ripples, waves, and splashes. Can be shaped before it cures
• Foam and Tufts (Vallejo Splash Gel): thick white gel for foam around rocks, waterfalls, and shorelines

Vallejo Washes

Washes (also called shades) are thin, low-viscosity paints that flow into recesses and pool in depressions, creating instant shadow and depth. Key products for terrain:

• Umber Wash: warm brown — the most useful all-purpose terrain wash. Apply over any earth or stone basecoat
• Black Wash: for deepening shadow in dark materials, stone, and metal
• Sepia Wash: warmer and lighter than umber — excellent for wood grain, bones, aged materials
• Flesh Wash: useful for sand and desert terrain — warm tone without the darkness of umber

Application: apply liberally over a dry basecoat, then let gravity do the work. On horizontal terrain surfaces, no technique is needed — just brush on generously and let it settle. On vertical surfaces, start from the top and brush downward.

Vallejo Pigments

Dry pigments are the final weathering step — applied as a powder over a sealed surface. Key colours for terrain:

• Light Yellow Ochre: dust effects on dry terrain, sand on stone surfaces
• Raw Umber: general earth dust, deepening shadows
• Light Rust: rust deposits on metal elements
• Carbon Black: soot, burn marks, exhaust deposits
• Dark Green: subtle algae and moss effects on rocks and stone

Apply with a wide soft brush onto a surface that has had matt varnish applied. The varnish provides "tooth" for the pigment to adhere to. Pigments can be fixed with a very thin spray of matt varnish from distance, or left loose for maximum realistic dust effect.

Vallejo Model Air and Game Air for Airbrushing

Vallejo's pre-thinned airbrush ranges work directly in any airbrush without additional thinning. For diorama airbrushing, Model Air (realistic, desaturated colours) and Game Air (saturated, for stylised work like Pokémon scenes) cover different terrain painting styles. See our dedicated airbrush diorama guide for technique.