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For wash, ratio of water to paint?

17K views 10 replies 8 participants last post by  Mark McGovern 
#1 · (Edited)
For paint wash, ratio of water to paint?

To make a wash, how much water added to paint? 50/50?

one additional question, can I use enamel (will be a dry brush) on top of acrylic?
Acrylic will be dry.
 
#2 ·
I find acrylic washes, especially with water, do not work well. They just bead up. They also dry with "tide marks"... dark concentric rings of pigment that form as the wash dries on the surface, leaving big spots.

You can dry brush enamel over acrylic, and vice versa.

If you want to make an acrylic wash, you might try a little rubbing/isopropyl alcohol as a thinner, or Windex. You need something "thinner" than water to break the surface tension and make it flow better. Washes made with alcohol or Windex can soften an acrylic base coat.

I use Weber's Turpenoid in the blue can or bottle, along with artist's tube oil paints to make my washes. Its safe over most cured hobby paints, and if in doubt, a clear sealer will protect your base finish. Note Turpenoid IS NOT Turpentine. Its a synthetic, odorless solvent. Turpentine will NOT work well.
 
#3 ·
I myself am just learning abt this. As a general rule, Acrylic can be applied over enamel, but not vice versa. If you did that, you will end up with weird colours, or worse, the weird pattern don't seem to want to dry. Those 2 colours don't mix, esp enamel over acrylic. Learned that the hard way.

For a good wash, esp for beginners like me, it was suggested that I try out water colours, or poster colours. Acrylic or oil are for more advanced modellers

Step 1 - make sure your model has all the desired primary colours applied along with their decals. You will need to gloss coat your model thoroughly first so the wash don't stick. Allow at least 24 - 48 hrs to dry

Step 2 - Mix your water colours in a small cup. You need not use too much paint as what you want is the rinse in the cup. I usually just apply black and white to get shades of grey. Once you have your concoction, use a flat brush and apply away. Don't get scared when you see your beautiful kit haphazardly coated - that's the beauty abt water colous - they're water soluble.

Step 3 - allow 5 - 10 minutes to dry, then use a piece of cloth that is already soaked with water, and gently clean off all those smuck. Whalla.

No like? Then do what I do - entire model kit goes gently into a tub of water, carefully clean and dried, then try again :tongue:
 
#4 · (Edited)
BKS,

I begin mixing my washes, whether oil- (Testors, which I use most of the time) or water- (Vallejo Acrylics) based, by dropping a little paint into a container. I like to use the plastic cups that yogurt comes in; the plastic stands up even to lacquer thinner and the yogurt's good for you. There are dedicated hobby eyedroppers available in hobby shops for transferring the paint from the bottle to the cup, but if you know somebody in the medical profession, they can grab you a handful; some tool vendors at model shows also carry them in bulk. It's more economical to underestimate the amount of paint than otherwise, because I can't save washes - the solvent breaks the paint down and in a short time the pigments settle into clumps instead of being dispersed in a thin coat. I can always make up a fresh wash if I need more.

Then I add the solvent - mineral spirits for oil paints, water for the acrylics. Rubbing alcohol, as djnick suggested, helps the acrylic wash flow better. A drop or two of liquid detergent added to the water will do the same. How much solvent do I add? That depends on how opaque I want the wash to be. Another advantage of mixing washes in yougurt cups is, the plastic is usually white. So I can brush the wash up the sides of the cup and see how opaque it is, then adjust the density by adding more paint or solvent.

Different finishes will produce different effects. If you're building a vehicle, a gloss finish will cause the wash to settle into crevices like panel lines. After the wash has had a few minutes to set up it can be wiped off with a rag as ryoga suggested; wiping in the direction of the airflow, gravity, or whatever will help weather your model. If you're applying the wash to a flat surface, it will still settle into the crevices, but it will also stain the raise areas also. That's where you'll want to drybrush with the base and highlight colors to pick out the raised details. I prefer doing that as opposed to the wiping tecnique because wiping can rub off the underlying paint, plus the rag can absorb the wash out of the crevices.

I have not had ryoga's experiences with oil based and acrylic paints. When acrylics - Testors in particular - first came out, they didn't perform well over oil-based paints. Nowadays, I pretty much use oil-based and acrylic paints over or under each other with no ill effects. I can apply a wash made of the same kind of paint as the base coat as long as I allow that first color to dry thoroughly. The wash must be brushed on as quickly and with as little scrubbing as possible, or it will dissolve the base color and make a mess. I don't find that Dullcote makes an effective barrier against an oil-based wash; a light touch is the best protection against disturbing the base coat when working with oils over oils.

When the wash is thoroughly dry, I can drybrush over it to restore the base color to the raised areas. A lighter shade of the base color applied sparingly makes the higlights pop. I'll use oil-based or acrylic paints to achieve these effects.

It won't take you long to master wash and drybrush techniques, I promise; all you'll need is a little practice.
 
#6 · (Edited)
To make a wash, how much water added to paint? 50/50?
Best wash with no worries about reacting with your paint: artist oil mixed into mineral spirits. I prefer Winsor & Newton paints. Just enough so that it has a coffee-like appearance (if you're using dark paint like burnt umber or black for instance), and make sure the paint is well-dissolved in the spirits (mix, mix, and mix some more). Unlike thinning paint, here you are adding just a smidgen of paint to some thinner. What you don't want to do is make a wash using the same medium as your paint, i.e. if acrylic paint then don't use an acrylic wash. With oils and mineral spirits it doesn't matter.
 
#7 ·
Hey thanks for the tips Mark,I am preparing to do some washes very soon on a couple of things. Dr.Deadly's and Frankenstein's faces. I have painted a lighter base color and will wash a darker color over that. I plan to try some of my wife's make-up remover pads (cotton) to blot the excess wash off. Then paint eyes and small features in. I was just going to try Testors airbrush thinner mixed w/testors flat black.
 
#9 ·
Again, what djnick said about airbrush thinner (geez, I'm always quoting this guy!).

Here's another tip, Moon: after you've got Frankie's basic flesh color established would be the best time to go in and paint his eyes. You won't be able to avoid slopping some of the eye colors onto his heavy eyelids. That's okay, becuase you can touch them up with more base flesh color once the eyes are done. Then do your detailing with wash and drybrush.

Good luck, and don't forget to post pics!
 
#10 ·
Again, what djnick said about airbrush thinner (geez, I'm always quoting this guy!).

Here's another tip, Moon: after you've got Frankie's basic flesh color established would be the best time to go in and paint his eyes. You won't be able to avoid slopping some of the eye colors onto his heavy eyelids. That's okay, becuase you can touch them up with more base flesh color once the eyes are done. Then do your detailing with wash and drybrush.

Good luck, and don't forget to post pics!
Thanks for the advice Mark starting to paint Frankenstein and the Three Stooges. Your tip as always should work well.
 
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