Hi all,

Was hoping some of you would be willing to discuss your weathering and drybrshing techniques, including the type of paint and brushes you use. I was drybrushing the Maya today and for the life of me I just can't seem to get it right. I am using Tamiya acrylics mixed with retarded and thinner on a wet pallet but the paint still dries relatively quickly. I also clean the brush but still end up with brush strokes.

Now for the pin washes I use oil paints thinner down but I still end up with spots where I touch the brush to the model. I tried to clean it with thinner and a cotton swap which worked a bit but not as good as I hope

So with all that I would be greatful to hear how you execute these parts of your build

Thanks

Dave

Hi Dave

A couple of good questions for sure! There are different approaches and I hope the fellas will chime in with their techniques and thoughts on this. I guess I will toss my thoughts down for you to start this off....

For the dry brushing, Personally, I have found acrylics and oils to work the best for this. Since oils take longer to dry, I lean towards the acrylics more often than not. However, if you were to use oils, a still soft bristled fan brush or flat brush works best. Take a small dab of the oil color you want to use and place it on a small piece of cardboard and let sit for a few minutes. You will begin to see the oils leech out from the paint into the cardboard. This does two things, stiffens the consistency a little as well as removing the oils which in turn takes away the shine that oils can create.

From here, the concept for the oils and acrylics are pretty much the same so....

Acrylics...while you can dry brush Tamiya paint, it actually is not an acrylic as it is solvent based. Also, Tamiya is an outstanding airbrush paint but is not the best paint to use when hand painting....the solvents in it will react with the paint and effectively remove itself when try and keep a wet edge....enough of that...

Any of the acrylics....Life Color, AMMO and AK and Vallejo will work excellent. I will say that out of all of them, I have found the Vallejo Model Color to be the best as this is designed to be hand painted.

Once the oils have been leeched or you have your pallet of acrylic paint ready, dip the brush into the paint. On a small clean cloth or paper towel, you need to basically wipe off the paint you put on...sound stupid I know, but once you get to the point where you cannot see the paint coming off the brush, you can dry brush. The its a matter of lightly brushing the corners and edges and whatever else you are trying to dry brush.


Washes....First, always make sure you have a clear coat down. Even though you can use oils and/or enamels over acrylic paint and they do not interact, in some cases, especially with paint like Tamiya, the thinner will work its way into the paint and can cause problems. Best to add a clear coat to protect your work whether this happens or not.

Oils are fantastic...so are the newer enamels effect and even acrylics. As for what it sounds like, you are applying a wash over the entire model and then noticing you want more build up around raised features...yes?

First, washes can be applied that way, but the results are typical of what you are seeing. If you thin the wash to an almost translucent mix (80% +/- thinner to paint (oil or acrylic) you will create a Filter. Apply the filter in the manner in which you did with the wash and this will bring both blend sharp contrasts as well as bring out color tones. If the overall effect s too light for your taste, you can add another coat or more if you like. Best to build up effect in layers.

Washes can be in the 50% to 75% range of thinner to paint, depending on what you are looking for with effects. Washes are applied with a fine tipped brush and should be built up in layers for the best effects. The application of the washes are into crevasses and around raised features to simulate shadowing, dirt and grime buildup and to build depth. If using oils or enamels, you do not need to be too neat. Once the capillary action of the wash goes into and around objects, move onto another section. After a few minutes, 5 to 10 depending on how wet you applied the wash, you can come back with a brush humid with thinner (almost dry on the back of you hand) and work the excess wash off of the areas you don't want it on.

With acrylic washes, this is a little different...the acrylics dry much faster and it is best to work in sections and not get too far ahead of yourself. With a damp brush (not wet) with water, dampen the areas you want to apply the acrylic washes too, take the wash and apply it. The take the clean damp if not dry almost brush and stipple the outside edge of the wash to soften the edge and blend things together. If you let the acrylics dry for too ling...anything over 5 to 10 minutes, it becomes more difficult to remove what you don't want...unlike the oils and enamels which you sometimes have a couple days to work as long as you are using a thinner.

The rest of this stuff is a matter of taking an old model you weren't going to build anyway (test subject) and just play around with different things over and over.

Here is a video of me using acrylic washes. With the exception of the time frame you need to keep with acrylics, the concept is the same with all washes...just the oils and enamels are more forgiving when trying to get used to working with them. Also, even though the newer enamel washes, such as AMMO, are toted as "designer effects", they are the best thing to learn on. They react the same as oils but you do not need to mix them...they will always be the same color even if you need a new bottle after a year.

Sorry for going on a bit here...best of luck! Keep playing with the application and you will dial it in!

Hi Dave,
I would say I am new to weathering having always just built and left clean. This was because my earlier attempts on planes always ended badly because I think I tried to weather with acrylics on acrylic, especially when you try with Tamiya as Todd pointed out.

For my last build I bought the AK Interactive Weathering Set for German ships. (I think the German part is irrelevant). But it comes with six enamel based colours, greys, browns, white and red which are very easy to use. I actually bought the 60min video that is sold separately but very useful to guide you along. You need white spirits to modulate the effects but you have a several minutes to work on the effects before they dry permanently.
I have since added AK enamels for oil, grime and green algy/slime (they're separate ) which I think covers most needs for a ship.

cheers

Michael

Dave I almost follow Michael route. I hand paint with Lifecolor acrylics, good clean brush which sometimes I'll clean during painting with just plain tap water. Once the paint has dried over night or for 24hrs I'll then use AK washes. I to brought the German sets but added the salt streak and slime as well, other washes within their range can be added as you need just use the colour in the name as a guideline forget the German/American bit.

Now as the base colours are water based acrylic the oil wash can go straight on without a varnish coat although if you have decals applied you will need to give this a protective coat, for that I keep a bottle of Vallejo Matt varnish to hand and brush this over the decal, let this dry/cure as you would the paint. I keep a separate set of brushes for use with the oil wash and also a bottle of white spirit to hand, I start by using a small 3/0 brush to just add small dabs of the wash to places that look like they should be dirty compared to the surrounding area ref to any photos is useful here, I then go around with a flat size 4 brush slightly wet with white spirit and draw the wash in the direction of natural flow. You can go over the area again and again to remove more or less depending on the look you want and also how wet the brush is with white spirit. For salt streaks you'll almost need to paint these with the wash but using very small amounts of the wash, let it dry a bit but not completely then with a damp white spirit size 1 brush start your process of washing it removing as much as you feel you need to, remember you can alway go back and add more but it's harder to remove excess once dry. On the the dry part of this, as the oil wash drys it will change/fade a bit, also once dry but the same day on large areas like the hull if you see a spot where you have a tide mark you can rub this with your finger or cloth and remove the mark (carefully).

If I remember the next time I do it I'll take some photos, the deck is the hardest to do and is best done before you add fittings, wouldn't try it with a wooden replacement deck though.

Todd, Michael, Luciano,

Thank you so much for your responses. I will definitely take what you have said and adjust my approach. I remember reading that Tamiya paint was not really an acrylic but I didn't realize that is was not suitable for dry brushing.

oh darn, guess I need to buy more paint..

I now remember that I forgot to apply a layer of clear gloss before the pin wash so that is my fault.

thanks for the tips regarding the oil paints. Never thought to put it on cardboard to allow the oil to leech out of it.

So another question to add to this, do ya'll weather and dry brush as you go or at the end?

I am going to look into AK and MIG washes for future use..want to try cause I am getting a little frustrated that I cant get it to wash the way I want it....grrrr

thanks again for all the information guys, I really do appreciate it.

Dave

Hi Dave,
I did it as I went along. I built the superstructure in sections complete with everything including railing, then painted everything at the same time to ensure consistency of colour, then weathered the sections because it was easier to manage that way. (All of this I learnt from AK's video)
Pros to this is that is easier to work in small sub-structures, except the hull of course, the contra is that you may/will find the extent of the weathering varying from structure to structure. (We are here to learn I told myself )

cheers

Michael

Things will come around. Best thing to do is play around with things and dial in what you are happy with. I would not go too nuts buying more paint. Find 2 or 3 bottles of neutral colors you can use on just about anything...light grey, off whit and or a tan. After that you can find the right ones you want or feel you need to mix.

Typically I don't dry brush at all really. From time to time I do, but highlighting and shading I go after with the airbrush most of the time. It does have its benefits though. If I do use it, I typically do so as I go versus after the fact. Too much stuff in the way otherwise!

Always apply a wash or pin wash over a glossy surface, whether your favorite gloss coat or Future. A matte surface will absorb an oil wash and cause staining. I prefer oil for washes for the reason that it is longer drying so you have more time to manipulate it or even remove it. An acrylic wash will dry almost instantly and if you make any errors, you will be stuck with them. I use artist's tube oils thinned with oderless thinner (brands vary from store to store). This kind of thinners dry fairly quickly (overnight) to a matte finish. The oil wash, while still wet, can be brushed with a wide soft, dry brush, against raised detail (like sweeping) where the pigment will collect and outline the detail better. The oil wash can also be easily removed with a slightly damp brush. I use a white pencil from a colored pencil set (Prismacolor, ie.) for highlighting. Sharpen the pencil and use the edge, not the point, and lightly go over raised details and surface lines. You can also do the inside rims of porthles, etc. I find white works well on any base color.