acrylic sludge wash

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Techniques
1

I’m finishing up my Academy Mig 21 and I want to bring out the panel lines and rivets. I just layed down the decals and a good coat of future. What I would like to find out is a good mixture and ratios for an acrylic sludge wash. What I’ve tried is a 10-3-1 mixture of alcohol, tamiya blk, and dish soap. 1st attempt the wash didn’t stick. 2nd attempt I let dry a little longer and it left wierd streaks. [?]

2

Check out Swanny’s site, he has good instructions as to how to make a good wash. I use artist’s oils, either the true oil ones or the water soluablel oils and they work nicely for me. I haven’t really tried a sludge wash yet.

3

thanks for the lead. I jumped the gun on this question. As soon as I posted it I saw a similar question about three lines down. Swanny suggests the Grumbacher paste which I’m not familiar with but I plan on doing some more experimenting. I’m new to this forum as of yesterday and I’m amazed at the support and comradarie I’ve witnessed. Cheers to fine scale and the modeling community.

4

Polyscale acrylics are pretty good. Used it on my models. no problems yet. I just make a mix of liquid detergent, water, and paint.

5

I like to use chalk pastel + water + detergent. Kinda sooty and ashy when dry. But when it dries it’s easier to clean up the unwanted sludge.

6

I use distilled water, MM Acryl (usually a dark gray, like gunship gray or something similar), and just a drop or two of liquid dish soap - no precise ratio for me, just "TLAR: (“that looks about right”). I THINK (but not really sure - I basically just copied the technique from a Paul Boyer article in FSM) that the dish soap helps you to clean up the unwanted sludge easier. It IS easy to clean up, provided you have a good glossy surface you’re working on. Unwanted sludge comes right up with a q-tip…

7

How long do you wait before you wipe the sludge off?

James

8

well everything turned out great. I used a mix of 10-3-1 of water-
grimy black/ black- and dish soap. I let it stand just until it looked like
the surface was drying through (a few minutes) then wiped away with a
damp (not wet or soggy) towel. I used this on my Mig 21 and a 1/72 163 Komet. I’m very happy with the result, it added quite a bit of realism. Thanks everyone for the input.