I have put winter whitewash camo on my Panther (all Tamiya acrylics ) and a sealer ( Testor’s emamel clear cote spray). I want to do an oil wash with Windsor-Newton oil paint and a terpenoid thinner. How much thinner do I use with a small dab of paint? What size, type of brush should I use? What is the best way to get capillary action? Do I wash the whole model in burnt umber and then do a more detailed pin wash for bolts, hinges, rust etc? Is the wash to be wiped off or matted? If so, what shouild be used? If not wiped off, is the wash just left to dry, evaporate and leave the paint colorl? Thanks for considering these simple questions from a beginner!
I usually use a plastic soda bottle lid to mix the oil and turpenoid in. Using a toothpick I get about a BB sized blob on it and mix it into the turpenoid in the bottle lid. I usually fill the lid about 3/4 of the way with turpenoid.
If your goal is to add some depth to the recesses and accent raised detail, then you’ll probably want to gloss coat your tank first. If you also want to grubby up the flat areas, then the gloss coat isn’t necessary. If too much gets in the areas you don’t want it to, use a paper towel or q-tip to clean up the excess.
I know some people add just a tiny bit of dish washing soap to the mix, which helps prevent it from sticking to the flat areas however I’ve never tried that.
On armor, I have a short wide brush that I use to slop the oil wash all over, each time I dip the brush in the lid I stir the mix to keep the oil mixed and suspended in the turpenoid.
If I’m doing more of a panel line wash, like on an aircart, I use a thinner, longer brush. I try to keep the oil wash just along the panel lines and raised details, letting capillary action suck most of the the pigment into the lines. After an hour or so I’ll clean up an excess outside of the panel lines using a q-tip slightly moisened with turpenoid. Don’t use too much otherwise you risk flushing some of the oil pigments out of the panel lines.
For the treatment to bring depth to recesses and emphasize raised detailsl is the Testor’s enamel clear glosscote adequate as aclear cote or do I also need to do a light
Future spray through my airbrush? On clean-up after the wash do you rub or mat with a towel/q-tip? How long do you wait to do clean-up? The proportion mix and soap suggestons are very helpful!
Be careful as you can’t use turpenoid over an enamel clear coat, it will damage the finish. Turpenoid is very gentle on acrylic, both paints and Future (clear acrylic).
After the oil wash is “dry” you can gently rub away and clean any areas that you don’t want the wash to be on. Just put a little bit of turpenoid on the q-tip, not too much though. You don’t want turpenoid to drip all over the place. Just moisten it enough so that you can gently wipe away any “dried” oil wash where you don’t want it.
If you mess up and slop too much on, you can wick it away immediately with a paper towel and/or a q-tip.
I’ve already done the Testor’s enamel clear cote over the acrylic paint. Can you put Future on the enamel clear cote and then do the oil wash with the turpenoid?
I’ve never done that, but I would assume it’s ok. I know you can do an acrylic wash over enamel. Do a forum search and you should find a bunch of posts regarding washes, including how to do a wash over enamel paint.
Swanny also has some great wash tips on his website.