Okay. I know this has been covered 7 ways from sundown, but I’m still getting my butt kicked. I’m trying to get the shading done around raised details to accent the lower edges - things like instruments, panel lines, and rivets. I’ve read everything I can find here and elsewhere. I’ve tried enamels over acrylics, acrylics over enamels, both over Future, as well as oil paints and water colors. If I put them on over gloss, they bead up. If I use detergent to stop the beading, I get suds and a cruddy deposit. If I put them on over flat, they stain and I can’t get the excess off. If I rub hard enough to get the excess off, it also takes off what I want on there. If I rub gently enough to leave the accent color where it needs to be, it will take me 15 years to finish this sucker. I’ve tried letting the different coats dry for days, and I’ve tried them after a few hours. Nothing has worked. That wing has been painted and cleaned about 30 times! About the only thing I haven’t tried is the tempera paints that were written up a year or so ago because I can’t find them in less than a quart size, or a set of a half-dozen quarts.
I’d appreciate any advice anyone can come up with - I’ll try nearly anything! To make matters worse, I’m trying real hard to quit cussing. You don’t suppose that’s the problem, do you?
I use Createx Colors airbrush paints. They were made for T-shirt airbrushing and you can find them at Michael’s Art supply or other places online.
I put Future on the model and the next day when it’s dry it’s ready for the wash.
I mix brown with a drop of black, add water to thin it more, add a drop or two of Dawn dishwashing liquid and mix it up real good.
Use a paintbrush and put it all over the areas you want to highlight and let it dry.
You can even wait overnight if you want as the paint does not adhere well to plastic like some acrylics. After it’s dry I dip a Q-tip in water and run it in the palm of my hand or on a paper towel to remove the excess water as you want it damp not wet.
Then rub it lightly over the areas you painted and the Createx wash will come off real easy…sometimes so easy that you will have to do it over again and be careful how hard you push.
this is going to seem very basic but it works for me. what i do is take any paint to do the bottom coat. when that paint is dry, i take the color i want to use for the upper parts. put a little on a brush… Here is the crucial part, now take a paper towel and wipe of the excess paint off the brush. then after that gently rub the brush on the model. i have yet to figure out how to do more than one individual accent color one one small area. most likely there are better techniques than this but this is what i do.
Hopefully i answered your question. keep in mind that the "dry brushing technique only works on raised surface I think i understood your question.
Thanks very much for the advice. I will try the t-shirt paints. The bit about rubbing it off but not too hard is pretty much what’s been giving me a fit. I’m working on bare aluminum, so if I don’t get it pretty clean it looks really bad. Guess if I could get it evenly smudged it might be okay, but that’s not what I had in mind. Anyway, I really appreciate the pointers!
MikeV, have you ever tried using anything besides a cotton swab? That’s what I’ve generally used, too, but I was wondering if maybe a foam sponge just barely damp might work. It has to be a little bit compliant, but still soft. Just wonderin’…
I’m using the technique my good friend MikeV uses as well. It’s basically the Sluge Wash method. I had the same issue years ago. What I noticed I was doing was I was mixing the wash too thick, so when I went to remove excess, I removed to much and I was back to square one. Ive refined my technique since, using my Tamiya paints and have now mixed a relatively thinner wash. I still use Q-tip for removing excess but I also employ paint brushes. I can now be a little more precise and I find I don’t have to repeat the wash as often. My main wash color are varying shades of Neutral Gray XF-53.