Okay - I had the aircraft sealed with Future. Undercoat was ModelMaster Acryls. I diluted some MM Acryl flat black to the consistency of coffee like I have read. Applied my thin wash to the panel lines and let it sit for 1/2 hr to 1 hr or so so that polishing wouldn’t soak up the lines. Went back to polish and my wash wouldn’t come off. Not with water, not with thinner. I did recover the thing with some Future (does everything but cure cancer) and Q-tips and got the worst dried puddles off, but I think when the future dries, I suspect the whole thing will look like crap. Hopefully, I can respray it with more future to even things out, but I am not optimistic. [[|(]
You waited too long. You only wait about five minutes then wipe the wash off otherwise it penetrates the gloss and you end up right here. Read this article before you try it again … http://www.swannysmodels.com/Weathering.html
Don’t feel too bad, first time I did it I made the same mistake and had to repaint areas of my model.
Do you prefer artists watercolors to paints like MM Acryl for weathering?
I have never weathered anything either and don’t have any tubes of paint such as Windsor & Newton and others that are popular for weathering.
Have you tried pre-shading your panel lines? It gives a great effect and is easier to me than applying a wash. It also helps if you add a little detergent to your wash as it breaks the surface tension and ensures that the wash runs into the recessed areas instead of puddling on the flat areas.
Mike, if your surface is sealed you can use any medium that works best for you. I use oils, acrylics, pastels and even enamels for weathering. The only thing to remeber is that your medium should not attack the paint already on the model. In other words, if you painted with acrylics, you can weather with oils & enamels. If you painted with enamels, you need to seal the paint with an acrylic based coat before using oils or enamels.
I use artists acrylics like Grumbacher and Cotman as well as water soluble inks from Higgins. Check the weathering tutorials on my site for formulas and usage techniques.