I have been reading a lot about weathering with oils and reading the book from Mike Rinaldi titled Tank Art. I have just a tube of oil in burnt umber for doing some panel washes but lots of acylic colors. I was wondering if anyone had tried using the acrylics and some drying retarder to do a similar kind of thing with the filters and rendering? I don’t want to have to buy a lot of oil tubes if my acrylic stash can do the trick.
Just curious as to what knkowledge and experience you all may have. Thanks!
Pilot heres a photo of an oil wash I did on a locomotive. I used three oil paints in black, gray and white. You can see the effect below the boiler that I had just started. Any good oil paints work and they’re quite inexpensive. I put in a few colors dabs then clean away what you want with Turpenoid. I use this method for any number of things. 3,4 or 5 tubes of paint and Turpenoid will last a very long time. I don’t think an acrylic can give you this overall effect this easy.
Yup. My few attempts at washes with acrylics have not turned out well, except in a few cases of flesh tones. In the past I mostly used enamels for their superior properties in washes, and recently stepped up to oils. You can’t beat oils.
As someone who is about to embark on trying oils for the first time, I"m having a difficult time finding a step by step (or so, more or less) guide on how to use them…
I will be weathering 1/35 tanks.
So correct me here please:
A dab of the oil in the right place.
a damp (with paint thinner) brush applied to the oil dab, and brushed downward (or in the direction where it needs to go)
What you are describing above is a dot filter. I’ve had the best success when I’ve applied the paint to a bit of cardboard as a palette and given it about ten, fifteen minutes to soak away the excess oil, thereby leaving mostly pigment. Next, a small dot, and as you say, a lightly damp ‘thinner’ paint brush. I personally dab the ‘thinner’ paint brush out on a paper towel and then test against the back of my hand. When it leaves only a slight amount of sheen, I gently wipe, as I don’t want to remove the oil paint, but smear it. I use a large fan brush for this purpose.
If you are looking for a pin wash, or panel line wash, I again set the oil paint on cardboard, allowing the excess oil to soak away. I mix the pigment with turpenoid until I have something about the consistency of a cup of coffee, and then apply to panel lines, letting the capillary action carry the mixture along the lines. In other words, a light hand. Excess can be wiped away with turpenoid as described above.
It all depends upon the look you are aiming to achieve, and this is only my technique, I’m sure everybody has their own. I’m also sure you’ll have to find what works for you. Personally, I use both techniques over a gloss coat, especially the pin wash. As I’m still experimenting with dot filtering, I use it over a gloss only in case I make a mistake, it’s easy to clean away. This being said, I think dot filtering ‘bites’ better into a semi gloss or matte coat, I’m just a little scared to try that.
Washes, I wait 20 minutes or so, the drier it becomes, the more the excess will ‘streak’ for me, which can look good on aircraft. Filters, I start wiping right away. You don’t want that to dry and stain. You also want to watch what sort of finish you’re working over (enamels, acryls) and do a test piece first.
