What`s The Best Ratio for "Black Wash" For Panel Lines?

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
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Been Wanting To Superdetail a Few Aircraft That Are “Almost” Finished And Was Wondering What Ratio,Thinner To Black Of Flat Black For The Recessed Panel Lines.

I Made A dark Wash To try And “Dirty” Up the Landing Gear Bay And Think My Thinner ratio Was Too Much as It Caused The White Paint To Bubble A Bit

I Wish To Avoid This On The Outer Exterior.

As Always,Thank You
(I Know This should Probably Be In the “Paint” Section,But I Read Here Most)

Thanks
Phil

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RT4957 hi,
yes you’re right, i suppose this question should be in the techniques forum, but i know what you mean: i think most people read either here or in the armour forums!
anyway, i think your “bubbling” is becuase you are using say acrylic on acrylic (right?), so that the thinner from the wash is eating into the original coat? use a protective layer of future, which is what i normally do…
talking of which, i usually follow the experts…
check out swanny’s site:

http://www.swannysmodels.com/Weathering.html

this link goes striaght to what you want, but there’s loads of other stuff on it as well. enjoy…[:)]
regards,
nick

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What he said[#ditto][:)] and [#welcome] to the forum!

Hi there Phil. If your paint starts to bubble when you apply a wash, you should apply a coat of future/clear or laquer before applying the wash. This way the paint is sealed in and won’t suffer. You could also apply a wash that doesn’t need thinner (i.e. acrylic wash), which shouldn’t affect the enamel paint underneath. I have no experience with latter technique though… not certain it always works as advertised. If I need a wash to be partially absorbed into the (flat)enamel paint, for a more blended-in look, I use a wash of artists oil paint (black and burnt umber) and thinner, applied into the panel lines with a 000 size brush. Capillary action draws the wash into the panel lines. Too much paint? Dab the 000 brush in pure thinner and apply a little drop: problem solved. I then go over the panel line lightly with a apper tissue to remove any excess paint outside the panel line.
Hope this answers your question. Happy modeling!

Filibert

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All I have to add is this:

Try as many different things as you can and see what you like. Then mess around a bit and see if you can’t improve on someone’s technique. I’ve taken many a technique and added my own twists to get the results I want.

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