How thin is your.....

[marineboy]

Just started experimenting with very thin paint for minis... paint thinned 5-10 times from the bottle and cut with flow enhancer, then doing controlled washes on small areas of the mini to build up color through multiple coats.. This is is big departure from what I usually do, with paint thinned 2-3 times.

The paint still seems to pool, though. Anybody have any ideas or experience with this technique?

[green stuff]

I usually dilute my paints until they have the consistancy of skim milk. If you're getting the puddle effect, you're probably diluting too much your paints or putting too much paint in your brush.

[marineboy]

I'm trying to work with transparent layers, so that any color build-up can be cover with another color and change character, rather than simply being covered and replaced by the new layer.

Looking at the Racjkham catalog, seems to me that this is what they're doing, building color upon color upon color through many layers of controlled washes. Could this be true, or is it just me that's seeing things wrong? ???

[Klute]

This is how I paint most of my stuff though I call it glazing.

Sounds like there is too much paint on the brush if its pooling.

[marineboy]

I'll remove some paint from my brush.

more later

[Ritual]

I usually don't thin my paint very much on the pallette, but instead work with a moist brush. That way I can use the same paint and vary it's consistency by varying the amount of water stored in the brush. It takes some learning before you have control of how much water you need to store in the brush to get the desired consistency, though. But that's the way I do things...

[Nathan Caroland]

It kills me when people say 'like skim milk'!

I'm DRINKING skim milk and I still don't know what the hell that means.

[Duende]

You're drinking skim milk???

I'd rather drink my paint-water.... :cheers:

[green stuff]

It kills me when people say 'like skim milk'!

I'm DRINKING skim milk and I still don't know what the hell that means.

It means that it's thin enough to have transparency properties but still thick enough to not go running around everywhere . But you still need a base color on the mini to make it work otherwise you'll spend your life putting those layers on.

@Duende : the grossest thing I ever eaten is a skim milk yogurt ... no taste :mad:.

[Equus]

Skim milk yogurt?!? Bleah!

A little more on topic, I have that same problem sometimes with my glazing. It would make sense that it's too much paint, since I usually have that problem when I'm getting impatient.

[marineboy]

It means that it's thin enough to have transparency properties but still thick enough to not go running around everywhere . But you still need a base color on the mini to make it work otherwise you'll spend your life putting those layers on.

That's a good definition, gs. I've been wondering about that too. Skim milk must be almost 100% water, so by that token water would have the consistency of skim milk (or so I reasoned....)

@Ritual -- does that mean you are picking up unthinned paint from your pallet with a moist brush and blending on the model? Sounds both interesting and difficult....

As to your comment, Kulte, I've been trying to use less paint on the brush (less paint, fewer strokes per load, and no, this is not the sexual innuendo thread), seems to be working very nnicely! Better control with paint placement, much less risk of bleed....the only serious negative consequence is now it's going to take forever to put a serious coat on! ARGHHHH!

[EricJ]

I definately agree that a good majority of questions on thinning paint have more to do with how much paint people keep in their brush rather than actually how thin the paint is. The real trick is painting with almost nothing in the brush, and stretching it for many many brush strokes

I have NO idea how people paint in very very dry environment, I really don't! I start with a brush that probably wouldn't even qualify as anymore more than slightly damp most of the time, and even when it gets slightly dry around here (which is rare being so close to the ocean), I have a hard time blending right!

[Ritual]

@Ritual -- does that mean you are picking up unthinned paint from your pallet with a moist brush and blending on the model? Sounds both interesting and difficult....

Yes, that's basically it! I assume it's a bit tricky if you're not used to doing it this way, but I find it to be a very convenient and time-saving method. I can do glazes with very thin paint and then, without mixing new paint, apply something completely covering if I want to. When I do layering I usually start with applying quite covering paint and when I want to make the transition to the base colour I gradually increase the amount of water stored in the brush and slowly turn the layering into feathering. I don't need to do anything to the paint on the pallette during this process which saves me a lot of time and frustration.

[marineboy]

Sounds like it'll save alot of paint, too! Sooner or later (usually sooner) the mixed paint on my pallete dries, forcing me to mix a new load, shooting for the corrrect thickness and color.

question --how do you control the amount of water on your brush without washing the paint off?

[Ritual]

Brushlicking!! :peace:

But, I do wash off the paint too, sometimes, and put on new paint when the brush is sufficiently moist. I never put on much paint on the brush so it's never a big waste if I wash something off.

[Spacemunkie]

The only reason I thin my paint is to stop it drying so quickly on my palette. I also slap the paint onto the mini and then feather it with a damp brush. If the paint is too thick, I just lick the brush and wipe off what I don't need.

I also lick the mini itself if I make a mistake! Rancid eh? :peace:

[EricJ]

ok, I've heard of brush lickers, but I think this is the first I've heard of a mini-licker!!!

[Drake Farstrider]

Thats awsome Spacemunkie is a mini licker! :rockon:

[marineboy]

I also lick the mini itself if I make a mistake! Rancid eh? :peace:

Spacemunkie, what technique do you use to control the amount of spittle that you deposit on the mini?

Seriously, I've started adding a small amount of gel medium to the thinned paint (and decreasing the amount of paint on the brush), seems to work fine for controlling puddling.

Next question: I notice that Vallejo Game Color paints break up when they're thinned out -- this with ivory white and ultramarine blue, in any case. Anybody else get this effect?

[Ritual]

Jerome, I've noticed that too with VGC. It helps if you stir the paint quite vigourosly, though.

@Spacemunkie

:puke: :der: