Problem with enamel washes

[WLJayne]

Hi chaps,

I often like to add a black enamel wash to my 1/700 warships in the recesses just to create some contrast. I paint in thinned paint and then swab it with a cotton bud or soft brush wetted with thinners when it's dry - this is a pretty common technique I think. The problem is, I often get areas that start to get "bitty" and "grainy." Like small chunks of the washes are being moved around instead of it thinning and blending nicely. Could this be due to the type of thinner (humbrol enamel thinners) that I'm using? Would I get better results with turpentine or white spirit or something? I'm just after a smoother blend really. Any tips?

[dfqweofekwpeweiop4]

AK Interactive Enamel washes are quite good if you can't cure the issues with the paint.

thanks
Mike

[WLJayne]

I might pick some up as I'm looking at restocking my entire paint collection at the moment anyway. It's getting rather old and I really like the Vallejo dropper bottles and colour selection.

[Rob 1]

Some people prefer oil paints and turps, or low odour thinner (turps substitute), alternatively as Mike mentioned above, AK interactive wash, which I've bought and used successfully. No problem with getting evenly mixed thinned wash. The dark brown is good as it looks just like dark and shadowy dirt that accumulates in corners and recesses.

[colin]

Are you doing the washes on a gloss finish or matt

[WLJayne]

Semi gloss .

[colin]

That could be the problem, washes are best put on a gloss finish, even semi gloss will have a rough finish, not as bad as matt, but enough for the pigment in the washes to get caught in there staining and no matter what they don't seem to come out.

Also the paint finish on your model may have areas that the primer has dried before hitting the model, or even the final paint.

Lots of right angles on ship model superstructure, as you spray the paint/air gets blown around (bounced) at these sharp edges hitting the surface almost dry and compounding the issue.

You could try a black primer and lay down the top colour in very thin coats, this causes a shadow effect and gives dept to the final finish, try this you may not need to apply the washes all over and be selective where they go

hth

Colin

[Mike]

Perhaps try another brand of enamel before blaming the thinners? I know that in a similar vein some cheaper oils can separate out from turps/thinner due to a relatively coarse grind of the pigments, but with high quality paints/oils, the material stays in suspension better. Does that sound reasonable?

[phildagreek]

I use Humbrol enamels & Humbrol thinners for all my painting & I brush paint.

Is your varnish dry before you start to wash?

Is your paint well mixed?

Is your paint & thinners well mixed?

Is it thin enough?

Are you putting too much on at once?

[Rob 1]

As a wash, it is meant to be applied on a gloss finish for best results. If you don't like gloss varnishing and later re-matt varnishing, there is a bit of a cheat I use, by wetting the area to be worked on first with clean/clear thinner/turps, then while still wet adding the thinned wash into the corners and cracks where needed, but applied carefully and sparingly with a fairly fine brush, it runs well and smoothly into the corners, then any 'over-spill' is cleaned up with a bit more clear thinner/turps on just a moistened brush.