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Hi, what sort of panel wash should I use for a black WW2 era RAF aircraft? I normally just splash on the excellent Flory’s dark wash on my kits which works well but I’m building an early Spitfire with the black/white undersides & I think the wash won’t show up in the black half. Any suggestions?

Remover Sponges – Round, Teardrop & Wedged Drop Ammo by Mig Jiménez This new product from Ammo is a repurposing of a make-up sponge to use in our hobby, which is something that happens a lot to modellers and modelling. They are made from shaped foam, and can be machine-washed if you pop them into a mesh bag, which is another tip from those wot wear make-up. Removing what? Removing a number of things, such as washes that have been applied and the excess needs removal after a suitable drying period. The different shapes are there to allow you to choose the most suitable one for the size and shape of the area you need to work on, and the big round one can be torn or cut along the pre-cut wedge shapes, giving you some nice points to work with as well as flat or curved sides. You can also cut them in any way you feel would work to give you the best results. As well as washes, they can be used to tone down, move around or soften pigment applications where the fixer used has been non-permanent. You can also dip them in pigment to apply it to the model, so the uses are many, and no doubt someone will come up with more tricks as time goes by. The softness of the foam will allow them to conform to the surface, removing all but the pigment or wash in the crevices and recessed lines thanks to the absorbency of the foam. If you swipe along the line of flight for an aircraft, or gravity for an AFV, the resultant streaks can represent rain marks or the effect of dirt being pushed along at several hundred miles an hour over time. Sure, they’re make-up sponges, and you can get them for a similar price at a make-up store, but now you can also go into a model shop without any embarrassment if you’re bothered about that sort of thing. You can tack some on to an order online in this Covid-19 lockdown affected world, and they’re guaranteed not to add much weight to your parcel. Very useful if you're just a couple of quid away from free shipping Wedged Drop Sponge (A.MIG-8560) A pointed tip, and a flat bottom. Sounds horrible! Round Sponge (A.MIG-8561) Useful for large areas, or if cut apart, has flat, curved and sharp surfaces available. Teardrop Sponge (A.MIG-8562) Great for flat or less curved surfaces, and for padding at pigment you want to adjust. Conclusion I’ve not done much if any modelling this year, so I’ve not tested them myself, but I have seen them used in a video that I now cannot find (typical!), and it was almost miraculous to watch, cleaning the excess wash off effortlessly, and softening a pigment application. When I finally get to the stage where I need to clean off a wash or adjust a pigment application, I’ll be sure to use them. Review sample courtesy of

Hello All! I am posting as I could really do with some advice from the experts! Essentially I am currently trying to improve my modelling, and have decided to try and use a pin wash to highlight the panel lines in the aircraft I am currently making. Before this is done I have read that you should coat the model with a gloss varnish in order to allow the wash to flow better over the model’s surface. I have therefore been looking into buying a gloss varnish, but have been stunned by the variety on offer and am really confused as to the difference between them all. I really don't want to end up using a varnish which will melt away either my paint work or the decals. My model is painted predominantly with Humbrol enamel paints, with some acrylic paint used on the landing gear. I was hoping to use an oil based wash to highlight the panel lines, which I would neaten up with a cotton bud dipped in white spirit (although I am open to advice on this front if you think a water based wash would be better?). Therefore what gloss varnish would you recommend? Should I look to get Enamel or Acrylic Varnish? Also which brands are best, as I have heard that some varnishes tend to go cloudy or yellow over time? Finally, although I need the gloss coat for applying washes I would like to have a matt finish to the aircraft. Therefore, which matt varnishes would you recommend for sealing the wash and decals and finishing off the aircraft? Thank you in advance!

I'm keen to experiment with using washes to improve the finish of my models, so I would be very grateful for any tips on which wash(es) I should try - colour and brand - and how to get the best results. The models I make are mostly large scale WWII era aircraft, though I also do some vehicles for dioramas. Many thanks in advance for any help!

Hello one and all, Right I am sure questions like this have been asked so many times. I have looked through the backdated posts and couldn't find one that answered my problem specifically. So I turn my modelling failures to the great gurus of Britmodeller for help (was that enough sucking up?! ). Right, I have mastered a few things since the return of the hobby a year or two ago. Try as I might I just can not get the "simple" art of washing sorted... and I dont mean behind my ears either. I have tried everything I could find info on, I have used Vallejo pre-mixed wash, thinned paints, thinned oil paints and even florywash/promodellers wash. Try as I may, they either stick like wet tissue to a school toilet celling or they come off quicker than a cheap hookers knickers. I do not know if its the scale I am modelling in (1/144 some 1/72). Now I must stress I have been using only Humbrol gloss coats to do this (acrylic). I'll write down what wash I used and what happened. Vallejo pre-mixed wash - stuck fast, thinned paints (acrylic and enamel) - mixture of sticking and coming off depending if it had dried. thinned oil paints - came away after an hour of drying. Flory Wash - now in some places it stuck hard and fast despite me washing it with water. While other bits just came straight off. I do have some Humbrol clear, but I haven't been bothered to try it as I assume it's the same formula as a varnish, or close to it. I have been using a cotton bud and wiping in circular motions dipped in whatever medium it needed to get the item off. I'm totally lost as to this "simple" task. I'm not really impressed with the black flory wash either... my one is all bitty despite how well I mix it... :/ Please tell me it's something I am doing wrong and it's a really simple problem. Sorry for the noobness. Kind Regards, Dazz

Hi Guys I ran into trouble today. I have spent an age slowly making my Mig-21 beautiful. It is painted in its base coat ‘AK interactive Aluminium’ and Klear coat varnished. I use an airbrush and our UK equivilant of Klear varnish ‘Pledge multi-surface floor polish’. I gave the model 2 thin coats of varnish, 4 hours between coats. then waited 19 hours before applying my oil wash. The wash is made of oil paint and white spirit. I applied it using a brush liberal, and after 8 minutes proceeded to remove it with a dry kitchen towel. I felt like it wasn’t shifting away enough wash so i decided to dampen some kitchen towel with water. After a few wipes i noticed my AK interactive Aluminium starting to shift, then everything came away down to the plastic. Thankfully I tested first on the rear elevators, so my model is unscathed. Does anyone have any ideas what I’ve done wrong? Did i need to wait longer for the varnish to cure? Any ideas would be appreciated Kind Regards Matt

So I've got the Kitty Hawk UH-1Y 'Venom' in my pile to do, and after hearing that the suggested colours in the instructions were incorrect, picked up the Mig Ammo USN 80s to Present set (I'm really hoping these pay off, because I haven't used Mig Ammo paints before). I'm wondering what combo to use of the paints included. Light Compass Ghost Grey will probably be the main colour, but the darker hue I'm pondering whether to use the Blue Grey, or Dark Compass Ghost Gray. Also, I'm not quite sure what kind of panel line wash to apply over an aircraft with this colour scheme. I have Mig neutral wash, Dark wash for NATO tanks, and US Desert vehicles wash currently, but none of these are probably suitable for ana ctive aircraft (Desert wash is good for making things look old, though). Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks, Gaz

Having recently returned to model building after many years I'm very interested in the advances that have been made in detailing and finishing of kits. In the painting arena I'm taken with the whole idea of the oil wash to bring out detail but can't shake off the art and decorating training that says oil and water-based paints don't like each other much. In particularly I'm intrigued by the order in which one applies the oil wash to a model. It seems that many people add this wash after decalling but do you then go on to apply a finish coat, say a matt one, after the wash? If the paints are acrylic and the final coat is acrylic how does it react with the oil? My knowledge of paints says that acrylic should not be applied over oil. What do you do? Perhaps the thinning of the oil prevents it being too sticky and most of it is in the panel lines etc but it seems to me any residue will undermine a topcoat that is water-based. What's the general experience in the application order of the finishing coats? Cheers.