Acrylic paint for wood decks

[Vlad]

I currently use Humbrol 71 "Oak" as my standard base coat paint for wood decks on ship models. I'm really happy with the colour but am starting to get frustrated with its paintability - it's part of the Satin range, not Matt, so it's a b*** to brush, always streaky, needing tons of coats and obscuring detail in the process.

 

I've recently started using some Revell Aqua paints and am really impressed with how well they brush, so I was looking for an alternative colour to test and maybe become my new standard wood deck base coat. I was drawn to Revell Aqua 35 "Flesh". Has anyone used this colour for wood decks on ships?

 

Any other recommendations for acrylic colours that might be appropriate, and brush on well?

[Midland1965]

The usual acrylic recommendation in 1:1250 modelling and the one I use for holystone scrubbed teak decks on my 1/1200 and 1/1250 models is Vallejo Iraqui Sand, 70.819.

 

It brushes on well (a couple of thin coats normally) and Vallejo regular paints seem fine for airbrushing too, appropriately thinned. Although it is supposed to be mat, I find it prone to drying slightly satin when brush painted, so I sometimes add a touch of ordinary talcum powder, as originally recommended by Martin on the Waving Flag wargames figure painting blog.https://blog.vexillia.me.uk/2011/05/painting-tips-5-talc.html.

 

 

https://midlandshipyard.blogspot.com

[Vlad]

That looks like a very nice colour, but I'm not a fan of ordering paints online. Humbrol and Revell Aqua I can just walk into a shop whenever I want and get a new pot. I may consider it though if ever buying from somewhere that stocks it, to add it to the order.

[Black Knight]

On 11/08/2019 at 10:24, Vlad said:

I currently use Humbrol 71 "Oak" as my standard base coat paint for wood decks on ship models. I'm really happy with the colour but am starting to get frustrated with its paintability - it's part of the Satin range, not Matt, so it's a b*** to brush, always streaky, needing tons of coats and obscuring detail in the process.

Add some Winsor & Newton 'Flow Improver' to it. It'll make it far less streaky although it'll make take a wee bit longer to dry

[Midland1965]

I agree about not liking buying paint online but there are plenty of UK stockists of Vallejo, either bricks and mortar stores or attending modelling or wargames shows. I have occasionally bought Vallejo by post and found eModels in Stoke very good - you can also call in and buy at their warehouse if you are nearby, though it isn't a shop where you can wander about to browse.

 

Alternatively, I had a look for a paint equivalent chart and http://www.creativemodels.co.uk/paint_conversion.php?manufacturers_id=1 suggest Humbrol Matt 121, Pale Stone as a close equivalent to Iraqui Sand. I know you specified acrylic but Humbrol enamel certainly ticks the readily available box.

[Vlad]

9 hours ago, Black Knight said:

Add some Winsor & Newton 'Flow Improver' to it. It'll make it far less streaky although it'll make take a wee bit longer to dry

 

Ah. I do use that to improve other paints, but I didn't think of using it here as part of my issue with Humbrol 71 is it feels too thin and needs too many coats to come out right. I thought flow enhancer might make that worse, but will give it a spin since as I said, the bottle of W&N is right here next to me.

 

3 hours ago, Midland1965 said:

I agree about not liking buying paint online but there are plenty of UK stockists of Vallejo, either bricks and mortar stores or attending modelling or wargames shows. I have occasionally bought Vallejo by post and found eModels in Stoke very good - you can also call in and buy at their warehouse if you are nearby, though it isn't a shop where you can wander about to browse.

 

Alternatively, I had a look for a paint equivalent chart and http://www.creativemodels.co.uk/paint_conversion.php?manufacturers_id=1 suggest Humbrol Matt 121, Pale Stone as a close equivalent to Iraqui Sand. I know you specified acrylic but Humbrol enamel certainly ticks the readily available box.

 

The only hobby shop within several dozen miles of me is a Hobbycraft. 🙁 which isn't that bad as it's next to my work so easy to pop out at lunch for a restock, and they have excellent stock of Humbrol and Revell paints, but basically nothing else more specialised.

 

I moved away from Enamels a long time ago and it's not something I want to go back to.

[Chewbacca]

On ‎18‎/‎08‎/‎2019 at 09:45, Vlad said:

I moved away from Enamels a long time ago and it's not something I want to go back to.

I had done the same (and then discovered Vallejo paints which are my current acrylic go to) but I did a "Weathering by Airbrush" course at the Pendon Model Railway a couple of years ago and that re-introduced me to enamels.  Both have their advantages and disadvantages and I routinely swap between them depending upon the effect I am trying to achieve.  Why is it you are so averse to them?

[Vlad]

1 hour ago, Chewbacca said:

I had done the same (and then discovered Vallejo paints which are my current acrylic go to) but I did a "Weathering by Airbrush" course at the Pendon Model Railway a couple of years ago and that re-introduced me to enamels.  Both have their advantages and disadvantages and I routinely swap between them depending upon the effect I am trying to achieve.  Why is it you are so averse to them?

From a pure painting point of view (brush painting this is), enamels offer several advantages in coverage and self-leveling that sometimes make me wish I was still using them. For a long time I was reluctant to switch to acrylics until I was forced to due to using 3D printed parts that enamels don't interact well with. The reason I don't want to go back is because trying acrylics was a revelation. I realised that before switching, painting had become a huge chore, with me dreading the smell of the strong chemicals for thinning and brush cleaning, and having to plan builds around paint sessions when I could be bothered to deal with all that. With odour free water based paints, I can just have my work area set up in a corner of my desk next to the PC, sit down and paint something whenever I have a spare 10 minutes, and not need to dread opening a bottle of white spirit if I missed something for a touch-up. Not needing to worry about any drying time interrupting the flow of a project is another huge bonus.

Edited September 7, 2019 by Vlad

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

White spirit is stinky stuff. Maybe try naptha and see if it offends as much.

[Vlad]

1 hour ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

White spirit is stinky stuff. Maybe try naptha and see if it offends as much.

The paint itself is stinky regardless of any additional fluids in use: can't just put a freshly painted model down on the desk and leave it there (my desk is in the lounge). Nor just casually pick it up and continue working on it 30 minutes later if that's what I feel like.

 

I really hope you guys do an Acrylic range some day by the way. 😎

Edited September 7, 2019 by Vlad

[Troy Smith]

On 18/08/2019 at 09:45, Vlad said:

and they have excellent stock of Humbrol and Revell paints,

Just look for a Revell Aqua that is like the colour you want, there are a few possibilities from a look at the range.  I'd suggest trying some likely looking pots,  as some in the ballpark could be then mixed to get a result you like,  if you look at a Revell paint chart they often have RAL or FS595 numbers which may help. 

 

Vallejo Modelcolour  is very good paint to brush with, and Creative stock them, worth looking at their weekly specials as well, eg at the moment they have an earthtones box, which could be useful to a ship modeller?

http://www.creativemodels.co.uk/av_vallejo_model_color_set_earthtones_x16-p-11076.html

 

one point, Vallejo have the VERY irritating habit of using paint names that have specific meanings elsewhere.... their Middle Stone is not like RAF Middle Stone for example.   I have got some of the paint sets 'on spec' as I do figures on occasion, and the sets have a good spread of colours, less useful if you want exact matches,  though I do make brush out swatches and compare to colour chips I have, which turns up a few matches. 

 

Creatives weekly specials are worth a look, over £30 and 'free' shipping,  so if found something you wanted you could add in a pot of Iraqui Sand for example.

 

HTH

[Terry1954]

16 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

I did a "Weathering by Airbrush" course at the Pendon Model Railway a couple of years ago

That sounds like a very interesting course. Pendon has always fascinated me and I never realised they did this sort of course. Might have to check that out!

 

I also agree that both acrylics and enamels have their uses, as indeed do some of the other solvent based paints like Alclad. I use all types, depending on what I'm trying to achieve.

 

Terry

[Chewbacca]

On ‎07‎/‎09‎/‎2019 at 19:38, Vlad said:

From a pure painting point of view (brush painting this is), enamels offer several advantages in coverage and self-leveling that sometimes make me wish I was still using them. For a long time I was reluctant to switch to acrylics until I was forced to due to using 3D printed parts that enamels don't interact well with. The reason I don't want to go back is because trying acrylics was a revelation. I realised that before switching, painting had become a huge chore, with me dreading the smell of the strong chemicals for thinning and brush cleaning, and having to plan builds around paint sessions when I could be bothered to deal with all that. With odour free water based paints, I can just have my work area set up in a corner of my desk next to the PC, sit down and paint something whenever I have a spare 10 minutes, and not need to dread opening a bottle of white spirit if I missed something for a touch-up. Not needing to worry about any drying time interrupting the flow of a project is another huge bonus.

I do fully understand that.  The smell doesn't bother me - apart from old-style Tamiya which were disgusting - but the ease of clean up and drying time means that I use acrylic for probably 70-80% of my work and enamel for the rest. 

On ‎08‎/‎09‎/‎2019 at 10:27, Terry1954 said:

That sounds like a very interesting course. Pendon has always fascinated me and I never realised they did this sort of course. Might have to check that out!

 

I also agree that both acrylics and enamels have their uses, as indeed do some of the other solvent based paints like Alclad. I use all types, depending on what I'm trying to achieve.

 

Terry

It was very good.  4 of us from our local modelling club went up and they arranged a bespoke day for us but they do a whole range of different courses.  It was obviously very railway centric but the basic skills were the same regardless of the modelling genre.  I think the thing that surprised me the most was the time delay you have with enamel if you make a mistake.  One of the exercises we did was to spray a small test piece when we started around 10am and then completely cleaned it off with white spirit just before we left at 4 by which time to my eye it was completely dry and I would have overpainted it.