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alecras234

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Hi im building a 1 72 panzer 4 G,  I'm at the painting stage and even though i brush painted it thinly, the paintwork looks patchy.   I never know how much water to add to my revel aqua paint, so i thought, would a wet palette help?   This is what i do now to thin my paint,   i dip my brush into the paint pot and take some paint from my brush to a palette and then add one squirt of water to the paint.  If i had a wet palette that blob of paint would be thinned straight away.   That's how i look at it, i don't know, what do you think?  Thanks

 

Ash

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The person that you need to ask is Stix. He does all of his painting by brush and is a master at it. I believe that he's also got a video on Youtube.

 

John.

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When you say "looks patchy" do you mean that you can see the plastic in places? If so, don't worry apply another coat once the paint is completely dry. Note, this is not the same as "touch dry", leave the paint for at least four hours, preferably overnight before the second coat. If your paint has not dried fully, applying a second coat can drag the first coat and loosen it.

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Follow what I've said below, and that will send a notification to him.

If you just do a reply to this post and type @ followed by his name on here which is Plastix, you will get a drop down box with his name in it. Click on that and you will get this; @PlaStix

 

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On 13/06/2020 at 14:10, alecras234 said:

Hi im building a 1 72 panzer 4 G,  I'm at the painting stage and even though i brush painted it thinly, the paintwork looks patchy.   I never know how much water to add to my revel aqua paint, so i thought, would a wet palette help?   This is what i do now to thin my paint,   i dip my brush into the paint pot and take some paint from my brush to a palette and then add one squirt of water to the paint.  If i had a wet palette that blob of paint would be thinned straight away.   That's how i look at it, i don't know, what do you think?  Thanks

 

Ash

A wet pallete is to keep paint wet, not to thin it.

 

For brush painting acrylics,  I add some paint to a pallets, and use a 1 ml syringe, I suck up 0.95 ml distilled water, and then 0.05 flow improver, adding a drop at a time, until the paint flows well.  This requires a bit of practice, but just enough mix to get the paint to flow easily. I brush with an approx 1cm flat brush, (as used by Plastic in vid, and visible in image below)  brush it out in multiple directions..

The flat brush i really important for this. 

 

  The paint goes on thin, and can be re coated as soon as touch dry.

@PlaStix has a YouTube video on this.  I'll try to add link

PS Link 

 

 

 

 

If you don't have flow improver, a TINY amount of washing up liquid may work,   flow improver breaks the surface tension of water, making it flow better.

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Hi alecras234. Thank you to John @Bullbasket and Troy @Troy Smith for mentioning me.

As both John and Troy mentioned - I have done a video about how I paint the base coats on kits using acrylic paints, like Revell Aqua paints, using flat brushes.

The video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwdZtF_dpDY

Like you do - I use water to thin the paint. If you watch the video you will see that I use a plate for mixing my paints on. I have the plate on a slight slope - off my cutting mat - this keeps the water at one side of the plate. Like you - I use a brush to get the paint from the paint pot and put some onto my plate. I then use the same brush to get some water and mix it with the paint on the plate until I get a consistency I think will work.

I would mention at this point that it's always worth experimenting with paints you haven't used before on some scrap - that way, if it doesn't work well, you haven't spoilt the actual kit you want to paint. When I got back into modelling I wanted to be able to get the kind of finish some airbrush users achieve but without an airbrush. I don't actually have anywhere I can use one and, anyway, I enjoy the process of brush painting. I watched hours of videos on YouTube to see different styles of brush painting. I didn't opt for one particular method but combined several techniques I observed into something that works for me. My technique may not work for you so be prepared to try watching some other modellers brush painting videos.

All paints are different - even from the same manufacturer. Different colours in the same range can go on differently. Sometimes manufacturers change their mix. Humbrol acrylics, for example, are generally one of my favourite paints to use - but some batches are really oily and difficult to use. Revell Aqua paints are usually excellent but the odd colour can be more troublesome.

I will give you an example. In the photo below I had applied the first coat of Humbrol Acrylics number 106 - Ocean Grey. This was the first time I had used this paint for some time and it had either dried out in the pot a little or I hadn't stirred it enough, I thought. (Please note; the darker lines over the panel lines are an Anthracite pre-shading) The Ocean Grey was thinned with water and applied with a medium flat brush.

49981019886_2ac70850f7_b.jpg

Hopefully you will be able to see that the brush strokes were clearly visible - not something I usually get. The paint itself seemed a little gritty.

 

I stirred the paint again - but this time much more thoroughly. I still wasn't sure it was quite right - but with some careful work the next couple of coats got it to look like this:

49981272257_5cacf0e8fe_b.jpg

It did look much better.

 

The photo below shows the finished aircraft - all of it was painted by brush.

49998619022_b54cae0da8_b.jpg

 

I cannot really describe the technique I use but the video will perhaps help show what I do to get the finish I do.

 

I use Humbrol flat brushes for base coats and usually Army Painter fine brushes for more detailed work. There are are lots of other ranges out there that may work better for you.

 

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

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Hi Stix, thank you very much for the painting advice, i have ordered humbrol brushes which should arrive on on Tuesday.  I have just asked my sister for a small plate which she has given me to use for painting.   I have got a few cheap brushes which to be honest are not good i don't think.  I have 2 flat brushes which lumps of paint gather then get transferred to the model, Do i paint in one direction or is it best to brush back and forth? I think that trying it your way will be better.   

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Whether airbrushing or hairy-stick painting, a "milk" consitency is often referred to. It's better to go too thin and use multiple coats rather than too thick. I find two or three coats will usually do it. Depending on what you're modelling, a slightly patchy finish might actually be a good thing - a lot of people spend ages using an airbrush to achieve a patchy finish on purpose, and weathering will tone things down anyway.

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Hi alecras234. Hope you are well. I hope the brushes arrived okay and you find them useful. Remember it's worth having a practice with them first on something scrap. I took a bit of time practicing with them before trying them on a kit. With regards the paint mix - Model Mate is quite right - thinner is better. But I find there is no precise way to work out the amount of water per the amount paint. When I mix it on the plate - as in the video - I go by how well it seems to look/feel on the plate. Paint consistency can change from batch to batch but it's easier to build up thin layers than smooth out far too thick layers of paint.

Good luck!!

Kind regards,

Stix

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