can you help with washes???

Welcome to the forum Treadhead.

It depends on what type of paint you are using as to how you go about this. It is best to make sure you have an even coat of Dull coat. I usually do one light coat and allow to dry 24 hrs, then another light coat. Leave that for at least 48 hours to harden before doing anything else. I have found patience is important .

Washes should be around 5-10% paint, the rest thinner. It depends on how light the base coat is as to how much paint to use. I use artists oils and White spirit or Humbrol thinners. The thinners does not leave the yellowed satin finish the white spirit can.

give us a bit more info on what you are using and I'm sure we can help you.

welcome to the forums treadhead 88,

washes are made up by thinning the medium that carries the paint pigment. Acrylics can be thinned with water or alcohol or a commercialy produced thinner manufactured by the paint company. Enamels and oils are thined with mineral spirits or thinners.
If your base coat is painted in acrylic, you can use oils and enamels as a wash since the mineral spirits will not act as a solvent on the acrylic once its dried. Conversely the water or alcohol will not degrade the finish of an enamel or oil paint once it has had a chance to cure. You can use thinned washes of the same paint but it is tricky technique of knowing when to stop and that the base coat is thouroughly cured. Best to use the previous method for the best results.

You can "trick" out the washes by coating the base coat of your mdel with a clear coat like future floor acrylic or tamiya's clearcoat. This makes a finish that works well for washes as excess is easily removed and capilary action works very well. You'll actualy touch a wash loaded brush to a panel line and literaly be able to watch the wash shoot down the length of the panel line. The clearcoat will also help with making a good surface for any decals you'll add and prevent silvering. Once the wash is complete and dried you can add your dull coat last. (I use future and tamiyas flat coat mixed 3:1)

Flat coats of paint are a little more difficult to add washes to. Since the particles of the pigment create a "tooth" or rough finish, the wash will creep along the surface and "blossom" out away from the detail. A clear coat will allow the wash to snug up against the detail and outline it.

I'm sure you'll get plenty of other techniques and ideas from some of the other guys here. This is just mine.

Hope it helps. Look forward to seeing some of your work.

Regards
Mike

thankyou for the replies so far... i used testors panzer dunkelgelb 1943 paint, and testors flat black for a blackend end. I dont have access to an airbrush (it sorta broke at the hands of my little cousin) so if i have to spray a sealer coat on, it has to be in a can. as for my first figure, he is painted in acrylics except for the boots and the skin. If i were to add a wash to his uniform should i do it before i add the dull coats? Renarts, thankyou for the answer, but I am just a bit confused on what I should use for this particular project especially on the mortar tube.

Hi, I can't help much with the washes 'cause I'm not very good at them but I did want to say to FSM.