Drybrushing enamels for the first time

Ryan,

I also work with MM enamels and dry brushing can be a bit trying...to say the least.

Here are some of my general techniques:

1) When you think that all the paint is off the brush, it's not. Granted, there's not much there, but you don't want very much at all on the brush. Trust me...when you think you've rubbed allt he paint out of the brush, run it across a few rivets or bolt heads and across the edge where two panels meet and paint will come off.

2) I use 3 or 4 very soft sable brushes between 1/8" and 1/2" wide when I dry brush.

3) In my experience, you can only apply paint to each brush 3 or 4 times (and brush off the extra paint on a paper towel) in a sitting before you will either have to clean the brush and let it dry or switch brushes. This is because the enamel paint with start to get "gummy" and will bind the bristles together or start to clump up.

4) Each time you apply paint to the brush and remove the excess, you only have about a minute to maybe a minute and a half to work.

5) Take your time. I will typically spend 2 or 3 sittings for a simple dry brushing project and up to 15 sittings for more complex projects. I've found that the slower I go - applying the absolute minimum paint in each sitting - the better the dry brushing looks.

6) No one masters dry brushing...they just get pretty good at it with years and years of practice. This is my personal belief and it works for me.

Hope some of this helps,

Enjoy your modeling...

Thank you sir for the advice. I will now retire to my desk and put these suggestions to work. I guess I should turn the patience up a notch or three. Hooo-ra!
Ryan

It really sounds like Robert has got a pretty good handle on drybrush techniques Ryan. Both of us will benifit from his suggestion. Good question and great answer. thanks to both. semper fi, mike

I've painted and dryvrushed with MM for a time now, and I haven't really had that much trouble with 'em. just gotta be careful about amounts of thinner and pigment u use. sorry to hear about yur troubles though...

Ryan,
You may want to try laying a flat clear coat over your kit before you dry brush, Once that's done then go with Robert's technique, all should be well.

QUOTE: Originally posted by Spamicus Ryan, You may want to try laying a flat clear coat over your kit before you dry brush, Once that's done then go with Robert's technique, all should be well.

Great Catch!!!

I didn't even notice that when I read the post...duh!

Ryan, Spamicus is 100% correct. [Make this Rule 3b on my list] Always dry brush over a flat finish...otherwise your paint has nothing to "grab onto".

Enjoy your modeling...

Some great pointers on how to drybrush. I always use sable brushes for this and have varying size and thickness depending on what I'm tryint to accomplish. I don't use thinned paint but rather paint from the bottle, using the bottle edge to remove as much paint as possible then wiping the brush itself with a cloth I use for this purpose. I also have a bottle of enamel brush cleaner to hand to prevent the clumping that Foster describes.

Dry-brushing is definitely an exercise in patience. Each time you dip and clean the brush, varying amounts of paint stay behind, so that first stroke can also give varied results. I use extra sprue to take that first stroke and then either wipe the brush again or hit the area I'm working on and that seems to regularize the results a bit more.

Great advice guys! I appreciate your help. It makes total sense. I'll be up late tonight experimenting.
Ryan

Robert has given the best advice you will probably receive on this subject. But I would add (or expand upon his advice) a couple of items that I consider critical to getting a good to excellent finished product.

1. Patience - As Robert mentions go slow and take your time - it pays in the long run. Also when you reach the stage that you feel that just a little more will make it perfect - Stop! You are going to find that 99% of the time if you continue the finished product doesn't have that subtle look you were looking for, rather an excessive weathered look.

2. Practice - Weathering (which is what you're doing) is a learned skill. And as with any learned skill, if you don't do it on a regular basis, you are going to forget how to do it properly. (40 years ago the Army tought me how to send and recieve morse code at up to 60 words per minute - and I was good at it - could I do it today? - no way). I keep a few models around that I either screwed up during building or the origional kit wasn't worth building as a display model and use them for trying new techniques or practicing old techniques so I won't screw up the current project. So if I'm going to do a technique I haven't done in a month or more, I practice it on them until I'm satisfied that I probably won't screw up my project with them. (Which allows me to find or create new and more innovative ways to screw up)