questions from a beginner-Arent´cha gonna answer?

I've got several answers:
1. Not sure what you mean by favorite techniques. Basically, you take a an old, flat paint brush, dip the tip in the paint you want to dry-brush with, then wipe out all the paint onto a rag or paper towel, then LIGHTLY brush back and forth across the item you wish to highlight. The more you brush, the more dried paint you deposit, hence "dry-brushing".

2. All of it. Horizontal surfaces, or those exposed to the sun should get more than, say, the bottom of the hull.

3. Not necessarily. Any gloss coat will do the trick. Just make sure the gloss you use is compatible with the paint you put on. Future, being an acrylic (I'm pretty sure) is compatible with all paints, except maybe tempera or water-colors.

4. Again, not necessarily. Cutting the carrier film as close to the "painted portion" of the decal as you can, and drybrushing over the decal after it's mounted adds to the painted effect. In addition, the use of decal softeners, such as Micro-Sol or -Set helps decals snuggle down into panel lines, seams, etc.

5. What do you prefer? I personally like enamels, and the way they go down. Ask any other member of this forum, and they'll probably say acrylics. Experiment until you find something you like. Pick your own colors, and see what works. Colors will be predicated upon the era, country of origin, and duty location of the armor piece.

6. A few drops of paint and a lot of thinner. Again, I prefer enamels, and then oils. Washes should be runny.

7. Wherever raised detail meets a surface--as a rule--. I have put a wash over the entire armor piece to enhance coloration as well as define detail.

Please check in the technique and painting forum sections for more information--and don't get impatient when no one answers right away.....If you don't get a reply, the question may have already been answered several times in previous postings. You may want to check there first before posting your questions...At any rate, good luck with your modeling!
Gip Winecoff

Well I agree with Gip right through 1- 4 and 6 so I won't even answer those ones.

5. Acrylics for me ... the colour selection is great and the clean up is extemely easy (being a naturally lazy person this is important). I use mostly Tamiya Acrylics with a little Model Master thrown in for good measure.

7. Personally I never use washes, I weather with drybrushing, pencil lead and pastels only.

I use acrylics. Tamiya mostly but I also use alot of non conventional acrylic paint as well. The tole painting market and faux piant market has a huge range of paint. The bottles are larger than those used for modeling so I don't reccomend them to beginners or if you are using them solely for models. The are great for trompe l'loiel or mural painting. And they are creamy to start with, but are very useful for any number of applications.

Future or any clearcoat comes in handy for not only decal work but also when applying oil washes. The wash "travels" along seams and edges better. Most of the time if I am going to add a wash I treat the whole area. If not I spot treat where the decals are going.

Pastels add nice weathering.

Mike

5) im going to have to say that a mixture of both acrylics and enamels on a model is the best I have found. Enamels adhere really well to the plastic of a model tank. I always try to lay down a base coat of enamel paint, usually light gray, or a lighter version of the color of my model. After this, I use acrylics. EASY clean up, and don’t have as many fumes. Oh yah, lets not forget that you don’t have to wait 2 days for the acrylics to dry.

Tamiya acrylics, and Model Masters enamels are what I use.

6) turpentine, and artist oils, or enamels. I don’t like using water and acrylics for washes, because as we all know water beads, and its harder to get into the smaller cracks of the model.

Hope this helps

Thanks to all! This info will help me a lot!