Posted Pics of 1/35 Figures in 3 Color Desert Schm

I've tried using colored chalk ( ground into powder ) on some of my figures it seems to work for some ( to get a filthy field look ) , although a friend said I should try puting some chalk in the paint to thicken it up a bit then it'll also dry better? I haven't tried that one yet though, maybe after I get back from the field when I can start working on my project I'll try it? I'll let you know if it works in about a month or so?

The pattern looks fine. I would try some dull coat to get rid of the gloss.

QUOTE: Originally posted by Redleg1-7FA I've tried using colored chalk ( ground into powder ) on some of my figures it seems to work for some ( to get a filthy field look ) , although a friend said I should try puting some chalk in the paint to thicken it up a bit then it'll also dry better?...

I never thought of that. I believe that might just be very helpful

Just to clarify, your talking about regular simple, Carole chalkboard chalk?

Thinning the paint drastically wont necessarily make it dry, infact you might get a much less stable paint because you have replaced most of the binding medium with a volatile thinner.

I didn't mean I drastically thinned it. I meant thinning it drastically reduced the obvious brush strokes.

No matter what I do it still seams like its painted on. It looks like paint.

I hope BoyBuddho doesn't mind me doing this but-

http://members.aol.com/boybuddha/page11.html

That just looks real. It might as well be a cloth uniform on his figures. How do you NOT make it look like paint brushed on?

The chalk dry brush technique really helped take some of the shine out and rough them up. But it still looks like paint on plastic.

My first question......enamels or acrylics? No one seems to have asked that. I use acrylics almost exclusively on my figures and have had pretty good results. They are easier to layer and i have found that they are more forgiving than enamels.
If all else fails try sun light. i discoverd this on accident one time when i was in high school. jsut leave your figures in the light for a while. Adds time to your project but the results can be amazing.
By the way your patern looks fine...

QUOTE: Originally posted by T.R.Bridges My first question......enamels or acrylics?...

I know to hear me say this is going to scare you for the rest of your life but-

Longs Drugstore is my number 1 source for model supplies. If I'm not ordering from the internet that is. The nearest hobby store is 1.5 hours away.

I'm using enamels. Tester enamels at that.

I don't have the foggiest idea where to begin with acrylics. I don't even know what they are other then paint. We do have several art stores I can frequent. They carry some of the best brushes I have ever seen. One would think they where made for modeling. The have a short stocky, "fat grip" handle. Just like you would find on a marking pen, but with the most wonderful, elegant bristles one can fined. I'm very pleased. But I wouldn't have the foggiest idea where to start with acrylics. These are the paints in the tooth past like toobs right? Do they wash off? I thought they where some what "volatile."

Acryilc paint is a non volatile mixture that is more or less non-toxic also. The enamel paints you have should have a clear warnig as to their flamability, so be careful. Acrylics can be cleaned and thinned with water witch is always a bonus. If you have access to artist's oils and acrylics in tubes, maybe you should experiment with them and see if you get more satisfying results. It kinda sound like you are shooting for museum quality work right out of the chute....

Well after what you've said and after reading the, "how to make faded panel lines" in the Armor forum I took the dive.

I bout a tub of 1.25 Oz. tube of Winsor and Newton Artists' Oil Colour in Burnt Sienna and a .27 Oz. Winsor and Newton Cotman Water Colour Cadmium Yellow. I'm not sure if they are "acrylics" I'm not sure what that word encompasses or entails.

The Oil Colour works GREAT. I love it. I?m probably going to buy a tub of some shade of tan and go crazy on my M1. Its expensive though. $9 for 1.27 oz. OUCH!

However, the Water Color doesn't work. It beads up on the plastic just like water wood (go figure). I can work it in but it takes WAY to much work and I have VERY little control over the fading process.

I really have no idea what I'm buying. I wish I had expert modeling friends local I could work with. Or even canvas artists that can tell me the difference between all of them so I can make my own decision. When I ask the clerks they have no idea.

I might jump over to the Aormur forum and post there too.

I'm not sure if I would actually want to do the camouflage in oil colors. But the face definitely!

Ok, see my reply to your post on Windsor and Newton Oils/Cotman in the Armour section for some answers.

Now, as to how to get rid of the 'painted' look and the shine. Once you have finished painting your figures, and they have dried for a few days, airbrush them with a coat of Matt varnish. Although it is not available to me, I believe testors makes a product called 'dull coat' This will stop the figures looking shiny and painted. I use Humbrol matt enamel varnish, but you may not have access to this brand.

A little more about Acrylics vs Enamels:

Acrylics can be found in tubes, and are similar in consistency to the Windsor Newton Oils that you have. However...The Acrylics refered to by modelers are thin paints, like the testors enamles you are using at present. They are applied in the same way, although they dry faster. The main difference is that Enamels are 'oil' based, and acrylics are 'water' based, although one usually uses rubbing achohol (Isopropyl Alchohol) as a solvent.

The type of paint that is contained in tubes is desigend to be applied thickly, in the same fashion that an artist would apply oils when painting a picture, the type of Acrylics you are after are the modeling type, and are made by (amongst others) Tamiya, Gunze, Model Master. Just because Acrylics are loosely 'water based' does not mean they are the same thing as 'water colours'. Acrylics are chemically complex paints that are a fairly recent invention (around the 60s I believe) and are perhaps more accurately refered to as 'Alcohol based'.

Paints like Cotman water colours are designed for use on absorbent materials such as the heavy paper used by artists for water colour painting, and are usually applied as a wash. They are much simpler paints, being basically a pigment suspended in a water based gum binder.

I hope this is of help. I have seen a discussion in the 'Plane talkin' forum on www.hyperscale.com about the chemical make up of Acrylic pints, but it was a few weeks ago, and I can't find it now, perhaps if you search through this site (another great forum for modeling) you might learn something.

Well, thats more or less the kind of answer I was looking for.

Would it be safe to say buying bargain bin oil paints would even be OK?

It doesnt seem like the art stores around here like to stock anything in the way of oil paints. But they stock watter colors like they're going out of style. However, one of the stores does have a discount rack with oils about 1/3 the price of the Newtons. They're labbled in the same type of tube as the Newtons, they just dont say Windsor and Newton on them.

After reading what you've written, it would seem those would be perfect for what i want to do.

for weathering washes I would say that even relatively cheap brands of oils are ok, however I would stick to winsor and newton for your faces on your figures, as these will have a consistent fine pigment. The cheaper brands tend to be less even in their consistency, even lumpy, and this is actaully quite good for weathering.