Acrylic Paint

Acrylic paint is funny stuff.  Although it is thinned with water, after it fully cures it is fairly waterproof!  However, whether it is proof against the thinners in whatever wash you are using is something else.  Best bet is testing on scrap.

Don Stauffer

Acrylic paint is funny stuff.  Although it is thinned with water, after it fully cures it is fairly waterproof!  However, whether it is proof against the thinners in whatever wash you are using is something else.  Best bet is testing on scrap.

What Don said.

These days I use Tamiya acrylics almost exclusively for my main finishes, enamels or oils for drybrushing, and thinned acrylic paint and dish soap "'sludge washes" for recesses and detail shadowing. Drybrushing enamels over the acrylics I never bother about a sealing coat in between, once the acrylic paint is set or mostly cured. A soap-based wash over gloss acrylic rarely causes any problem, but over flat finishes, a clear protective coat (I use Future) is best before a wash. Ditto for enamel or thinner-based washes. [Though an acrylic coat is nominally resistant to thinner-type solvents, the truth is more practical. Since we're shooting for as thin a paint layer as possible, and since coverage may never quite be 100% uniform, a clear coat in between can save a lot of grief and frustration.]

Thanks so much Don for your advice.  I now am no longer clueless about acrylics.  I also appreciate the extra information.  This will go a long way.

I always coat my acrylics firstly with future (so I can add decals) and secondly I coat it with MM clear lacquer religiously. If I need to weather then I also finish with another lacquer coat.

Don is correct but i sometimes found I was rubbing off the paint hence why I take the above measures.

Cheers

Leo

Thanks very much Leo.  This will help.