Panel Line Wash Question

John, you need to let it dry longer or hit it with a hair dryer. You want to have to work a little bit to get it off. That way you can control how much you remove much easier. Don't know about the halos. Have not run into that, but I do my washes on flat, not gloss, so maybe that is why.

Jay

It's natural for a wash to spread outwards from the line.  I use a mix of 1 (oil) to 20 (turpenoid) on a glossy coat.  I let the wash dry for 30 minutes and remove excess with a brush or lint free cloth.  This is really fool-proof because of slow drying time of oils.  Keep in mind that oil paints dry primarily by exposure to light (especially UV light) and oxygen.  To speed up drying time, you need to place a model in a bright place or under a UV light.  

When using oils, I smear them out on cardboard and leave them for 20 minutes to let some of the oil leach out, then just dilute the concentrated paint.  This makes them less oily and more color, and I find easier to work with.  The 'halos' may be your beach marks, pigment drying at the edges of your application.  They can be removed later, as Chris says.  I often find pre-wetting the panel line with turps can help to reduce this effect.  

Thanks everyone.  I let the results sit for an hour or so and it made a big difference.  I was just eyeballing my dilution with the turpenoid and the oil.  Now I think I got weathering happy and went overboard..

Andrew;  isn't the dilution of the paint counter-productive to letting the oil leach out in the first place?

John

John,

not in my experience.  Oil is slippery, thinned color is not.  Somehow, leeching the oil out allows the wash to behave in a way that is more predictable for me.  I thin the oil to the point where it looks like coffee, and wipe off my excess a few hours later.  I just find by removing the oil, the was is easier to work with, kind of using just the pigment of the paint.  Just how I do it.

AndrewW;

Do you thin the color with turpenoid or do you use another thinner?  thanks.

John

I use odorless turpenoid.

The other thing I do, is in removing the excess, I again use turpenoid.  I keep a paper towel at hand, wet my brush, gently dry with the paper towel, wipe the brush over the back of my hand until it is no longer leaving any liquid, and then gently brush at any excess or beach marks.  I have to clean out the brush often, because I am trying to pick up that excess paint and the brush is holding it.  This method takes some time, but I am rarely in a rush.

I put a gloss coat on area around the panel lines to help prevent such spreading, and then apply the wash with a pin or needle so that wash stays mostly in the lines.

Many modelers swear by Mona Lisa Odorless Thinner for oil washes.  So do I.  I've never had an issue with Mona Lisa and MIG (or W&N) oils.  I especially like MIG oils because they contain less linseed oil.