Another "sludge wash" problem

I assume that with two coats of Future that the surface was very smooth. That's the first mistake many people make, they try to do a wash on a flat surface. When a wash gets down in the matte of a flat surface there is no way I know of to get it out.

What kind of paint did you use for the wash? I use either artist's acrylics or artist's water colors. My preference is water color because it does come off much easier. Even though many people have very good luck with oil-based artist paints or enamels for a wash, that's way too risky for me. The water colors and acrylics work fine, so that's what I stick with.

If you used an acrylic paint for your wash, this is what I do when it is stubborn and won't come off.. Dampen a Q-Tip (cotton bud) with mineral spirits. And when I say "Dampen" I mean just the slightest hint of moisture, you do NOT want it very wet! I dampen it and then push it against a paper towel to get most of the thinner out. Then LIGHTLY rub your excess wash with that. Be careful though! It will go through the Future and paint if you rub too much or too hard.

Also, when rubbing the excess off, rub across the panel lines, not along them. This leaves the paint in the recess but gets it off of the surface.

The wash used Tamiya acrylics and the surface was about as glossy as I could get it since the finish was the gloss navy blue on the corsair in 1945. What surprised me was the excess didn't budge at all. I thought the gloss surface and the use of acrylics would allow a simple wipe down to remove all but the highlighted recessed panel lines but there was no way any came off!

As an afterthought, like I mentioned earlier, the "sludge" didn't appear to be of the consistency I've seen in FSM articles and my first (and still only thought) was that I hadn't used enough liquid soap. In fact...oops...I don't suppose washing-up liquid is the same as liquid soap is it?

Could be the answer to my problem don't you think?!

Thankfully, although I was pleased with the result before the mishap, the aircraft was still only "airbrush fodder" as I try to improve my skills.

So, when they mean "liquid soap" do they mean hand soap?

The soap they are talking about in a sludge was is not hand washing soap, it's dish washing soap. I don't know if you guys have products like Dawn and it's peers in the UK, but that's what you're looking for. Not the stuff you put in your dishwasher, but they kind that you use to wash dishes in the sink.

I think your problem is that you used Tamiya acrylics. When they dry they are as strong as the rest of the paint on the model which is why the excess won't come off easily. I use artist's acrylics, designed primarily for paper, cloth, and other porous surfaces, and they don't adhere to plastic or the paints that we use very well at all. That's why they tend to come off pretty esily.

I occasionally do use very highly thinned Model Master or Tamiya acrylics when I want to darken an area but don't want it to come off. An example would be the turbine of a jet engine or a finned area. I get the paint very, very thin and let it run into the area. Same basic technique, but once it dries it doesn't come off.

i think you either layed it on too thick, or the tamiya acrylics are sticking, or a combination of both. i used tamiya acrylics in my washes before with no problems, so i would guess that you layed the wash on too thick which ate into the future. what kind of thinner did you use ? i usually use water.

Oh well...that still leaves the question unanswered! I did use the dish washing soap variety so I am still confused as to why the excess was literally impossible to remove without stripping everything else off?

Thinners used were Tamiya since I was using Tamiya acrylics. Re-reading all the guides for a wash, none mention the use of water as a thinner but I'll try that next time - thanks reggie.

In fear of it occuring again, I'll try the artists acrylics on the almost complete zero.

Oh well - another model - another lesson learnt!

Thanks for your advice one and all

moose