Newbie Needs Painting Tips

QUOTE: I would then go back and paint the black portion, covering up the yellow that got there by mistake (bad aim, unsteadiness, etc.).

Oh, now I understand. Yeah, there's nothing at all wrong with that. I go back and forth between colors touching up edges frequently. Just keep in mind that if you over-correct with the black that is going to put you back in the position of painting yellow over black again which is very hard to do.

The topic link vapochilled provided has some good information in it, and I now see the detail you are talking about.

http://www.finescale.com/fsm/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=46073

I probably didn't word my question correctly. Say I'm painting the stern of the boat. There's a small leaf design at the back, that should be yellow. The rest of the back should be black. My gut would be to paint the yellow leafing, with some of the paint getting onto the area that should be "black". I would then go back and paint the black portion, covering up the yellow that got there by mistake (bad aim, unsteadiness, etc.).

I hope I'm being clear, and apologize if I"m not. I will definitely buy a junker for practice, though!

Regards,
Michael

I guess I don't understand your question. Obviously you want your paint strokes to be as precise as possible, especially at the smaller scales. A 1/32" painting error at 1/146 scale equates to about 4 1/2" on the real ship. If the detail is raised there is a technique called "Dry Brushing" that might work well since you basically only hit the high spots.

My advice, since the model is going to be somewhat involved anyway, would be to start with some areas that are less detailed and critical. You'll find that each time you paint something your control will get just alittle better. You'll learn how to hold your hands to steady them (I usually wind up bracing my right hand with my left) and then by the time you get to the detailed area it will be easier. You might also want to spend a couple of dollars on a junker just to practice on. Also, an inexpensive magnifying lamp is invaluable. I have two, a fluorescent that cost $50 and a cheap incandescent that cost $20. I seldom use the more expensive one and use the cheap lamp most of the time.

So is it okay to overlap the lighter colors into the darker ones? I'm just concerned because I don't have the most steady hand in the world, and having to do real small detail work may be a problem if I have to have real precise strokes.

Any help is appreciated.

Regards,
Michael

You need to plan your painting so that the lighter colors go down first. It's difficult sometimes, but you will have a very hard time getting good coverage of most yellows over black. In cases like that, if you must paint the black first, your best bet is to go over the yellow parts with something like light gray first and then do the yellow.