Hand painting with acrylics

[Old Collingwood]

I am building a 1/350 scale plastic HMS Warspite Battleship  and i am looking for advice on hand painting with brushes my build please,  the first area i will tackle will be the hull - this are i think i can break up into smaller areas and mask off around different bulged  sections and armour plated sections, this would cut down on the area needed to be covered in one swoop etc.

I will be painting the bottom hull section first upto the masked off boot line, but wondered if anyone has any advice/tips regarding this please.

 

OC

[NenadM]

If it help:

 

Wash brush well and often during work

 

better more thin layers than 1 thick

 

use small amount of color, it dry faster than you need,

 

and don't use it when start drying

 

 

prepare the thinnest brush you can find

 

 

use magnifier for precise painting

 

Play with mixing colors and transparent thin layers

 

Always do some tests before applyin acrylic

 

And use acrylic thinner (I do not) for washing brushes and corre ting mistakes

[Old Collingwood]

If it help:

 

Wash brush well and often during work

 

better more thin layers than 1 thick

 

use small amount of color, it dry faster than you need,

 

and don't use it when start drying

 

 

prepare the thinnest brush you can find

 

 

use magnifier for precise painting

 

Play with mixing colors and transparent thin layers

 

Always do some tests before applyin acrylic

 

And use acrylic thinner (I do not) for washing brushes and corre ting mistakes

Many thanks or your advice - the more the merry-er,  i have a good selection of brushes and i am use to painting by brush most smaller sized models, and with acrylics i only started using them with my admiralty range on my wood build.

As i am now building a 1/350 scale plastic a ship build in plastic will be the largest i have built/painted, so this is why i was wondering about the best way to paint the expense area of the hull?  i can break the painting up into sub-sections i think?  by masking off sections of armour, and try to get a smaller area to fill with paint easier from the brush,  i just dont like the idea of having to fill an area from bow to stern about 20" in one sweep, i think that will be asking for an un smooth finish by anyones standards?

 

OC

[jwvolz]

OC,

 

Large areas can be done by applying several thin coats, rather than attempting to cover with one thick one. Slightly thinned acrylics will dry without brush strokes. Wait 24 hours and re-coat for complete coverage. 

 

Some acrylics hand brush much better than others. What brand are you using, and what thinner?

[Old Collingwood]

OC,

 

Large areas can be done by applying several thin coats, rather than attempting to cover with one thick one. Slightly thinned acrylics will dry without brush strokes. Wait 24 hours and re-coat for complete coverage. 

 

Some acrylics hand brush much better than others. What brand are you using, and what thinner?

Hi Joe,

 

I have just ordered a white Vallejo primer in Acrylic and also the authentic WW11 western approaches range  from a company called LifeColor, again in Acrylic, i have also ordered from Vallejo their sand colored Acrylic that i will add some light grey to - to simulate bleached salt worn wooden planking.

I already have a bottle of Acrylic red ocre  that i am hoping to use for the bottom RN anti fouling red hull paint,  my plan is to assemble both sides of the hull minus the deck and prime this after a thorough wash with detergent and water, then i was going to mark of the Boot topping line and paint the Red hull first, then after a few days allowing to dry, i was going to mask the top of the Boot line then paint it black.

Then afterwards move on to masking the patterning and painting sowly each section.

 

OC

[jwvolz]

Sounds like a good plan OC. The Vallejo brush paints nicely. I don't have any experience with Lifecolor, but they have a good reputation as a quality product. See what they recommend as a thinner for their paints. 

[Old Collingwood]

Sounds like a good plan OC. The Vallejo brush paints nicely. I don't have any experience with Lifecolor, but they have a good reputation as a quality product. See what they recommend as a thinner for their paints. 

Thanks Joe,   have you any tips or advice on masking tape for the Boot line(as HMS Warspite has a lot of details to mask around)  and for the camo Stripes/bands as i assume these would not have been hard sharp edged and more of a feather edge?

 

OC

Edited April 21, 2015 by Old Collingwood

[Canute]

OC, I've used 3M blue masking tape laid down on a piece of plate glass. That will take some of the stickiness off and you can cut it to width with a knife and metal straight edge.

If you have a well stocked local hobby shop (LHS), you might to see if they carry Tamiya brand masking tape. It's low tack and pretty flexible. Comes in various widths. A bit pricier than the blue masking tape, but it is a very good product.

[jwvolz]

I agree on the Tamiya tape, as that's what I use exclusively on plastic models. It holds an edge very well a does not lift hobby paints. As far as the camo, in reality it would likely be a soft edge but in such a reduced scale masking it would be appropriate and much neater. You'd never be able to see a feathered edge in such a small scale.

[Old Collingwood]

OC, I've used 3M blue masking tape laid down on a piece of plate glass. That will take some of the stickiness off and you can cut it to width with a knife and metal straight edge.

If you have a well stocked local hobby shop (LHS), you might to see if they carry Tamiya brand masking tape. It's low tack and pretty flexible. Comes in various widths. A bit pricier than the blue masking tape, but it is a very good product.

I have just picked up some blue low tack tape so with any luck this will do?  i will try the trick with taking some of the stickiness off them laying them on some glass/tile etc first.

 

OC

[Canute]

Don't see why it wouldn't work. Don't leave tape on too long after you're done or it will pull up the paint edge.

[Chuck Seiler]

Thoughts in general:

I have had a lot of success hand painting with Badger acrylics. Even better when thinned down, a Nenad suggests.

 

I have had good success using artist acrylic (from a tube) watered down as well. I got this from Chuck's discussion in his Winchelsea (?) log. (Confederacy maybe). Thinned down to almost water, multiple layers until you get the finish you like. It works great on wood. I assume it will work on plastic as well. So far I have only used black. Red is n my future

[Old Collingwood]

I am really appreciating the replies folks, thanks to all,  another question from my never ending list - what sort of ratio would you water down an Acrylic paint from a new bottle/tin etc, say 50/50 or is that to much making it to runny?

 

And also any thoughts on a good WW11 battleship Bottom Hull color,  i am kind of  leaning towards Vallejo  Hull Red color, but as Royal Navy ships used a color called RN19 Anti Fouling Red, i dont know how different the two might be?

 

Sorry for all the questions folks but any ideas please?

 

OC

[Chuck Seiler]

I might be tempted to use a red auto primer.  I know its not acrylic, but....if I recall from my Navy days, it is close to anti fouling red.

 

With reference to water down ratio, I would say to experiment.  When I water down artist acrylic, it is heavily pigmented water.  The first coat is translucent...you can see the base below.  The second, third and fourth coats do the job.  I let dry and sand with 1200 sandpaper (first 2 coats) or buff with cloth.  It works great on wood, but I'm not sure how it will work on plastic.  You may need a slightly different technique.

[Old Collingwood]

I was wondering about the bottom hull red color on my HMS Warspite build,  i know British Second World War ships used a paint called RN19 Anti Fouling Red, i still have some Red Ochre that i was using on my Napoleonic period RN build inner bulkheads/gun ports.

Could i use this paint to simulate the Anti Fouling paint?  as i belive it is a very early version of Red Oxide,   so possibly later paints used on the bottom of RN hulls may have been based around this type of color?

 

Any ideas folks please.

 

OC

[exwafoo]

Just picked up on this topic.

 

A number of years ago by boy wanted to build and paint some of the Games Workshop figurines and equipment (http://www.games-workshop.com/). The GW stores offer free lessons in this art. I had to stay with him in the shop as he was underage at the time. It was hard not to get involved- and I picked up some good tips and techniques for painting with acrylics - the staff know what they are doing. The techniques transfer across to ship modeling, or any other kind of modeling I suppose. The downside is you would have to buy a box of their models (and some of them are a little different to say the least) to paint in the shop for the lessons, still it was probably worth it for the experience I picked up. Thet also sell books on painting.

 

I think the best tips I could give are:

use small amounts of paint, well thinned with acrylic thinners ( a bottle goes a long way)

many of these thin coats instead of one thick one

use water to clean the brush (keeps the cost down)

use a good quality brush

 

Their paints and materials are worth looking at as well - ignore the names, go by the colour.

 

Al

[Old Collingwood]

I tried the Vallejo Primer   dilluted it 50/50 with distilled water from a kettle after it had cooled, i applied it in many fine layers with a flat 8cm brush, i  let it dry for about 15 hrs and tried to do a bit of light sanding with a fine sanding stick that had been dulled to make it smoother,  but it was pulling at the paint peeling away instead of sabding it finely - what could be the problem?

 

 

OC

[Canute]

OC, was the hull surface clean? If casting oils, release agents or dust are on the plastic, the paint won't stick. Get some dishwashing liquid and warm water and wash your hull. Let it dry and then paint.

A good brand I like here in the US is "Dawn". No scents, cuts grease.

[Old Collingwood]

OC, was the hull surface clean? If casting oils, release agents or dust are on the plastic, the paint won't stick. Get some dishwashing liquid and warm water and wash your hull. Let it dry and then paint.

A good brand I like here in the US is "Dawn". No scents, cuts grease.

Hi Ken,

 

Yep i washed both hull sections with washing up liquid then rinsed off with warm running water and left to dry before working on them,  i then glued my paper hull plates on firstly with wttle  glue PVA but then had to settle them down with Revell contacta poly cement, i then sanded these down.

I am not sure if it may have been areas of white glue that may have stopped the primer sticking well, or just me not giving the primer enough time to fully harden before sanding?

 

OC

[jwvolz]

Use isopropyl to clean the hull. Various liquid soaps can leave surfactant residue behind the actually prevents adhesion. 

[Old Collingwood]

Use isopropyl to clean the hull. Various liquid soaps can leave surfactant residue behind the actually prevents adhesion. 

Thanks Joe,   i wondered if it was down to the layer of PVA i had painted over the hull?

 

OC

[jwvolz]

That could very well be the case OC, and that would also end up giving you some trouble. 

[Old Collingwood]

That could very well be the case OC, and that would also end up giving you some trouble. 

Thanks Joe,  lucklely  none went on the sides just under the hull.

 

OC