Acrylic paint tips and techniques

[GrandpaPhil]

I learned to paint, and got most of my modeling skills, painting wargaming and role playing game miniatures back in the 1990’s.

 

I tend to use the same paint techniques for my ships or other models.

 

I like to prime with black and then layer up my paint to create the illusion of depth and lighting.

Edited March 13, 2023 by GrandpaPhil

[wefalck]

Ahh, that's not a 'primer' in the technical sense. In art it would be called under-paint and was indeed used by the Old Masters, say green under areas of skin to provide depth. Now I understand your point.

 

I also use 'under-paints' or base-coats, when a model is made up of different materials to have a common starting point for the actual paint, if it is with a pigment that may not be covering very well, say red for example.

 

[Kevin-the-lubber]

Interesting discussion. A few months ago I made railings for a model out of 0.5mm steel wire. I can't remember if I primed before painting white but in time the paint flaked off.  What products or methods work best here? 

[GrandpaPhil]

This is the best I’ve found:

[Kevin-the-lubber]

Pricey stuff, here in the uk. I guess I’m also missing the obvious - it’s probably flaking because the Vallejo primer is water-based,  whereas, since these are metal parts, if I just used normal car body primer it should stick just fine. Or the little humbrol spray cans, which I sometimes use anyway for convenience.

[targa4403]

Hello,

I hope it's ok if I pose my question here.  I was wondering if making your own thinner is better than buying already made thinner?

[wefalck]

What do you mean by 'making your thinner'? Normally, thinners are a simple chemicals, such as (distilled) water, alcohol, acetone or white spirit.

 

OK, you could do a bit of moon-shining and make your own alcohol or distill some water, but the others you cannot make at home

 

[vaddoc]

5 hours ago, targa4403 said:

I was wondering if making your own thinner is better than buying already made thinner?

I d say just buy the thinner, same brand as your paint. The cost is insignificant all things considered and you know you get the correct product. If the paint job goes wrong it is usually a much bigger job to fix things. Certainly for brush painting with Valejo, I feel it is a must to buy their thinners and retarders. 

Edited March 21, 2023 by vaddoc

[targa4403]

21 hours ago, wefalck said:

What do you mean by 'making your thinner'? Normally, thinners are a simple chemicals, such as (distilled) water, alcohol, acetone or white spirit.

 

OK, you could do a bit of moon-shining and make your own alcohol or distill some water, but the others you cannot make at home

 

sort of.  Here is a list of components for air brush thinner:

There are four ingredients:

• Distilled water
• Isopropyl Alcohol (99.9%)
• Acrylic Flow Improver
• Acrylic Fluid Retarder

[thibaultron]

If using pure water based acrylic paints, don't use IPA! Tamyia(sp) paints have a alcohol base, so the above might work with them, but all others react badly to IPA! For these others you use IPA as a cleaner, not as a thinner. Adding the IPA to these types of paint, is like adding lacquer thinner to enamels. The IPA will either cause premature drying, or prevent adhesion. The other three ingredients can be used with most acrylics, but the Flow improver and retarder are better added to the bottle airbrush cup as you use it and in small quantities..

[Bob Cleek]

3 hours ago, thibaultron said:

If using pure water based acrylic paints, don't use IPA! Tamyia(sp) paints have a alcohol base, so the above might work with them, but all others react badly to IPA! For these others you use IPA as a cleaner, not as a thinner. Adding the IPA to these types of paint, is like adding lacquer thinner to enamels. The IPA will either cause premature drying, or prevent adhesion. The other three ingredients can be used with most acrylics, but the Flow improver and retarder are better added to the bottle airbrush cup as you use it and in small quantities..

Here in the Northern California Wine Country, there are lots of micro-breweries and if you go into a big chain drug store and ask for IPA, they're likely to send you to the liquor department where the various boutique brands of IPA, India pale ale, are stocked!  As far as my "gentleman's C" in chemistry gets me. I understand that ethyl alcohol, which is distilled from plant starches, and isopropyl alcohol, which is a product derived from petroleum, are entirely different things. I have always used ethyl alcohol in my shop as a solvent for shellac and, where indicated, for thinning acrylic and latex paints, as well as for a marine stove fuel and I buy it by the gallon tin. I've never used it for dissolving PVA adhesive, but I've heard many recommend isopropyl alcohol for that purpose, but never ethyl alcohol. Do any of the chemists in attendance, or even anybody who plays a chemist on the internet, know whether, when we talk about using alcohol for dissolving PVA adhesive or conditioning acrylic paint, it makes any difference whether we use ethyl alcohol or isopropyl alcohol for such purposes, or are the two completely interchangeable?

 

Edited March 22, 2023 by Bob Cleek

[Dr PR]

Bob,

 

For many (most?) jobs where the alcohol acts as a solvent either isopropanol (isopropyl alcohol C3H7OH) or ethanol (C2H5OH) will work. It is mainly the hydroxyl (-OH) part of the molecule that makes them good solvents. Both evaporate fairly quickly.

 

However, for specific chemical reactions the type of alcohol may be critical and ethanol and isopropanol are not interchangeable. I do not think this is the case with ordinary paints.

[Dcox]

Just to add, there is a product called Mr. Color leveling thinner. It retards the drying time of acrylics so they can flow better which reduces brush strokes. There is a way to DIY the product which is quite cost effective, a simple YT search shows how.

[thibaultron]

On 2/8/2024 at 8:46 AM, Dcox said:

Just to add, there is a product called Mr. Color leveling thinner. It retards the drying time of acrylics so they can flow better which reduces brush strokes. There is a way to DIY the product which is quite cost effective, a simple YT search shows how.

 

Mr. Color works with alcohol, based acrylics, like Tamiya, and Mr Color, not water based, like Vallejo.

[Dcox]

19 hours ago, thibaultron said:

 

Mr. Color works with alcohol, based acrylics, like Tamiya, and Mr Color, not water based, like Vallejo.

Correct. There are other paint retarders/flow control that are made specific for water-based acrylics though.

[kurtvd19]

Each paint mfg has a proprietary additive for their paints.  I wouldn't stray from the mfg's product w/o testing.  NOT on your model.

[Canute]

I'll second Kurt's statement. Use the mfg's thinner for the paint you use on your models. The wrong thinner can clog up your (air)brushes. Use your alternative thinners for cleanup.

[wefalck]

Sage advice. Acrylic paints are carefully balanced emulsions and the wrong additives can make them break down.

[Darius359au]

There's less chance of things going wrong using the thinner from the paints maker but if your using water based acrylics then Vallejo airbrush thinner is a very good all rounder that plays nice with most paints,(tamiya acrylics are an acrylic lacquer so you need to use their thinner same as mission models paints!)

One really useful item to use while brush painting with acrylics is a Wet Palette ,it doesn't thin you paints but it keeps them "moist" so they dont dry out while you using them! there are plenty of guides in the internet on how to make your own if you dont want to buy one.

 

Richard

 

[kurtvd19]

Badger's acrylic paints use distilled water for thinning.  Distilled water is so cheap and easy to get I have not even thought of using other fluids.

 

[Rushdie]

On 1/27/2019 at 2:59 AM, nikbud said:

The technique I have found most valuable when brushing with acrylics is the use of a "wet palette".

I came across this method when I was painting Warhammer figures, it is great for mixing colours and/or thinning paints.

 

All you need can be found in the kitchen; 

a waterproof base - a plastic margarine tub lid is ideal,

a sheet or two of kitchen roll/paper,

a piece of greaseproof/ baking paper

and some water.

 

Fold up the kitchen roll so its 4 layers thick, place in the base and flood with water. Pour off the excess water and place the greaseproof paper on top.

Put a dollop of the required paint/s on the paper and mix/thin to your hearts content. The paint will stay wet far, far longer than it would on an ordinary palette.

It works well with Humbrol, Tamiya, Citadel and Artists type acrylics. I haven't tried it with other manufacturers paints but I can see no reason why it would not work with any acrylics.

 

 

 

Another acrylic tip, or rather non-acrylic tip, is that for washes and drybrushing, don't use acrylics.

I have had much better results with artists Oil paints thinned with white spirit. As they take longer to dry than acrylics they are much more controllable and subtle, giving little or no "tide mark" when the wash dries.

 

Cheers

Paul

Hi Paul and many others,

Awaiting arrival of my elusive white Vallejo acrylic, I've on and off been busy clearing the garage of 40 years of accumulated "useful junk" and glued together a small "painting station".  The brush holders are protective plastic tubes for disposable injection needles, etc. Now the painting! 🤠