Mixing different types of paint?

[ronv]

Can you, for example, Paint with acrylic and then weather or wash with enamel or with artists oils? Also, what is varnish? I see discussions about gloss coats or dull coats with varnish. How does that mix with either acrylic or enamel?

[wefalck]

Aaahh, you are not 'mixing' paints, as per the thread title, but you want to apply coats of different types of paint onto each other - this is something different, not to be mixed up.

 

There have been already various discussions on this this subject on the Forum.

 

There is a century old golden rule: fat on lean, never the other way around, meaning you can apply lipophilic paints (e.g. oil paints or enamels) onto hydrophilic (e.g. gouache or acrylics) paints, but not the other way around. Water-based paints, such as acrylics, would not stick on oils or enamels very well due to their different physico-chemical properties (surface tension, wetting behaviour, Van der Waal interactions, etc.).

 

The same applies to varnishes, that could be either oil-based or water-based. Varnishes are essentially resins dissolved in some solvent, but contrary to paints do not contain pigments. Some modellers extensively apply 'intermediate' varnishes to seal layers of paint, but these have to be compatible with the paints.

 

It is a common process among modellers to apply a base-coat of acrylics (typically by spraying) and then to work-in details (e.g. weathering, highlights, etc.) using (artists') oil-washes.

Edited December 20, 2019 by wefalck

[ronv]

That helps. Much appreciated.