Acrylics Must be a better way for chevrons...

[Gary D]

Holy frustration Batman!

Anyone have a better method for painting the tiny check marks on the chevrons of my Carl Reid winter in the trenches bust? I can't seem to paint these consistantly thin and spaced >>>>>>> marks on his stripes. My Vallejo acrylics lay down too thick on one mark and too thin on another. Is there a type of stencil template someone has created to make this easier. It is by far the hardest part of painting this bust.
Would switching to oils help?

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Gary

 

[housecarl]

Sent you a PM Gary.
Carl.

 

[Gary D]

Replied back Carl. Thanks!

Gary

 

[sam b]

Hi Gary , i dont know if this helps ? try adding a little water to the paint so it is milky load the brush n blot off the exces so it is damp . paint the dark lines on over the light base paint then paint one line on then miss one ,at the end paint the one you have missed n keep to an even number !! i dont know if get what i mean

 

[Gary D]

Thanks Sam! I think I see what you are getting at. Do you mean paint every other line then go back and paint the ones I missed? This certainly may help as a guy goes crosseyed after a while.

By the way, would distilled water mix better with the acrylics? I was using straight tap water.

Thanks,

Gary

 

[sam b]

Hi mate yeah you get it ! I think tap water would be ok on such a small thing , I use life colour thinners with a dropper . Good luck
Sam

 

[Gary D]

Thanks again Sam!. Unfortunately I can't get Lifecolor paints here in Calgary, so I'm stuck with Vallejo's.

Thanks again,

gary

 

[gothicgeek]

Gary .... Use distilled water for your Acrylics, the mineral deposits from tap water are a nightmare .....

Also I assume Carl came up with a solution?



Mark

 

[sam b]

I use vallejo paints all the time as well , they are very good but do tend to be a little glossy but thanks to Carl even that's sorted now

Sam

 

[megroot]

I paint them also with Vallejo. Basecolor was buff on all the chevrons.
Then with burnt umber laying the stripes.
I count them. Be aware, there is one chevron where the stripes go the other way,

Here is my figure.
[/ATTACH]
Some are looking terrible but in reality it looks oke.
Hope this helps.

marc

 

[Gary D]

Thanks for your imput guys.

Mark, Carl has sent me a potential solution but I can't check it until I get off work. I'll have to see later tonight. He sent me a picture I can copy onto decal paper. Hope I can size it correctly etc.

Marc, funny how people view things different ways. Instead of a buff background with burnt umber checks, I was trying it as a Khaki background with the checks mixed from Iraqi Sand/white mix. Maybe I just need to give my head a shake and re-focus!

Thanks again fella's

Gary

 

[Einion]

I paint them also with Vallejo. Basecolor was buff on all the chevrons.
Then with burnt umber laying the stripes.

Good method that's probably how I'd do them.

By the way, would distilled water mix better with the acrylics? I was using straight tap water.

Maybe. How well tap water works depends on the mineral content of the water in your area; if you have hard water then distilled is definitely worth a try, if you have soft water then you might not notice much or any difference switching to distilled.

Einion