Paint Question

[Showlen]

Hello,

Please note: The below pic is only an example provided Andrea. My skills are nowhere near this quality, tho I wish they were!

I have primed the figure and just about complete with the face. I am using Andrea and Vallejo acrylics. I will soon be starting with the red and the blue on the jacket.

What I'd like to know is, should I apply many layers glazes or extremely thinned out paint to build up to the base colors on the jacket. Or, should I just thin to the standard "milk consistency" and paint a few layers?

Just looking for some tips, or best practices, for achieving a nice realistic 'smooth', non-chalky, look for the base, before proceeding to the shadows and highlights.

I'm very grateful for the help I've received so far on this site. It's been a hugely beneficial... thank you.

-Ronnie

 

[Range Rat]

More the oil man myself.

 

[housecarl]

Hello Ronnie. Build your basic solid colour up with paint, as you said thinned down to about skimmed milk consistency. Discharge the excess paint from your brush each time, on to tissue/kitchen roll, that way you won't flood the figure. This will stop you obscuring the details too. A lot of people are tempted to spread the paint on far to thickly, just to get coverage. Like all good things in life, a little and often, works best.
Carl.

 

[Showlen]

Thank you for the input; much appreciated!

 

[Gellso]

For a basecoat you might want to add a wee bit Tamiya flat base so it stays really matt. Sometimes after many layers the paint can become satin.
Dont add too much flat base as it will look chalky, you just need a wee bit.
It also dries a wee bit quicker with the flat base added.

 

[Einion]

For basecoats I would generally recommend thinning just enough for the paint to go on smoothly, especially at your level. Some high-level painters thin their paint a lot and build up basecoats in many many layers, to achieve the smoothest possible finish but this might take 15 or 20 coats which is a bit much to face when you're starting out.

Dilution should be done 'by eye' more than by following formulas, since paint thickness vary from bottle to bottle, tube to tube and over time. The consistencies to aim for are usually given as creamy/thin cream, milk, skimmed milk from least to most dilute.

I would aim roughly for the consistency of cream (or melted butter) for basecoating - this is thin enough that it still brushes smoothly and won't tend to give unwanted texture, thick enough that the paint still covers adequately. With luck you'll need only two or three coats then for solid coverage.

You can speed-dry the paint any time you feel like it using a hairdryer to speed the process along if needed.

Einion

 

[Showlen]

Thank you very much for the advice, much appreciated! This site has been such a huge source of information and help, so glad I stumbled on it.

 

[Jim Patrick]

hey Ronnie, for some advice on acryilic paints, try this (downloadable) article on Vallejo's website. Written by Mario Fuentes and originally appeared in Historial Miniature back in the day.

http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com/blog/category/model-color/

A few other articles are included in here. If you have issues downloading this (I can't see the download button anymore) just simply copy and paste it into a Word document or something along that line.

Andrea has a downloadable pdf article on painting the exact same figure you are working on. Give it a try.

http://www.andrea-miniatures.com/descargas/PINTANDO ENG.pdf

Hope these help.
Jim Patrick

 

[Showlen]

Jim, thank you for links as they are very helpful. I didn't know the Andrea one even existed. Much appreciated.

-Ronnie