washes?

[Guest]

now, please do not suggest any internet based retailers as i want to make my own.

my guidelines for this are enamel paints, white spirit and obviously water.

i dont have an airbrush.

i just want to know how to make a good wash for military vehicles (ww2 era).

thanks.

[Guest]

I don't buy any retail stuff as its the same as what you can make at home but in a pretty tub and I'm a tight git

I use.......

black wash ... Matt black acrylic paint thinned in water.

rust wash ... brown and red acrylic paint thinned in water with a small amount of bi-carb added for texture.

oil wash ... gloss black acrylic paint thinned with a watered down PVA glue.

any other our washes I need I'll make up as and when with the required colour. if I need a texture I'll add what's required on use (grass mud etc)

a lot of people say use acrylic washes on enamel paint and visa-versa but I haven't had any of the issues people seem to warn against when using the same paint as wash and colour.

[Guest]

I don't buy any retail stuff as its the same as what you can make at home but in a pretty tub and I'm a tight git I use.......

black wash ... Matt black acrylic paint thinned in water.

rust wash ... brown and red acrylic paint thinned in water with a small amount of bi-carb added for texture.

oil wash ... gloss black acrylic paint thinned with a watered down PVA glue.

any other our washes I need I'll make up as and when with the required colour. if I need a texture I'll add what's required on use (grass mud etc)

a lot of people say use acrylic washes on enamel paint and visa-versa but I haven't had any of the issues people seem to warn against when using the same paint as wash and colour.

ok thanks but does that mean you make the black, rust and oil washes and just pour them into tubs and store them for when needed.

[Ian M]

No need really to do that. You only need a little at a time and its so thinned out, it goes a long way... Mix it as you need it.

Regarding Colin's comment of never having problems with the same paint type as a wash and paint...Although 99% of the time no problem that last one percent can be a real pain in the neck.

As that one time something goes wrong, it will almost always be on a build that you are particularly pleased with the paint job and you can just sit and sulk as the white spirit slowly eats away at your nice paint job.

You can prevent any disaster with a gloss clear coat before you use the wash. This will also make the wash follow the details better.

Ian M

[Guest]

that's right Ian .. white spirit is evil stuff.

that's the main reason I only use acrylics to paint and wash.

tiger .. pretty much as Ian says, I only mix up as i need it ... but I do it in little jars so I can save any leftovers

[Guest]

so to conclude basically:

washes should be applied over a varnish

and enamel washes are made by diluting and mixing with water.

am i right?

[geegad]

i dont use the retail washes like has been said your paying for a bottle with a name and there are that many different ones you would need a loan...just oil paints and oil thinners and you can make as many different colours you want and they will last you ages and they can be as thin or as thick as you want.ive hand a tube for about 5 years niw

[Guest]

tiger ,never used any enamel paint in my whole life so i am not sure and will be corrected if wrong but i dont think you can mix water with enamels, sure you are not getting mixed up with acrylics which can be mixed with water.

[BarryW]

Correct - enamel mixes with white spirit or enamel thinners.

I use two types of washes:

for interiors I use and oil paint wash, black or burnt umber (or a mix) with white spirit. A very thin wash with only about 10% or less oil paint.

for exteriors I use the Flory clay washes - they are very controllable applied to a gloss varnished surface and then cleaned off when dry with a damp cloth. You can control how much you remove quite easily. I use cotton buds in hard to reach places.

[PaulTRose]

ive tried most of the ready made washes and never found them to work as well as expected

recently ive started playing about with oils/thinners and enamel/white spirit and am finding they work a lot better