First attempt at a wash. What am i doing wrong?

[Guest]

Hi all, as per the title im a new builder and i am trying to apply a wash but its not working.

I have a test piece that i painted , then applied an enamel matt coat over that , let it dry for 2 days and applied an enamel black wash and let that dry for about 30 mins. When i got a moist cotton bud of thinners to remove the excess wash it only succeeded in removing the matt coat and then the paint , and streaking the wash over the test piece and i cant seem to get it to come off properly.

Any ideas guys. I have a model nearing the latter stages of completion and dont want to start to apply washes if i have been doing something wrong and end up ruining my model.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Carl.

[Mr Bowcat]

Hi Carl,

I am a complete newb myself, but I understand from what I've read that washes are better applied over a gloss coat so they flow better. If I'm wrong I'm sure somebody more knowledgeable will be along shortly.

Cheers,

Bob

[rickoshea52]

You are using an enamel wash over enamel paint and varnish. The wash is effectively almost neat enamel thinners - enamel thinners over enamel paint will just dilute your paint job and varnish. This can be useful for weathering or if trying to achieve a particularly worn effect but not so great for your situation.
After painting with enamels seal the paint with acrylic varnish, as you say gloss is the typical finish needed for application of a wash and of course decals. You can then seal the wash with another coat of acrylic or enamel varnish.

[Guest]

Rick is spot on there. Even after a couple of days, the original paint is still likely to react to the addition of thinner.

Plus, trying to remove the wash from a matt surface is very difficult. The wash settles into the tiny pits of the matt surface. Hence why modellers apply a gloss coat first - this also helps avoid silvering of the decals.

Also, don't apply any wash over the model as a whole. Not only will some areas be drier than others (and so more difficult to remove), but you're also making life harder on yourself.
Add the wash with a small pointed brush to specific areas in small sections - what's generally called a pin wash. It's much more manageable that way.

An easy sequence of layers is this:

Enamel bssecoats / camo

Acrylic gloss coat

Decals

Acrylic gloss over decals to seal them

Pin wash

Matt coat

Chipping, or usual weathering using oils and/or pigments.

HTH

[col68]

Hi Carl
Did you apply a couple of coat's of varnish and what type of paint did you use to paint your model?

Here's how I normally do it once the model is painted and its cured (24 hours minimum)
I apply a coat of gloss varnish and leave it to cure 24 hours again.
Then i apply decals and apply another coat of gloss varnish and then I leave it to cure for 48 hours to make sure everything is totally dry.
Then apply your chosen wash and leave to dry.
If I need to remove any excess wash il use a just moist flat paintbrush to remove it.
Leave it to dry for a couple of days then seal it with varnish

HTH
Or do what Patrick explained in his post must have posted at the same time ops:

[rickoshea52]

Rick is spot on there. Even after a couple of days, the original paint is still likely to react to the addition of thinner.
HTH

Nevermind a couple of day! I have a model railway carriage that I applied enamel paint to to replicate weathering, I made a terrible job of it so the model went back in the box. A couple of years later when I had built up my weathering techniques I went back to that carriage and used white spirit to see if I could do anything with it. Using cotton buds soaked in WS I was able to remove the previous weathering to achieve a pretty reasonable result.

[Guest]

Cheers guys. Very much appreciated. I used a Humbrol acrylic grey paint and then a matt clear coat then the wash a couple of days later. Still getting my head round what acrylics/enamels work together

Carl.

[Guest]

For what it's worth, I agree with what's been written here.
Definitely use acrylic washes when you're painting with enamel, or vice versa. The points about varnishing first are excellent too.
One thing you could try: more than one thin coat of wash if you're concerned about the finish being blotchy.
It works for me on aircraft.

[Dave Ward]

I only use acrylics, but the key is sealing everything in with gloss varnish, then you can wash, and decal over it - then seal everything in with a varnish to your needs, matt, satin, or gloss.
Washes - you can make your own - get Artists' SOFT Pastels sticks[ATTACH]305458[/ATTACH]
- I get mine from Amazon - scrape the stick gently to make fine a powder, then add a drop or two of washing up liquid ( reduces the surface tension and allows mixing ), and water. This is mixed well, then applied normally. It is removed by gentle rubbing ( I use tissue paper ), or dampened cotton buds. It is more fragile than normal wash, so it really has to be sealed in by varnish. You can make any colour you need, it takes a little experimentation to get the right consistency - but the sticks last and last
Dave - true Yorkshireman!