acrylic problems

[Gino2dope]

Hi all,

I am wondering if someone has come across the following problem, or even beter has a solution?
I wash, and prime my models the normal way (spraycan, black, then white overspray). The basecoat I lay on with a brush, no problem so far. Then during the highlight stage, can be with the first coat, can be with thethird or so, there seem to appear spot where the surface has become super smooth and the paint doesn't adhere anymore, making blending impossible. At first I thought that the previous layer wasn't dry enough, so now I'm drying each layer with an hairdryer. I dillute normaly with demineralized water and have expermented with glazing medium, without any possitive result. I use mainstream brands, Vallejo, Andrea, Scale 75, Citadel, etc... I do shake well and have those metal balls in my jars of paint to help mix the pigment and carrier even better. I have tried to wait, up to 48hours, to overpaint a new basecoat but this then doesn't adhere too or dries glossy. I've tried going over it with a matt varnish but this doesn't help either. Only 'solution' I have found so far is to overpaint with an enamel and start again from there. Sometimes it works, but sometimes these 'glossspots' reappear, sometimes even in other places.

At the moment I've started to repaint a jacket of a bust for the fifth time, basecoat dried glossy this time, and I'm becomming very, very, frustrated. I'm thinking of either looking for a new hobby or maybe switch back to oils. Any help, suggestions, thoughts etc... are very much appreciated as I'm starting to loose sleep over this problem.

Many thanks in advance,

Gino(2dope)

 

[MAXXxxx]

sorry, not really.
I 'know' only 2 causes for this glossiness:
- paint was not mixed enough and you used too much that floats on top (not paint) --> solution would be "shake it more", but I think you mix it enough already
- you used too many very diluted glazes, that after a time will make the surface very smooth and with it glossy. --> here the solution should be the matt varnish, but it didn't help you.

The best may be:
- either use less dilution on most of the work, then smooth the transitions out with as few glazes as possible (maybe even start the base transitions with an AB.
- use acryls only as a base, do the transition in oil.

Or you could try the matt varnish but not with a brush, but a Spraycan (Testors dullcoat) or AB. It may give you the surface you want to make the paint adhere more.

 

[Zab]

never encountered that. Maybe switch to acrylic primer like badger or vallejo?

 

[Gino2dope]

Hello Maxxx,

I tried painting with some less dilluted layers and this seem to work! I never would have thought that paint can be deleted too much. I was able to do the two first highlights and all's well at the moment. I know it's early days, but I think you might have saved my painters live!

Hello Zab,

I normally use one of these brands of primer : Games Workshop, of which I find the black is too smooth and the white can be grainy if you spray from too far away, the army painter which I like better or Scale 75 which I like most. This one is the hardest to obtain where I live and I've ran out and used the GW again, so this might be part of the problem to.

Many, many thanks for all your efforts and help so I can enjoy figure painting again,

Gino

 

[Dragonsreach]

I am wondering if someone has come across the following problem, or even beter has a solution?
I wash, and prime my models the normal way (spraycan, black, then white overspray). The basecoat I lay on with a brush, no problem so far. Then during the highlight stage, can be with the first coat, can be with thethird or so, there seem to appear spot where the surface has become super smooth and the paint doesn't adhere anymore, making blending impossible.

Trying to apply a little logic to thinking on this, it could be one of several factors;
Proximity of spray model when priming forming a smoother surface than normal.
Insufficient drying time between drying layers of primer allowing the two to merge forming a smooth 'skin' which becomes apparent after further painting.

 

[AndyG]

Have you been touching this area with your fingers? I ask because greasy finger prints can 'shine' the paint and make it difficult to accept paint.

 

[bullfrog]

The only thing that I can add is along the lines of Maxxx's advice. I have had problems in the past myself with smoothness by the time I'm on final highlights if I'm building the colour up too slowly with highly diluted paint. For me though it's not so much to do with the paint dilution itself being the causative factor directly but rather the excessive brush strokes polishing the paint below.
I got rid of the problem by having slightly less diluted paint and making sure I was only laying the brush down with the least amount of pressure.

 

[cassar]

had exactly that problem with a matt varnish everything was spot on except for one small area i ended up soaking it with a soft brush and water to wipe away grease or whatever it was then resprayed with the paint gave it a good dry out then applied the matt varnish again this seemed to solve it, my read on it was too much varnish in one spot, even matt turns glossy.

 

[Laertes]

Is it a resin model? You are supposed to wash resin models with soapy water before painting as there can be release agents left on the mini This can have an effect on the paint.

 

[BloodASmedium]

Thoughts

I have had this privlemwhen in drinking a lot of soda or sugary drinks even coffee with 2 sugers. Turns out in Meg Maplesclass I tookwhen we start to put the brush in our mouths to make the point ( all artist do this without thinking - common practice) the auger in the drinks that stays in the mouth can coat the brush and cause the paint not to take or stick.