The dreaded chalkiness. I need some help on thinning.

[redarmy27]

Happy Friday Painters!

This past week I have been extensively working on painting a space marines chapter master when I noticed that he\'s starting to look more and more chalky. I\'ve been trying to use washes of gray/black to create a medium that makes the layers blend easier but I appear to be failing.

I use all the paints for the Vallejo Game Color case since I got it for my birthday. They are the only paints I have or really use and I know they need to be vigorously shaken before use.

Does anyone have any idea how to eliminate this? Once I can elminate this problem, I\'ll be on my way to painting nicely done models.

I generally use the medium that came with the case, but I still get the chalkiness. I\'m looking for a thin mix of paint that can be built upon in layers, but I\'m having trouble finding the perfect harmony of water/medium/paint.

I\'ll try to post a pic tonight. Thanks!

 

[airhead]

Pics would help.
Are you drybrushing with white?
or
Using white as a highlight color?

 

[redarmy27]

I\'m using grey as a highlight color. I have noticed this is happening with more colors than just whites though. I\'m starting to worry. The paints aren\'t old at all, so it\'s a good bet it\'s just me.

 

[airhead]

There are several possible causes of chalkyness.

Drybrushing - learn to layer.

Too large a color jump from mid-tone to highlight. You should work your way up to the highlight, not just jump in with a bright hot color.

Poor paints - VGC should not be having that problem.

Overused adds - I use a 6 oz. bottle with clean water (distilled or de-ionized). couple of drops of dish soap (liquid) for most of my work. I\'m not familiar with the VGC medium.

Thinning issues - VGC can be thinned a LOT. One drop of paint to like 10 drops of water.

You said:

I\'ve been trying to use washes of gray/black to create a medium that makes the layers blend easier but I appear to be failing.

I\'m not sure what you are doing here.

 

[redarmy27]

Alright, brace for it. These are the pics of the little guy I\'m working on. I\'ve been working on him between classes. I\'m still getting back into the swing of things so this is not a representation of my best work. Any thoughts on it would be greatly appreciated!

If you were to paint this, what order would you do it? I started with black primer.

 

[Thunderhawker]

One thing I have been working on is starting at the middle higlight and working down with black in very VERY thin layers. I have had some success with avoiding chalkiness this way. I suspect this should work with most tones. Also the occasional wash of one color can even out some blending issues.

 

[airhead]

First off, I would not have used black primer for a light colored mini - personal preferance - lots of others are black primerites.

Learn to layer and blend. Drybrushing does not work on large smooth areas. Start with your darkest color and work up to your lightest - painting a little less area each time.

Thin your paints more. Think of watercolor glazes - not stucco on a house. Don\'t feel bad, common mistake.

 

[redarmy27]

Thanks for the feedback. I wasn\'t dry brushing though. That\'s from me watering down the paint I can\'t get the hang of finding the right water to paint mix with out it turning chalky like that.

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by airhead
Too large a color jump from mid-tone to highlight. You should work your way up to the highlight...

Even before the pics this was what I was thinking would be the cause. It\'s a common problem and not as obvious to the learner since you could be using the exact same mix as someone recommended but not getting the same results.

Especially with white, and mixtures containing a lot of it, if you paint over a previous colour that\'s a little too dark it just naturally looks \'chalky\'.

Originally posted by redarmy27
I wasn\'t dry brushing though. That\'s from me watering down the paint I can\'t get the hang of finding the right water to paint mix with out it turning chalky like that.

From the look of the pics you\'re trying to paint too quickly.

You referred to washes earlier, well that\'s the problem right there; you should be aiming for glazes - generally when layering the brush shouldn\'t be heavily loaded with the thinned paint (it should be damp, not truly wet). You do transitions with lots and lots of thin layers; this takes time but it\'s not quite as bad as it seems since the paint does dry quickly and you can always shoot it with a hairdryer if you need to speed things along.

Einion

 

[redarmy27]

Thanks for the advice. I tried out your suggestions on a different mini and it worked out very nicely. My model looks very nice so far and the paint looks 100% better. The primer got a little messed up but I don\'t care, I can always sand those spots a little. I used white primer and did some black lining. I\'m getting better at using simple layers and it\'s turning out great. I\'ll try to post a pic soon! Thanks for the advice!

 

[redarmy27]

Here\'s how my newest model is working out using your advice. I\'m taking it slow and working on progressive layers. I think it will look excellent when it is done.

 

[Einion]

Good to hear back that the tips helped.

Einion