trouble blending using GW paints

[amrogers3]

Trying to blend a SW marine using a blend of Codex Grey and Adeptus Battlegrey as my undercoat with Fortress Grey as my highlight and a blend of Chaos Black and Codex Grey for my shadow.

Problem is the paints are drying very quickly. Another problem is that the area is so small. Top of the head, kneecaps, etc. Any suggestions?

Also, are these steps correct?

1. put down basecoat
2. while basecoat still wet feather in the shadow working upwards
3. add highlight at top and work downwards?

It's going to take some trial and error but is that the general idea?

 

[Elric2k]

if your paint is drying too quickly you may need to look into some drying retarder or other such medium to give you a bit of working time. If you thin your paints alot it will be hard to wet blend correctly unless you're really fast. Your method differs a little bit from mine, but i prefer layering over this blending technique and dont utilize it much. Maybe someone else has some advice on that side of it.

The way I do it is put the basecoat down 1st and let it dry, for me I've always had bad results blending from the original basecoat but it might just be my issue. I paint the highlight where it goes with one brush, wash it off, quickly take some fresh basecoat color and apply it in a spot right above where the highlight would start then take a clean 2nd brush and quickly "feather" the 2 wet pieces together. Maybe this is just a hybrid and not the correct way at all, i really couldnt tell ya, i just do what feels right

 

[jcichon]

Try some Vallejo glaze medium. SHould slow down the drying process a bit

 

[amrogers3]

Maybe the area is too small to try this wet blending technique. I'm talking kneecaps, thigh armor, top of helmet, top of shoulder pads, etc.

So, what type of highlighting would you guys do for a typical marine? I want to step it up from the usual hard edge highlighting.

By the way, been doing a little research on some slow drying additives. What is the difference between Liquitex Slow-Dri Blending Fluid and Liquitex Slow-Dri Fluid Retarder and what do you guys use to slow down the drying time?

Also, another problem I am having is getting the paint into the crevices. Do Liquitex Matte Medium and Winsor & Newton Flow Improver do the same thing?

Apologize for all the questions. Painting is complicated.

 

[kathrynloch]

Jumping in on this one because I use the Liquitex and W&N products you just mentioned.

I use almost exclusively Liquitex Slo-Sri Fluid Retarder for wet blending techniques. A lot of folks here don't really wet-blend but layer, so you're talking two completely different techniques.

Acrylic retarder extends the drying time of paint without reducing opacity. But be careful, too much and it will reduce the strength of the paint - the stuff will flake off.

Flow Improver helps your paint go farther again without reducing opacity.

For classic wet-blending, I paint a base color allow to dry. Then I mix up three different colors. The base color, a shading color, and a highlight color. Depending on exactly what colors I'm using, I may just darken or lighten my base color, or I may use black for shading and white for highlighting. Anyway, I mix these with the Liquitex Fluid Retarder. I usually start shading first, so I paint a deep recess with my shadow then start pulling it out of the recess. As I come outward, I'll mix my base color into it until I get a nice blend and the dark is where it's supposed to be, not out too far. This is just going to take practice - trial and error - for you to get the hang of it. When I do the highlights, I'll hit the highest point with my highlight color and start pulling it down then again start blending with the base color. Typically darker colors are stronger than light so you'll want to go sparingly otherwise you end up with a muck gray that never dries.

I also keep spare clean brushes on hand to help feather and blend so I'm not adding a lot of paint.

Liquitex Slo-Dri Blending Fluid is NOT the same. It's glossy for one thing and I find it actually thickens my paint. I really don't care for it but since it has a bit of gloss, I might sometimes mix it with my metallic paints.

Liquitex Matte Medium I use when I'm making ink washes. One of the tricks to get the ink washes into the recesses is to add Future Acrylic Floor Polish (If you're in the UK it has a different name). I'm in the US and I use Mop n Glo. Same stuff basically. But this stuff also adds shine. So, I add the Liquitex Matte Medium to help kill the shine. I also have a particular blue ink that whenever I apply anything over it, even when it's dry, it starts bleeding and comes to the surface. Drives me nuts. I mixed the Matte Medium with it and while it doesn't stop it entirely, it helps a lot.

One time my store was fresh out of the Liqutex stuff I usually get so I got the W&N fluid retarder and the Flow Improver. YUK! I personally can't stand them. They didn't work well for me at all. Next time I hold out for the Liquitex. lol!

Anyway, that's been my experience with those products. I hope it helps!

 

[Niranth]

Do Liquitex Matte Medium and Winsor & Newton Flow Improver do the same thing?

Liquitex also makes Flow-Aid to help break the surface tension of the paint so it will better flow into the nooks and crannies. I have a large bottle of the W&N Flow Improver that I'd happily give away, it did not work well for me either.

Apologize for all the questions. Painting is complicated.

I'm a skill-less mostly lurking noob and I appreciate your questions and the answers returned!

 

[Einion]

Maybe the area is too small to try this wet blending technique. I'm talking kneecaps, thigh armor, top of helmet, top of shoulder pads, etc.

I almost never use wet-blending, preferring layering because it's applicable to any size of subject and results are more repeatable.

So, what type of highlighting would you guys do for a typical marine? I want to step it up from the usual hard edge highlighting.

You painting armies? Aiming higher than the general tabletop quality?

By the way, been doing a little research on some slow drying additives. What is the difference between Liquitex Slow-Dri Blending Fluid and Liquitex Slow-Dri Fluid Retarder and what do you guys use to slow down the drying time?

Also, another problem I am having is getting the paint into the crevices. Do Liquitex Matte Medium and Winsor & Newton Flow Improver do the same thing?

I'd suggest the best place to find out would be on the Liquitex and W&N sites, where they give a fair amount of detail on the properties of their mediums & additives.

Apologize for all the questions. Painting is complicated.

No worries, that's what the forum is for.

Einion

 

[RuneBrush]

I almost never use wet-blending, preferring layering because it's applicable to any size of subject and results are more repeatable.

Read the first couple of posts and thought exactly the same. With space marines you want a nice hard, crisp edge which I personally find I can achieve much more easily with layering.

 

[kathrynloch]

When I first started painting, for some reason, wet-blending came far easier to me than anything else. Everyone is different. So the important thing is to try different things and see what works best for you.

BUT that does not mean to discount other methods. Even though I took to wet-blending quickly, I'm working very hard to improve my layering techniques. It still eludes me sometimes. But ya gotta work at it. The more techniques you have in your toolbox the better off you are. So work on layering too!

 

[amrogers3]

Ok, here is a pic of the miniature I have been trying to highlight. Not sure if you can see the highlights but I tried to highlight the top of helmet, top of backpack, kneecaps, shoulder pads, legs, feet. Gray seems to be a difficult color to highlight. This is my first attempt so I'm sure color doesn't matter, all the colors would be difficult for me. :bulgy-eyes:

First thing I noticed, it is 10x more difficult to paint with the bolter in the way. Also, I thought I took care of the flash but paint makes it even the tiniest bit of flash noticeable. Not completed yet, still have to stuff to touch up and colors to add, just wanted to try a go at layering.

By the way, thanks for all of the helpful posts.

 

[mordos]

what's your dilution ratio? maybe add a little more water.

 

[Tommie Soule]

Why did you choose to mix the colours you chose?

 

[Ultramarine98]

Well, the last resort and IMO is the most reliable method, is to just do it manually although this would require a good number and knowledge of GW paints.
GL with ur SW, it is a wolf right?
Cheers, Ultramarine98

 

[RuneBrush]

Personally I shade my mini's before I highlight, this gives you a better definition of where to highlight. As you're trying to get into all of the hard to reach places when shading, you're more likely to slip with the brush, so if you've already highlighted then it's going to be more troublesome to touch up. For marines that have the bolter across the chest, I will occasionally leave the bolter off and paint them separately.