uneven painting with layering

[Narayan]

Hi there,

lately I have some problems with my paints, of which I can really make sense of:


I use the technique of layering my paints, so I use layer over layer over layer of really thin paint to get my results.

Now after about 5 or 6 layers, the surface starts to get uneven - like I use some way to thick paint - getting stroke lines of paint and generally a very "textured" look on my mini.

So, easy guess is, I use to thick paints for layering, but they are so watered down that you barely see a difference after applying 2 or 3 layers, so I am not sure whats causing those lines.

It really just looks as if I took some paint out of the pot and applied it wihtout feathering it out. I am really confused here, as the transition from dark to light and so on is really smooth.

Some words for to the technique:

I don't flood the mini with paint or anything, I dip my brush into the paint on my wet pallete (so paint drying up and getting thicker isn't the issue either!!) get rid of the "too much paint on brush" on my painting cloth and then apply the thin paint on the mini. I just cant figure out whats happening there - its mostly on flat, big surfaces like a terminators top or armor plates of tanks etc - I am confused here, maybe someone can help out ^^

 

[Zab]

Is each layer fully dry between the next color? If not you might be over-working the area. Also what kind of cloth are you using because some of the paper particles or fibers could be stuck to your brush and then transferred to the mini. I had that happen a while ago and had to switch from cheap no name paper towels to Bounty.

 

[AndyG]

Yeah I'd go with what Zab said the most likely culprit being that the other layers are not thoroughly dry so you are pulling up the lower layers and making it a bit manky.

 

[MAXXxxx]

some possibilities:
- overworking the area
- too hard water in your area with too many imperfections, that slowly accumulate on the mini
- paint dying on you / bad batch
- try not to paint in only one direction, but cross-hatch. Transition takes less passes like that and the chance of stroke-lines almost becomes 0
- you ARE using thick paint even if you feel it's thin enough.

probably a combination of the above, most likely 1 or 2.

 

[Webmonkey]

Also,.. have you cleaned your models before painting? It could be a contaminate (mould release agent or whatever) mixing with the paint.

 

[Demihuman]

Hmm, I have this problem (I think) a lot as well. After working over a section it get's really cloudy almost like there is too much matte? My blend looks good but sort of cloudy.

As stated by Mr. MAXXxxx I think it has to do with overworking a section. (Something I am trying really hard to avoid these days) Too many thin layers, I guess.

I have tried washes and varnishes to fix it but that doesn't seem to help.

Something totally different that worked for me yesterday is adding black to the shadow and white to the light part of the blend. Like, a lot of white like shaded all the way up to pure white and down to one off black. By increasing the contrast (I know, I know: groan.) you get more of a 'wet' look. Might be worth a try on a hidden spot.

I have had GW red go funny on me. I think it is a known issue where some ingredient in the paint kicks off weird. makes everything look like sort of sugary.

How about a picture?

 

[Demihuman]

I don't see any pictures

 

[3dken]

That's because the pictures are really thinned down too!! Haha! Just a thought, maybe the paints are thinned down too much and the paint binder is breaking up. If you don't already, use a few drops of medium to your thinned down paints. GW has Lahmian Medium, P3 has Mixing Medium, and there is also Liquitex Matte Medium (one bottle will last you a decade!), also other manufacturers have similar mediums too.