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Post by magie on Oct 28, 2008 20:59:00 GMT
Hi everyone, I'm having some problems with diluting paint with water only: mainly that the paint tends to 'pool' in certain areas leaving ugly wrinkels. So yesterday I bought some Winsor&Newton flow improver because I read this would help On the bottle it says dilute 1 part flow improver to 20 parts water. After some googling I found that many painters use this mix 25% Liquitex Slow Dry 25% WN Flow Improver 50% Water I think most use undiluted flow improver, but opinions differ and some say first to dilute flow improver and then add it to the mix. Do any of you have any suggestions or tips on this? I also wonder if it's better to use distilled water in comparison to regular tap water? If anyone could give me some insights, thank you a lot
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Post by tadme48 on Oct 28, 2008 21:16:48 GMT
I use 20% Liquetex Flow Imporver and 80% distilled water. I use distilled as the water here is quite hard and if I use tap water the paint goes chalky. I make mine up in advance into a beaker and use a pipet to measure it out. I use slow Slow Dri when using a wet pallette as it sems to keep better when I need to keep the same colours and mixes for a long time. But never add it to my main "paint water".
If you paint is pooling then you need to have less on the brush. Try using a paper towel or cloth to take most of the paint off of the brush before applying it.
Hope that helps a little
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Post by Tim C on Oct 29, 2008 21:17:28 GMT
I only ever thin with water and have never had any problems to be honest. I don't use any additives in my paint at all so I don't really know how to help you here.
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Post by jabberwocky on Oct 30, 2008 2:51:15 GMT
Your question is a good one, MaGie, and one that has no singular answer. There are world class painters that use only water (Tim, EricJ, to name a pair off the top of my head) and others that use all of the additives to varying degrees. There are as many ways to mix the "gunk" as painters to mix it. Some of it depends on the artist's degree of comfort or exposure to a particular product. Some of it depends on local weather conditions; some of the folks in the high desert here in the states will us more extender to keep their paint wet. Do you use a wet pallette? As far as distilled versus tap water it again depends on your local environment. My tap water is relatively pure and has no heavy sediment, so I do not use distilled water. Water sediment is well documented and definitely could complicate your ability to lay down a smooth coat of paint. Even the brand of paint can play a role. The RMS series adds some flow improver to all their paints. Vallejo is more prone to come out of solution when greatly thinned than the Reaper paints, in my experience. I have not used Citadel much so I can't speak to it. Unfortunately, it is a bit of a matter of just experimenting. I can tell you that I generally use only water; however in certain circumstances I will add flow improver if I am doing fine freehand work. Reaper makes a Brush-On Sealer that helps to get the paint to layer out more evenly. Vallejo's matte medium can be used to similar effect. There is a good thread over at Reaper on this topic at www.reapermini.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=33868As far as the "wrinkles" (we call them tide marks here in the US) that is primarily a function of having too much paint on your brush as Tadme mentioned. Try to unload your brush more. A very good explanation of the physics behind this was done by Olliekickflip and can be found here (again at Reaper): www.reapermini.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=32050&hl=This is by no mean exhaustive, but I hope it at least points you in the right direction. The tide marks are one of the things I continue to struggle with--just keep practicing, keep posting and asking advice. Hope this helps! Jabber
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Post by bruenor on Oct 31, 2008 21:59:05 GMT
Nope, none of that gunk for me thanks, good old tapoline does the trick everytime.
Never used anything but tapwater to thin my paints and had no problems with 'pooling', maybe you are thinning them too much perhaps? The only time I've ever had 'pooling' was when I forgot to wash some resin minis and the mold release that was still on them stopped the paint from sticking proper like, and I've heard that from over handling a mini can do the same if your hands are sweaty or greasy.
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Post by magie on Nov 1, 2008 14:38:57 GMT
Thank you guys, This really helps! I guess working in a molecular lab has got me "addicted" to protocolls. I guess I should give "whatever works for you" a chance Thanks for the pooling advice, just when I thought I couldn't have any less paint on my brush, apparently I could!
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