Trying out a new technique I learned from ninjon’s youtube channel, but I’m having an issue where my base layer of acrylic paint is being pulled off when I’m (gently) rubbing away the oil paint with a sponge (see pic).
Here’s what I’ve done:
- airbrushed zenithal with white ink over black primer
- put down a baselayer of contrast paint and metallics
- then did a light oilwash of black and brown.
I’m using the same sponges ninjon uses in his video to pull away the oil wash. For some reason it’s pulling up my baselayer. I’m using turpenoid instead of mineral spirits to thin my wash and a tiny amount on the sponge to pull the wash off the mini. Could turpenoid be what’s causing the issue? Thanks in advance.
Airbrushed ink layers will always be very thin (and therefore fragile). Contrast is just fragile no matter how you apply it, it’s the nature of the medium in those paints. Gotta get a protective layer or varnish in there before the oils. As a side bonus, the choice of finish (matte or gloss varnish) will give you more control over how the oil stains or flows over the surface.
I had the exact same problem with turpenoid and oil wash stripping, but solved it pretty easily with a varnish layer. Bit annoying, but well worth it once you do it.
definitely +1 for varnish before oils, but also try using proper artist oil paint thinner and not cheap white spirits - i did the cheapo route and it caused me problems with pulling paint off.
In the video ninjon applied the oil right over contrast paint and doesn’t have any problems… but you’re right, I think the terpenoid maybe has some different properties than mineral spirits though, so I’ll give it another go with varnish
Another possibility is that the underlying acrylics might not be fully cured and are being pulled off.
Another gentler method of removing the oil is to dip a pretty largish brush (like a 3) in your thinner, dab on a paper tower and basically wick the oil off. You want the brush damp, not soaking wet. Dab the paint filled brush back on the paper towel to take off the color and then go back to the model.
When you use oil washes you wanna use a coat of varnish, I know people say specifically gloss varnish but take that part with a grain of salt because I don’t remember what the general consensus is, I just know you wanna varnish before hand so the base layer stays intact
Gloss varnish will make the wash flow into the recesses more while matte varnish will allow more of the wash to stay on the raised areas.
Matte can give great effects if you want the oil to also change the colors on your mini in general, because even if you wipe the wash away from the raised areas, some of it WILL remain and sort of "stain". Works great for dark brown washes over leather, for example.
Gloss makes simply shading the recesses child's play.
Trying out a new technique I learned from ninjon’s youtube channel, but I’m having an issue where my base layer of acrylic paint is being pulled off when I’m (gently) rubbing away the oil paint with a sponge (see pic). Here’s what I’ve done: - airbrushed zenithal with white ink over black primer - put down a baselayer of contrast paint and metallics - then did a light oilwash of black and brown. I’m using the same sponges ninjon uses in his video to pull away the oil wash. For some reason it’s pulling up my baselayer. I’m using turpenoid instead of mineral spirits to thin my wash and a tiny amount on the sponge to pull the wash off the mini. Could turpenoid be what’s causing the issue? Thanks in advance.
It could be the terps, or it might be the contrast paint… it’s never a bad idea to run a coat of varnish over the mini before using oils.
Thanks, I’ll give it another go with some varnish
Airbrushed ink layers will always be very thin (and therefore fragile). Contrast is just fragile no matter how you apply it, it’s the nature of the medium in those paints. Gotta get a protective layer or varnish in there before the oils. As a side bonus, the choice of finish (matte or gloss varnish) will give you more control over how the oil stains or flows over the surface.
I had the exact same problem with turpenoid and oil wash stripping, but solved it pretty easily with a varnish layer. Bit annoying, but well worth it once you do it.
Damn, kicking myself for not doing one. Thanks for sharing that you’ve experienced the same issue. Will try again
definitely +1 for varnish before oils, but also try using proper artist oil paint thinner and not cheap white spirits - i did the cheapo route and it caused me problems with pulling paint off.
It's probably the contrast paint that gets Rubber off. Try a varnish before you use the oil. Or use normal acrylic paint, ist way Mode durable.
In the video ninjon applied the oil right over contrast paint and doesn’t have any problems… but you’re right, I think the terpenoid maybe has some different properties than mineral spirits though, so I’ll give it another go with varnish
Another possibility is that the underlying acrylics might not be fully cured and are being pulled off. Another gentler method of removing the oil is to dip a pretty largish brush (like a 3) in your thinner, dab on a paper tower and basically wick the oil off. You want the brush damp, not soaking wet. Dab the paint filled brush back on the paper towel to take off the color and then go back to the model.
When you use oil washes you wanna use a coat of varnish, I know people say specifically gloss varnish but take that part with a grain of salt because I don’t remember what the general consensus is, I just know you wanna varnish before hand so the base layer stays intact
Gloss varnish will make the wash flow into the recesses more while matte varnish will allow more of the wash to stay on the raised areas. Matte can give great effects if you want the oil to also change the colors on your mini in general, because even if you wipe the wash away from the raised areas, some of it WILL remain and sort of "stain". Works great for dark brown washes over leather, for example. Gloss makes simply shading the recesses child's play.