Painting tips?

stone316

New Member
Hi all,

I've made a few costumes over the years but have used spray paint mostly. I made a clayton carmine helmet below and decided to paint it by hand with acrylics. However, I find the paint is not going on smooth. Its bumpy, has ridges. Almost like its not filling in properly. Its hard to get a picture of it. I've been debating sanding it down and trying an airbrush. (Got one for my birthday, just haven't gotten around to playing with it yet.. )

Any one have any tips for hand painting with acrylics? I've read Kamui's book on painting and a few other things so i'm not sure what i'm doing wrong.


carmine_helmet.jpg
 
An airbrush would definitely give you the smoothest coat, but there are a few things you can do to try to keep the brush strokes to a minimum:

- Get rid of the bristled brush and use a foam brush:
Foam_Brushes-xl.jpg

- Thin out your paint with some water.

- Apply the paint in very thin coats. Don't overload your brush with paint.
 
What kind of acrylic paint are you using? There is a nearly endless variety of acrylic paints... If it's coming straight out of a tube, you should probably thin it with an acrylic medium, or just water. Or look for something that comes in a squeeze bottle (liquitex medium viscosity or golden fluid acrylics are two US brands). I love games workshop paint too, but it's very expensive... not feasible for the whole mask, but it has some nice bold colors for smaller details.
 
ah I see your problem :) looks like you're putting it on too thick, I always dilute my acrylics with a dash of water for painting!

First step I airbrush the basecoat colour and add the hightlights (you know like painting miniatures you highlight ridges etc so they stand out).

When dry I then go in with my watered down acrylics and use a stiff'ish brush and dab the colour in to create grime and shading etc, adding the basecoat colour into the dabbing process so you get a smooth blend. maybe make them like a single cream consistency? ha not sure how accurate a description that is...

It might be a little lumpy but the end results are very agreeable with some practice and solve themselves once you do a clear coat with some sort of lacquer.

My favourite thing to do is get your primary colours, blue, red and yellow, then you can mix pretty much any colour you like! (also get some silver and a dash of mars black for any metal and slightly cheated shading).. If you look up your colour theory and make the awesome shadow colours, you cannot fail :)

and basically everything Talaaya just said... the Samus is just too well done to ignore that advice! (except I still like the bristles : )
 
and basically everything Talaaya just said... the Samus is just too well done to ignore that advice! (except I still like the bristles : )

Haha, thanks! Although I must admit, the only part of my suit that had paint brushed on was the "grime" in the crevices. I know all about painting from my art background though. ;D

Just to clarify, the foam brushes were a suggestion of something to try. You can definitely get a smooth finish with bristles as well. I, too, prefer bristles. It also depends on the quality and shape of brush you use. Brushes can get expensive fast, but for a reason.
 
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