Help Please! Bandai Millennium Falcon - Wash

Hi, after lurking here drooling over your Bandai Falcon threads, I decided to do my own.

I'm up to the wash stage, but it's looking dreadful!
I coated it with Matt Tamiya XF-86 after scratching up the decals.

Then I started to apply a wash of XF-1 acrylic and thinners. It seems to just stay put and I can't wipe it off! :behave

What am I doing wrong? Should I have oil based wash, or coat it with a gloss (I have humbrol gloss).

Thanks for your help!

it's the matte. also looks like your wash is clumping. some paints dissolve better than others; sometimes even the same brand and color but different batch.
generally, a wash that's chemically different than your basecoat is the rule...but i break that rule almost always. go figure
others will weigh in with better an more thorough answers. i tend to avoid heavy washes when i can.

Also do not wash with tamiya acrylics!. You need an acrylic gloss coat. and then you can use an enamel wash. BUT do not use terpentine or odourless thinners as they react with Bandai's plastic. I have found Humbrol's Enamel Thinner does not react with Bandai's plastic

Gloss coat first, then wash. Washing over matte has it's place, but you're basically staining the paint, not washing.
If you choose to wash with enamels or oils, be very, VERY conservative with your use of thinner.

I'm no expert and never washed before (that's why I smell:lol) so I YT'd a few videos and went with an acrylic water based wash. My primer and top coat is acrylic lacquer which is a solid base for anything water based like straight acrylic water based paint because I can tone it back without affecting the base coat. For weathering I think it's the best mix of base coat and wash to use, because they can't and don't interact with each other and it's fixable if you hit it too hard.

I haven't finished yet, I'm going to go back with a rust wash and then airbrush some wear and tear. It may look a little heavy at the moment, but that's the look I'm going for.

Try spraying the entire model with Future, also known as Pledge Floor finish, or Johnson's Clear - Just make sure it says Floor finish, not cleaner and finish,because that has amonia in it, which will wreck everything. Airbrush it on full strength, a couple of coats. Wait a day for it to completely cure. then take some acrylic paint, and thin it down to a watery milky consistancy, and add a drop or two of dish washing liquid soap into it. Use a small cup or jar lid for this. The soap will act as a flowing agent, and will help in the removal of excess wash. Don't let it sit on the model too long, experiment with an old junky model you don't care about first. Work a section at a time, vary the mix until you like the results. Sometimes it;s better to work lightly and build it up in stages - easier to add a bit more than take too much off! i like to use baby wipes, the cheap kind without aloe or lotion in it, as they hold together better than paper towels. Once you're done and satisfied, seal it up with a spray finish you like -Don't try to brush over it!- I usually use Micro Scale Flat as i have never had a calamity with it and it's a nice strong finish. Just make sure you mask off any clear parts first!

i use tamiya acrylic paints.here's some simple steps -
1 - paint model with a primer coat
2 - paint your top coat or finish coat
3 - optional,paint a matt clear acrylic coat.i rarely do this as i won't the wash to slightly "damage paint" or give it that wear and tear look.
4 - use artists oil paints mixed with turpentine (make it reasonably thin) and liberally paint all over model.or just one small section to try it out.maybe experiment on a old model.
5 - get a rag and dip it a small piece of it in turps and wipe excess paint off model.
6 - once nice and dry spray a matt clear coat.i use either acrylic (airbrushed) or sometime tamiya spray can but be mind full that this is laquer based.
this gets rid of the slightly shiny look and diffuses all your weathering,
do some experimenting but always keep it simple.

Axlotl said:

Gloss coat first, then wash. Washing over matte has it's place, but you're basically staining the paint, not washing.
If you choose to wash with enamels or oils, be very, VERY conservative with your use of thinner.

Click to expand...

Interesting. I only use matte finish when I seal the stages. I'd like to try gloss next time. (And then use matte at the end)

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk

Thanks team, I think I need to get an oil -based wash. I just tried an acrylic wash over a coat of Humbrol clear, but it still turned out ****.

astroboy said:

Interesting. I only use matte finish when I seal the stages. I'd like to try gloss next time. (And then use matte at the end)

Click to expand...

I use clear matte as sparingly as possible because in my experience the more I spray the cloudier my finish gets.
Sometimes I will spray a matte coat over a decal-finishing gloss coat so I can add fuel and oil and exhaust stains over the decals
(I like to do my stains with watercolors on a matte finish), but then I'll Future over that to do my washes before the final matte coat.

Check out my results from this post:
http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=266682
I attribute my successful experiment partly to the Krylon 'glossy' spray which I applied both before and after the washes. Because it dried semi-matte, my wash tended to 'stain' as much as it 'flowed' around the surface details.

Of course you are working in much smaller scale. Oil based washes are very good but some thinners can be rough on the plastic, so use something less "hot" than turpentine such as the 'odorless' thinners made for oil painting work. Also, acrylic paints when greatly thinned really need a surfactant to lessen the surface tension of the water (hence, the recommended dishwashing soap...) The key characteristics of a wash are flow and pigment density. Flow is controlled by thinning and pigment density is a feature of the source paint. Oils have a very fine pigment in suspension and so make very good washes. Acrylic pigments vary more and are usually of a larger 'grain' though hobby paints tend to push that as fine as possible (even bargain paints like the Apple Barrel brand craft paints I used on my project..) One advantage of acrylics is that they can be washed off (if not allowed to 'dry' too long) if they don't look 'good'.

The effect on a matte or glossy finish is important since in general a matte or semi-gloss finish will allow for a 'staining' effect while a glossy finish provides less staining and more flow for the wash.

When you start working with washes, decide exactly what effect you are trying to achieve. Washes can simulate dirt or grime buildup, general surface discoloration, shadow and reflectance effects, corrosion stains or other types of material discolorations. Sometimes it is purely for artistic effect by emphasizing the tiny details with contrasting color 'outlines'. So I recommend taking a moment to imagine how you want the wash to look, then adjust the variables of pigment color, viscousity (flow) and pigment density (opaqueness) to obtain the desired result. Subtle and harsh effects are both possible but it all enhances the model's scale appearance by simulating a more complex visual appearance - which is a feature of 'full sized' objects that capture and reflect light in a myriad of ways.

Hope this helps!

R/ Robert

Very thorough, Mr. Beach. :thumbsup

Just to be clear, the wash rbeach84 used on his linked model is what's called a "sludge wash".
It's made of acrylic paints (any kind will do - even poster paint) thinned with water and with a bit of dish-soap added.
I use these a lot, myself.
I forget the exact ratio, but I think it's pretty much 1:1:1.
The same rules apply, though, as with an oil wash:
On a glossy surface, you can wipe it right off the surfaces you don't want it on.
On a matte surface, though, it will still stain - no matter how hard you try wipe it off.
Bottom line is still: Matte surface = stain; Gloss surface = safe.

Also, refrain from using straight black.
Use browns or greys.
Contrast is the first thing to go where scale is concerned.
(look at pictures of mountains for an exaggerated example of color in scale)