Artists acrylics

[MarshMan]

Hi again all
I’ve got quite a lot of Windsor and Newton artists acrylics; is there any reason not to use them please?
Max

 

[stillp]

Depends what you want to use them for Max! The pigments are probably too coarse for airbrushing, but they'll be good for brushing or washes.

Pete

 

[MarshMan]

Depends what you want to use them for Max! The pigments are probably too coarse for airbrushing, but they'll be good for brushing or washes.

Pete

Ah, I hadn’t thought of that Pete. I’m not entirely sure what washes are used for yet.

 

[Jakko]

Anything you like, provided you want the paint to run into and around detail rather than sit on top of it.

For example, you can use it to quickly shade things: apply a wash of a darker version of the base colour and it will accumulate in the crevices and around detail where shadows would fall. It’s also handy for weathering: a mud-coloured wash quickly and easily represents things like mud(dy water) or dirt that has accumulated on a vehicle.

 

[dave]

I use a few artists acrylics when brush painting, to mix with an acrylic “model” paint to adjust the shade, for instance into flesh for faces.

 

[Tim Marlow]

The short answer is no, they are paint like any other...however, they have certain properties that you need to be aware of....
Personally I’ve used them extensively for buildings and scenic items for gaming pieces, and occasionally on fantasy figures. They have better quality pigment (finer and more colour dense) than most model paints. They seem to dry slightly slower and would probably be good for drybrushing, but I haven’t tried that yet. With the right medium they would be effective for washes and glazes, but you would need a little trial and error to get consistencies right. They have a heavier “body” than say Vallejo so may need to be thinned more to get a thin even coverage without brushmarks. Colours are quite intense so may be a bit much for some sorts of models, but they are great for such as flame effects on fantasy types. They tend to dry shiny though so will probably need a finishing varnish.
Artists oils have a lot of uses as well if you have any...
Cheers
Tim

 

[rtfoe]

I had a lot of practise with all types of paints during art school days before using them on plastic models. These experimentations gave me an insight to each of the mediums properties and whether they were compatable to each other and surfaces.

I guess the only way to find out is to try on scrap plastic until it becomes familiar. I found that this learning process made the hobby that more interesting. The ready made stuff are similar to what old modelers have been using but have now gotten names like pigments, washes, filters, streaking effect, dust, mud, chipping, fuel stains, rusts and so on.

What an adventure you're gonna have.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Jakko]

Doesn’t @grumpa paint exclusively with artist’s acrylics?

 

[spanner570]

I'm even lower down the scale (so to speak) I use those dirt cheap children's acrylics for a lot of my model painting. There again I always brush paint and I'm not too fussy about the end result....

 

[MarshMan]

Sorry I was a bit slow coming back to this thread. I very much appreciate all your feedback. I’ve taken in all that’s been said, but one point seems a little foggy, and that is spraying. Pete suggests they’re probably too coarse for spraying, but Tim states the pigments are finer than most model paints, implying to my mind that they should spray. So, has anybody tried spraying any please? If so, would water be okay as a medium?
Max

 

[Pinz]

Gunna jump in here I use Windsor and Newton acrylics already for my mdf painting and have loads my question is! How do I make a wash? Is it simply water? Or alcohol? Or both?
Cheers ta

 

[Jakko]

Anything that thins the paint. A wash is really just that: paint thinned so far that it doesn’t really cover much, but does run into grooves, around detail, etc. Water is safe for acrylics, but may have enough surface tension that the wash doesn’t run well — though it depends on the paint you’re applying the wash over as well. Luckily, you’ll see this soon enough when you apply some to the model.

If you use alcohol, the wash will probably flow better, but be sure to test first that it doesn’t dissolve the paint you’ll be applying it over.

 

[wotan]

I use almost exclusively artist's acrylics. Jo Sonja in particular. These are quite extensively used by figure painters however, as others have mentioned, you need to work on getting the consistency right. You may need to use Retarding agents, flow mediums and/or just plain water to get the right consistency.
I also use oils for particular jobs. Washes and glazes are best made from thinned oil paints since they allow adjustment to be made on the model before they dry completely and they are truly transparent.

Oils can be applied over acrylics, once they are dry of course, and acrylics can be applied on pretty much any grease free surface.

Enjoy the experimentation.

John