Guys,

First post. Great site.

I'm still confused, after reading quite a bit, about washes and the composition of the paints used. What I'm looking at doing is...

1. Base coat; enamel (Testors Model Master grey, for example).
2. Gloss coat; enamel (Testors gloss coat).
3. Wash; acrylic (like Tamiya's black or brown thinned with distilled water or alcohol).
4. Final flat coat; enamel (Testors flat coat).

Is this okay? Note that I'm using spray cans exclusively, with the obvious exception of the wash. Would it be better to do Step 2 with a lacquer, and Step 3 with an enamel? Or use another kind of paint for the wash, so an enamel flat coat would be safer? Maybe something completely different?

Could someone really spell out the do's and don'ts of washing and final-coating? My model and I would really appreciate it!

- Johnny Dangerously

What you are planning is what a lot of people do. The reason many people do the wash with a different type of paint to that used to do the actual camoflage colour is that if you use enamel wash for example over enamel paint, the the thinners used in the wash could react with the paint underneath and lift it or soften it so spoiling the finish. So if using enamel paint I wash with acrylics and vice versa. Some people do the wash after finishing the aircraft/vehicle completely, others incorporate it into the painting stages or along with the weathering stage. It is a matter of trying different things and finding what gives the best results. A lot of the rules people folow are basic things to prevent things going wrong. I tend to be heavier with the washes and weathering (sometimes alernating washes with drybrushing) than a lot of people who post pictures here, but I go with what I think looks right to me, after all it is a hobby, not a true science to many of us.