hi,
i received my first valejo pigments and i wanted to darken the face of a 1/35 figure i had alraedy painted.I applied with a dry brush the black pigments but they fall right off.Try again no show.apply the dedicated liquid and applied.i waited one hr and tried brushing it off to simulate an unshaven face ,i was hoping it would come off in steps but nothing doing,it comes right off completely.Can someone pls help and explain the steps .

What is the finish on the face you have?

Needs to be a matt surface for the pigment to "bite" into. If it is a gloss surface it has nothing to hold onto, and will just rub off. This goes for any pigments/pastels....they won't adhere to a smooth gloss surface very well.

For a mixture...try a little matt varnish and pigment, make a slurry and stipple it on for a beard.

hello,
its an acrylic painted face.I want to give an unshaven look "48hrs",not a beard.Am i wrong in trying pigments? should i try tamiya smoke ?

Amin;
try using artist charcoal, shaved off into a fine powder with your hobby knife or razor blade. With a stiffer brush stipple this on the face, over matt surface (not gloss) as Scott said, and do this in layers. If you try to brush it on it will just fall of, you have to almost push it into the surface to get it to stick. Do this several times until you get the look you want. If you find that the first two passes do not leave any colour, then press the charcoal powder into the face of your figure with a slight grinding motion with your stiff brush. Hope this helps. Cheers.

i did use charcoal on another unflatened face"dragon brittish comando" a while back and it did work doing what you mentioned.I thought trying pigments for the first time was a big improvement!!!Looks like it only increased my cost!!Charcoal and dry pastels have always worked well for me on vehicles,weathering,rust,etc all dry applications.thanks for the advice.

Amin,

Pigments are not really designed for this purpose. I would stick to using pigments to simulate dust, dirt and grime on your figures clothing and boots.

Since you are already using acrylic paints, there is an easy way to get 5 o'clock shadow. Simply mix a touch of blue into your flesh color, thin it down to a wash consistency and apply it carefully to the beard area in very thin coats until you get the desired darkness you want. You are actually applying it as a "filter" or "glaze" over just the beard area so you must be careful not to flood the entire face. You just need a subtle hint that your guys are unshaven.

See this tutorial for some good images of painting faces in acrylics:

http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com/blog/2010/03/painting-a-face/

Hope this has been helpful and good luck.

thanks everyone for advice and tips.