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AFV Painting & Weathering
Answers to questions about the right paint scheme or tips for the right effect.
New to painting with oils ?
sonicsniper
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United Kingdom
Joined: October 09, 2011
KitMaker: 4 posts
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Posted: Sunday, November 18, 2012 - 12:54 AM UTC
Hi at the moment im building a model of George Washington on a horse.
I have had problems with painting the horse with acrylic paint but does not look good.i have seen that using oil paints is better to blend the colors. i have put a thin layer of paint on the horse but it has been 4 day now and it is still tacky . Has anybody any ideas how to dry the paint quicker.
Regards Rog
Leopard-2
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Bayern, Germany
Joined: November 10, 2009
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Posted: Sunday, November 18, 2012 - 01:46 AM UTC
The only thing you can do now is waiting about a month i guess but next time let the colour "bleed out" on a piece of kitchen roll for a wile so that most of the oil gets sucked out but it will still require at least two weaks for the colour to dry fairly.
sonicsniper
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United Kingdom
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Posted: Sunday, November 18, 2012 - 01:58 AM UTC
Before i painted i put the colour oils on a card over night to get rid of exes oil.
SdAufKla
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South Carolina, United States
Joined: May 07, 2010
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Posted: Sunday, November 18, 2012 - 03:32 AM UTC
Patience is really the answer. I paint figures with oils and just normally place my figures in a plastic, dust free stowage box and allow them to dry. It often takes a week or so, especially for white colors and light gray shades.

However, you can build a small drying box with an incandescent light bulb as a heat source. A dust-free box, like a plastic storage bin with a close fitting lid is better than a cardboard box, but a cardboard box would work. You could use a shop light on an extension cord or buy an inexpensive ceramic light fixture and attach a cord to that.

Some figure painters build a design purpose drying box out of wood and mount a light fixture in it with pieces of filter material over the venting holes to mitigate dust. However, I've just learned to be patient and allow my figures to dry naturally.

Use a low-wattage bulb - ~40w or lower maybe. Allow some air circulation by making holes in the bottom and top of the sides. Keep the bulb away from the sides and top of the box and not too close to the model (depending on its base material - white metal, resin, or plastic - each tolerates the heat differently). You don't really want too much heat, just enough to get the inside warm and to cause convection circulation of the air.

Monitor your set-up to be sure it's not a fire hazard or is not getting the box or figure too warm. If you're not sure, turn the light off when you're not present until you are sure your design is good.

You can do an internet search for paint drying boxes to see various designs. A commercial source for a drying box would be the boxes made for drying fruit or meat jerky. Those often have temperature and time settings.

Slow drying time is probably the major drawback for using oils, but that's also why they're so easy to blend. I'll live with the drying time for that advantage.

HTH,
Francisco
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Lisboa, Portugal
Joined: March 08, 2004
KitMaker: 343 posts
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Posted: Sunday, November 18, 2012 - 03:44 AM UTC
A couple of good links about working with oils:

http://scalesandhistory.blogspot.pt/2012/10/pintura-de-um-rosto-com-oleos-passo.html

http://massivevoodoo.blogspot.pt/2011/07/tutorial-miniature-painting-with-oil.html

http://www.paint-sculpt.com/tutorials/index.html

http://www.mmjmm.com/articles.asp?idioma=2



firstcircle
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England - South East, United Kingdom
Joined: November 19, 2008
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Posted: Sunday, November 18, 2012 - 11:01 AM UTC
Windsor and Newton Liquin is a medium made especially for mixing with oil paints; it makes the oil paint flow and mix in a slightly more fluid way and also speeds up the drying time considerably - it can be overnight instead of a week, although it is obviously dependent on the amount used.

Although the stuff about drying boxes makes sense, it sounds quite elaborate. Try something like a plastic food container, or one of those tall 400ml yogurt tubs for a figure; get the lid upside down, and put a blob of blu tac or similar on each corner; place the painted model on the upside down lid, then put the container upside down over it so that it fixes to or sits on the blu tac blobs. In other words the box is upside down, the model is inside it on the lid, and the lid and the box are just kept apart by the blu tac to create a small air gap. Now stand it somewhere warm and where air convects, like a window cill above a radiator. Make sure it's not too hot, but to be honest I have put models near hot radiators, with a thick book or something between the box and the radiator just to insulate it from too much direct heat. Obvious I suppose, but be careful when moving it around so that the model doesn't fall over inside the box...
sonicsniper
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United Kingdom
Joined: October 09, 2011
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Posted: Sunday, November 18, 2012 - 12:21 PM UTC
Thanks your quick reply's and for all the information.
As you say the box is a bit courageous for me at the moment but maybe in the future.
Rog
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