Can anyone give me tips on dry brushing please? Particularly for WW2 AFVs. I have never been able to get the hang of it. Either too much paint, too wet, not enough.......... the only thing that is consistant about my attempts is that they are never quite right.

I mainly use enamels for dry brushing and a small flat headed brush.

My method is to dip the end of the brush in the paint then I get a piece of tissue (preferably something strong like kitchen roll ) lay it on a flat surface then start painting the tissue until all the constant brush strokes leave is a very very faint trace of paint on the tissue.
At that point i know I can start drybrushing.


Ian

I use the same method as Ian.. Enamel paint and a small flat squared off brush.. Although, I use a tea towel to wipe the brush against.. I do that until I see very little paint being left on the towel.. Then just lightly over the items Im trying to highlight. Remember, you can always add paint but its really tough to take it off.. So take a break after a few passes and see how it looks..

Dave

I used a tea towel once Dave and the better half went ballistic :-) :-) :-)


Ian

I find... when you look at the paper towel you are brushing against and think you are ready to use the brush on the model... Swipe the paper a few more times.

If you use oils instead of enamels you have time should you get too much paint on the model to quickly correct your mistake with a clean cloth.

If you don't seem to get enough paint... well do several coats, better to not have enough than to have too much.


Martyn

Thanks for all of the tips guys. I think my main problems have been me using acrylics instead of enamels. The paint has been drying real quick. My choice of brush has not been the best either.

All you need is a flat brush, not your good ones as drybrushing is hard on the brush.

Howdy PanzerEd,

You said;




If I may add to what already has been said?

Drybrushing is IMHO a technique that you should try to learn in as much depth as you can, meaning; that variations of drybrushing can wield you many positive results.

First, the brush:

I have several brushes I use for drybrushing, but my favourite is an old flat, wide brush that I have selectively variagated the leading edge bristles of, creating a slighty uneven edge. This 'ragged' edge, gives me the randomness I am looking for when drawing my brush across the surface of what I am painting. Again, IMHO I discovered that when I used a standard flat brush, the resulting 'look' seemed just too even to me....

Also, when using this type of brush, you can slowly turn the angle of the brush to narrow downyour path of application and concentrate more of the colour you are trying to apply {on narrow high points for example}.

Second, the paint:

It needs to be said that using acrylics for drybrushing is just dandy, since you should be applying ever-so minor applications at a time...I think that sometimes we are so anxious to see the result we tend to rush this process and therefore quite often apply our drybrushing coats too heavily. A mistake to be sure.
Acrylics can be used in small amounts, and in small sections of your model effectively, allowing you to control the amount of affect you are looking for while not getting in over-your-head.
Enamels are fine as well to use for drybrushing, especially when you feel you need a tad more 'working' time. Just be careful with this since there comes a point where the enamel paint starts to set, and it starts to become tacky and then starts grabbing at your brush bristles...
After you've finished washing your project to add detail to the nooks and crannies, your next major chance to add life to your vehicle is with drybrushing. So, you need to take your time with this process, and there is no better why to "take your time" than to use oils.
Not only are oil paints more vibrant, but the medium itself is almost custom designed to place the 'control' factor firmly in your corner. Simply put, if you have applied an affect you don't think looks 'right', just simply wipe it away! Then start again until you are happy with the results....just remember one other important thing, remember to look at your finished project with your 'scale' eyes.

Finally, there are some pretty neat little tricks you can do with mixing mediums and drybrushing but.......that's for another post....I've already probably yakked too long, and bored you to tears

hth.

warm regards,

Tread.

I would suggest pulling out an old completed model or build a cheapo kit to practice on. Then practice practice practice. Like treadhead says, be patient and go a little at a time. Start with your drybrushing color almost identical to the base color and then lighten it just a touch at a time.

He means that he makes the brush have a jagged edge, like a saw blade, but uneven.

thank you to you all for the expert tips. I have come back into the fold after a stunted start at the end of last year. I must admit I'm glad to be doing something again.

I will try to be on here as much as possible, (not taking too much time away from building) but to show you how I'm getting on.

thank you all once again

Des

One of the things I have learned from building figures that is directly useable on other models is to thin the paint much more than i was used to. With acrylics this is almost required or you end up with either wet paint or a dried brush.

I know it sounds silly when your talking about dry brishing, but the correct thinness or dilution of the paint is the key to all types of brush work and usually is the reason for problems.

What i do now is usually thin the paint between 6 to 12 parts thinner to 1 part paint in a pallete, then using a an already wet from thinner brush i will dip it into a small amount of the thinned paint and paint most of it out in a rag then dry brush over the item to be done. Then before dipping my brush again, I rewet it in the thinner so the brush has no paint in it and is clean and not clogged, which acrylics have a bad habit of doing.

This means I end up with very minute amounts of paint on the brush. The down side of this is I will have to go over things more than once, in fact i build the colour up, but I get to control the colour a lot better this way and it allows for a lot of subtlety.

Thanks Ray.

I have more than enough figures to be getting on with in the coming months to go along with my Easy Eight, (Easy Eight in sepia forum)

I will keep you posted on my progress and hopefully get some pics on here.

Des