Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

1) Why is it bad to thin down the paint directly in the pot? I have always heard never to do it, but never really heard a reason as why not to do it.

2) How the heck do I get this orange foundation paint to cover over a model primed in black. It seems that no matter if i thin it down or not, I still get the black to show through, even after 5+ coats. Is it possible I have a bad pot of the paint?

Thanks for the help guys!

1) Because you'll have no idea of the actual consistency of the paint. It's easy to thin a paint down, not so easy to thicken it back up. Too much water in some paints as well will make them settle a lot more than otherwise.

2) Chances are you're sploshing the paint on. Paint thin, even coats. You need to spread the paint with the brush, not let the paint sploosh everywhere. Thin it to the point where it flows nicely off your brush without flooding out.

If I'm painting something light on top of a dark basecoat, I'll usually start off with a layer of white paint to help offset the darkness of the basecoat showing through. Otherwise you'll probably have to paint a lot of layers just to get it look right. I've found yellow is a pain to get right.

itsacoyote wrote: I've found yellow is a pain to get right.

Yes, the same with yellow as well, even white to a certain degree. Does anyone have maybe a video tuturoial of how to do this a little bit better? All of my other foundation paints work beautifully, the ones that I have at least. Must be me

It really is just the pigmentation of the paint. I can't find it, but there's some article about layers of acrylic paint and basically how layers will be affected by the color of the layer beneath them. Because you're not painting solid layers of acrylic paint, the lower layers are still going to show through and will affect how the overall will look. With a black basecoat, you're taking away from the brightness of the lighter colors you're painting on top.

Add a few layers of white to offset the black, and when you paint over that white with yellow or another lighter color, it'll look much better than applying 20 coats of yellow on black.

Actually, here's an article that suggests probably a better way to do it: http://www.40kforums.com/vb/content.php/214-Painting-Yellow-Over-Black

Wow, thanks so much for the link to that quick tutorial. I am going to have to try this out. What do you think would be a good build up color to orange? Do you think building up from a brown is still a good way to go for oragne?

I thin in the bottle but only after testing it to see how thick it is off the shelf, and even then, I only thin a little in the bottle and then to taste on the palette.

For orange, you can basecoat with a foundation paint like Tausept Ochre or a regular paint like Snakebite Leather.

Try painting a red or brown, and then painting orange over the top, this should give you a smooth even coat.