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I'm going to using some pigments for weathering effects on 15mm tanks. Never used them before and i see people talking about "pigment fixers." Well, I live on a remote, rocky island in the north Atlantic and it's taken me over a month to get the damn pigments so I'd prefer not to order a fixer and wait another month. Is there anything that can work? What about good old watered-down PVA?

Let me help you out here, I've done a couple of posts going over a few of the more common "fixers" with the results I got.
It might help you make up your mind with what you want to use.

http://fromthewarp.blogspot.com/2011/11/effects-of-varnish-on-weathering.html
http://fromthewarp.blogspot.com/2011/11/effects-of-hairspray-on-weathering.html
http://fromthewarp.blogspot.com/2011/11/what-ive-learned-about-varnish-and.html

I tried a variety of methods on my 15mm Soviet tanks, but found that MIG's pigment fixer really was the best. It was the only substance that kept the 'dusty' look of the pigment to my eye. I put it in a little spray bottle and sprayed it at the model from a distance of about 40cms. Worked a treat. The wait might be a pain, but could be worth it in the long run.

Thanks for the help guys.

I also had some experiences with fixers for pigments. Check out

http://ik-painter.blogspot.de/2011/12/tools-of-trade-different-fixers-for.html

Hope this helps you out :-)

Cheers,


IK-Painter

Isopropyl alcohol (yes, plain old rubbing alcohol, from the pharmacy/grocery store - my bottle is 70% concentration, but I haven't heard any negatives regarding stronger concentrations) is the easiest liquid fixer to find, for most folks. Apply your pigments dry, then load a brush with alcohol and gently touch it to the pigments. Capillary action will spread it around a bit, so a dab here and there will do (it's easy to see where it has or hasn't reached, as the wet pigment will darken - also, take care not to flood the area and cause runs). Rinse and repeat, as needed. You can also make a pigment wash with alcohol (but read the warnings, first).

A few warnings, though: First, alcohol will set the pigments well enough for display models or occasional handling (I actually had a bit of trouble rubbing an overzealous application down with a bare finger), but it's not sufficiently robust for long-term gaming wear and tear. If you plan to varnish over the top, though, it's more than you'll ever need to keep things from blowing away while you spray on your topcoat. Getting it wet again will destroy your efforts, though, so brush-on varnishes are a no go.

Second, rubbing alcohol will strip acrylic paint. No, nothing like the cartoon image of a drop of acid bubbling right down through the floor, but agitation will dislodge saturated paint (I've noticed no ill effects if it's simply placed on top and allowed to evaporate, but I've stripped metals down to the primer trying to apply an alcohol rust wash with too much brushing, early on in my experiments). If you want to play around with it, apply varnish first to protect the paintjob (gloss finishes will affect the flow and pooling, whereas satin or matte has enough tooth for the pigments to behave as if over paint).