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This may seem like a bit of a stupid question, but having painted my first set of Salamanders tactical marines I'm finding that my main coat (of GW Snot Green) is rather thin, does not have a full opaque coverage (When the paint isn't dry I can often see the base coat - which I gather I shouldn't), and is generally uneven. I also find that when applying highlights I cannot seem to apply them as thin or neat as i'd like due to the paint thickness. This isn't a case of a bad batch of paint as I have bought a second pot to check that factor. I think it's just me doing something wrong...

I intend to invest in Liquitex Flo-aid which I believe will result in a smoother coat, but I wondered if I was doing something else wrong in applying the coat?

The procedure I follow is: (Painting straight from the pot - no added water/flo-aid)

1. Spray Prime
2. Paint Base coat
3. Paint Main coat
4. Highlight with a mixed colour
5. Extreme highlight with a neat/pure colour.

Any help or criticism would be most appreciated.

EDIT: All pictures in my gallery are examples of the above process and may show the effect I mean (unsmooth coat)

Thin paint, applied evenly in multiple coats.

Do not overload the brush, if you notice your paint 'running' you have too much on the brush.

You'll never get a single smooth and solid coat by brush. You need to thin the paint down (even just water for GW acrylics) rather than use it straight from the pot, then you'll need 2-3 coats to get a solid finish. If you use a GW "foundation" or "base" paint, they have more pigment in them, so it's easier to lay down a smooth solid layer, but you'll still need to thin them (even more so) and for most paints you'll still need 2 or more coats to get a good final finish.

If you have a GW store or hobby shop where you can get some advice from more experienced painters, I think it's worth going and they can show you how much to thin your paints and just basic stuff like loading up the brush. It's a lot easier for someone to show you in person than someone on the internet trying to explain it then you trying to comprehend it with no physical way of actually interacting with it.

In addition to that, a good brush goes a long way to making a smooth coat, but I'd invest some time in learning how to properly thin your paints and maintain/clean your brush.

@ Winterdyne -

I don't tend to overload the brush having read an article on brush care, but I don't usually paint several coats. I will in future paint several coats as you suggest, but I fear my main problem will again be in gaining a smooth coat with no brush marks. Just painting out of the pot seems not to work. Do you usually mix your paint with water or Flo-aid and paint from a palette?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
@AllSeeingSkink - I have got a decent set of brushes (the citadel range) and regularly clean my brushes. I'm also familiar with how to load the brush - I just think my main problem is as you have highlighted with how to thin the paint. From the accounts I have read of using flo aid, I'm to mix the Flo-aid 1:10 with water, then that mixture 1:2 with paint to get a thinned mixture. I'm just unsure as to whether this is right. Thanks for the suggestions though.

To avoid brush marks, the thin paint is most of the job. You can also hide by cross-brushing each layer, and ensuring each layer is dry before putting on the next.
My usual method for thinning paint for brush painting is water from my wet palette, which has a little detergent and a little anti bacterial cleaner in it. A drop of flow improver in water does the job too. Glaze mediums work if you need to delay drying more or if the paint goes chalky easily.

Thanks for pointing out the cross-brushing - makes sense. So would simply starting out by mixing Flo-aid 1:10 with water, and then the mixture 1:1 with paint work in the same way?

I believe i'll also have to invest in a palette ( a citadel one?) and some dropper bottles/pipettes.

Get yourself a wet palette. You'll Never go back.
That mix sounds ok. Probably can get away with less thinning to be honest unless your paint is all gunky.

A wet palette? I've heard of the concept, but I don't know where or if I can buy one.

just an FYI, liquitex flow aide says 20:1 water. I use it all the time and it really helps. I ade a 50/50 mix of flow aide mix to paint. (all of my paint is in droppers so thats much easier.)

I know this might sound cheesy, but this video REALLY helped me understand color layering.

I personally think it's hard to define the ratio of thinner to paint, as it varies from one colour to the next, one application to the next and even one pot to the next (GW aren't very consistent with the thickness of their paint).

So the ratio of water:paint I use is highly situational. The better thing is to learn how thin you need the paint based on how well the paint flows, which is why I recommend actually going somewhere that you can, in person, get some help with thinning you paint.

^True. to piggy back on that statement, I should clarify a few things:

I do not use Vallejo or GW or army painter paints. I use VERY cheap craft paint which mixes and flows in a very different way. It also reacts very differently to the flow aide. so take my advise on thinning with a grain of salt.

You can also look into airbrush medium to thin your paints with. it works very well for me as well.

regardless of what you thin your paint with, experimentation is the vest thing you can do. grab a piece of plastic scrap from anything (packaging material works well) primer it and just practice painting it.

I also recommend writing down your steps with thinning and paint, it helps later on when you want to get a desired effect. there is no ONE method, thats why its art and not science

Rimmy wrote:just an FYI, liquitex flow aide says 20:1 water.

The most common suggestion I've heard is the 10:1 water, but i'll take you word about 20:1 as well. I'll run a couple of tests before I go ahead and paint to see which consistency is better.
Hehe, the video was... amusing... - but surprisingly informative. Cheers.

 Warpig1815 wrote:
A wet palette? I've heard of the concept, but I don't know where or if I can buy one.

Make one. You need a sheet of sponge, some baking parchment and some sort of plastic tub or tray with a lid that you can lay the sponge flat in. Important to use a water-permeable parchment (grease proof paper does not work properly).

Thanks for all the suggestions people - they're very much needed

I'm neat enough when painting apart from this issue, so I think i'm going to proceed in this direction:

1. Get some Flo-aid and proceed to experiment with a 1:10 and 1:20 mix of Flo-aid to water (in a mix of 1:1 with paint)
2. Construct some sort of a Wet-Palette
3. Consider visiting a GW shop (never actually been in one)
4. Implement cross-brushing when painting.

Sound like a plan?

Once again: Many thanks for these comments, they'll hopefully drastically help me apply a smooth coat.

 Warpig1815 wrote:

Rimmy wrote:just an FYI, liquitex flow aide says 20:1 water.

The most common suggestion I've heard is the 10:1 water, but i'll take you word about 20:1 as well. I'll run a couple of tests before I go ahead and paint to see which consistency is better.
Hehe, the video was... amusing... - but surprisingly informative. Cheers.

yea, Her video's aren't for everyone as the german accent is hard for some to take. I find her video's very informative, as she explains things very simply.

Make use of tutorials. I used to think I could paint pretty well, but as I've been studying and reading and watching, i've gotten MUCH better in my painting and my models are showing that (finally) LOL.

Best of luck to you. do be sure to post up some of the models as you experiment so we can all see your progress!

 Rimmy wrote:

 Warpig1815 wrote:

Rimmy wrote:just an FYI, liquitex flow aide says 20:1 water.

The most common suggestion I've heard is the 10:1 water, but i'll take you word about 20:1 as well. I'll run a couple of tests before I go ahead and paint to see which consistency is better.
Hehe, the video was... amusing... - but surprisingly informative. Cheers.

yea, Her video's aren't for everyone as the german accent is hard for some to take. I find her video's very informative, as she explains things very simply.

Make use of tutorials. I used to think I could paint pretty well, but as I've been studying and reading and watching, i've gotten MUCH better in my painting and my models are showing that (finally) LOL.

Best of luck to you. do be sure to post up some of the models as you experiment so we can all see your progress!

I've met German women who's accents didn't bother me, her voice in the video gets a bit grating though, I think you can find people with annoying voices with most any accent, though there are a few accents that I find exceptionally cute out of a girl and couldn't imagine someone being annoying with it.

But yeah, YouTube over the past few years has become a really valuable resource for the novice and experienced painter alike. Lots of great tutorials from a range of great painters. I love watching BuyPainted (http://www.youtube.com/user/Buypainted), he makes me want to buy an airbrush because he makes it look so easy, but he has a lot of walkthroughs that show some great ideas for painters of any level.

Practice goes a long way with painting, but having a good idea of the techniques you are trying to achieve will make the practice far more valuable, so I think a bit of instruction can go a long way (in person if you can, but videos are a good too). A lot of the big steps of improvement in my painting have come from painting in my local GW and someone looking over my shoulder and telling me "it'll come out better if you do this" or "you should try this method".

I've had a look on YouTube in the past and it yielded up good results to be fair. I just asked on here as I find it's better than just interpreting my own take on videos.I'm going to get a set of Terminators with FW pauldrons but they'll only be done by after Christmas, so if anybody wonders what ever became of this I'll put a couple of pics in the far future.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

I've met German women who's accents didn't bother me, her voice in the video gets a bit grating though, I think you can find people with annoying voices with most any accent, though there are a few accents that I find exceptionally cute out of a girl and couldn't imagine someone being annoying with it.

But yeah, YouTube over the past few years has become a really valuable resource for the novice and experienced painter alike. Lots of great tutorials from a range of great painters. I love watching BuyPainted (http://www.youtube.com/user/Buypainted), he makes me want to buy an airbrush because he makes it look so easy, but he has a lot of walkthroughs that show some great ideas for painters of any level.

Practice goes a long way with painting, but having a good idea of the techniques you are trying to achieve will make the practice far more valuable, so I think a bit of instruction can go a long way (in person if you can, but videos are a good too). A lot of the big steps of improvement in my painting have come from painting in my local GW and someone looking over my shoulder and telling me "it'll come out better if you do this" or "you should try this method".

BuyPainted is here on Dakka. he goes by GuyWithPolishAccent. I watch his video's as well. 2 very different techniques. Ii have an airbrush and i've been practicing some of his techniques. right now i'm workig on thinning my paints properly.