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As the title says I am currently working on a paint job that just comes out uneven. I am to embarassed to post photos but I am having an issue of opacity with my paints. I am doing a base armor on my tau fire caste averland sunset yellow as my base, already the base is so opace that I can still see more black than yellow. If i do to many layers I end up losing the detail on my model. So i throw on a light coat of the sunset again and then use nuin oil to bring out the details. I then layer with flashgitz yellow as I want a bright and shiny yellow army. For the leggings and under the neck I use the sunset again as a base then nuin oil. Followed with a single layer of warpstone green to get some jungle looking leggings. I finish of the leggings with agrax earth shade and the armor with casandor yellow.

My legs come out great, exactly how I want them too, but on my armor it is very inconsistent with the texturing. any advice?

A side note, the weird thing is I have done the same scheme on my drones and they came out exactly how I wanted, its as if the paints i am using (citadel) can only dry evenly on a completely flat surface as opposed to an erect model.

I'd suggest first of all making sure that your paint isn't partially dried, old, nasty stuff. You get flakes in the paint, etc, and it makes it uneven. I also wouldn't use black as a base for yellow. A brown or something like that would probably be easier to cover. You'll also just have to get used to thinning your paint a bit, and putting it on in lighter layers. Build up your color, don't try to get the whole coat in a layer or two. You won't lose detail even after numerous thin layers. Just take your time, and you'll get a feel for it.

Alright JB ill try that, thank you.

I use Vallejo yellow ochre paint which covers even black in one coat and I thin it with water 1 to 1. I picked up the tip from Buypainted on youtube as I had trouble with yellow as well.

Its not a bright yellow but makes a great base so that you can apply thinned coats of yellow over it and it goes down smooth.

As mentioned, make sure one coat is dry before applying another. I work on more than one group of models at a time t allow for long dry times.

Thin the paint.

....
Products of interest might be;
Distilled water, Flow Aid, Fluid Retarder, slow dry blending medium, matte medium, glaze medium, airbrushing medium, gloss medium, isopropyl alcohol.

A cheap place to start can be with water mixed with a small amount of dish soap (dish soap is a 'surfactant' in the same way that flow aid is, and will reduce the surface tension of the water being used for thinning)

Also for lighter colors, you may want to try priming white or grey. Yellow and Red are two of the hardest colors to paint over black.

 Todosi wrote:
Also for lighter colors, you may want to try priming white or grey. Yellow and Red are two of the hardest colors to paint over black.

This

Also, get yourself a wet palate ...you will thank me after that.

Paint thinning is a tricky thing to get the hang of, for many beginning painters (myself included, as of a few years ago). If applying too many coats is obscuring detail, though, then something is still wrong (most likely, but not necessarily, that the paint is still too thick).

Also, brush load an oft neglected factor in thinning-related paint misbehavior - a brush overloaded with dilute paint is likely to flood an area, instead of being deposited only along the path of the stroke, causing both pigment and medium to settle primarily in recesses, as with a wash. If your armor is textured, that may be why you're getting a more uneven finish than on the flatter drones - in the latter case, the pool covers the entire surface, allowing the dispersed pigment to settle across it evenly.

jcrone2 wrote:

 Todosi wrote:
Also for lighter colors, you may want to try priming white or grey. Yellow and Red are two of the hardest colors to paint over black.

This

Also, get yourself a wet palate ...you will thank me after that.

Best moves I did to paint better was a grey primer (auto primer), and a wet palate. Just don't much too much GW paint on a wet palate. It will still dry faster than anything else and it separates. Better to add more on later than waste a bunch.

or prime white. My tau are a desert scheme (my own) in a lighter shade, so I prime them white.

Also, as the others had said, thin the paint, or maybe try filtering it, or just get another bottle.

Wet pallets are amazing as well....

best of luck

I always prime in white, and I never have any problems with any colours. Yellow covers in one coat, and looks beautiful. In fact I find it one of the easiest colours to paint with because even when applied thinly it will pool away from raised areas leaving natural highlights (like a heavy yellow wash over white). And it's easy to cover with darker details.

I don't have any problems with getting things to look 'grimdark' either, or doing black lining. There are lots of shading and washing techniques for stuff like that. AND if I really want to build an area up from dark to light, I can just paint that one area black in one easy coat. The same cannot be said for people who base in black, and need to paint one area white (good luck with that one).

I find undercoating in black is one of those things that has just been so overhyped for so long that a lot of people just seem to do it without question, and without really understanding the layering techniques behind what is otherwise an absurd idea: basing in the hardest possible colour to cover.

Edit: Also if you want smooth smooth smooth, I recommend varnishing. A lot of varnishes are self leveling and will give you a nicer finish, and smooth out some of that grain.

I read your first sentence and found your problem.

Don't assume black is the best primer. This is another reason why GW and it's line of spray products is garbage and why you need to go to your FLGS and shop there instead for other products. Like those offered by army painter. It's impossible to paint bright colors onto black. The only way to salvage your situation right now is to paint on a layer of white to brighten up the surface you are working with so the black doesn't butcher your yellow, and paint on your yellow afterward. I'm really not sure what else to do in this case. If you can find a yellow from a different line that has an incredibly strong pigment, then use that as an intermediate layer color to set the tone for your yellow, otherwise, as of right now, you are stuck putting on many thin coats of yellow until the black is gone.

You may have to thin your paints properly, and use a tiny brush, avoid your details and cover as much surface as you can.... I've had the problem too. It takes a lot of layers to fix that yellow. have a look, sorry about the awful quality of the pictures and the sub-par lazy paintjob, but you should be able to tell easily where it's primed black, and where it's primed not black. Easy indicator is where the shadows are more orange than yellow, and if you look at the feet, where i always fail to do any detail:




the only reason the yellows turned out on the ones that were primed black as well as they did (which, they.... really didn't) was because of the sheer volume of layering I did.

when you've got your paint thinned out, the important thin is to stay away from any 90* angle on your surface. In fact, any crease or stud. Those studs and creases, once filled with water or any liquid medium, will attract the heavier pigment due to either surface tension and/or gravity. If the surface is even, and the layer of thinned paint is thin enough, then it'l be drying quickly, evenly, and with a good texture.

Now i remembered: I also used tau sept ochre to paint over the black primer. Plenty of pigment, and a close enough shade to yellow.

also, it's past midnight as I'm writing this. I need to go to sleep.

EDIT: Ah, i see your last line there. Yes. Gravity is a factor. A surface that is parallel to gravity will cause the heavier pigment to run down, along with any loose water, etc. So the upper portions of surfaces will dry faster, and have less pigment than lower portions... It could be you might want to try painting just one side of a model, and do it in batches. Say, do X models in 15 minutes, then go back to the first one, as it should hopefully be dry, and proceed to the next part, and work your way down the line.......... etc

jcrone2 wrote:

 Todosi wrote:
Also for lighter colors, you may want to try priming white or grey. Yellow and Red are two of the hardest colors to paint over black.

This

Also, get yourself a wet palate ...you will thank me after that.

I painted my tau with Trollslayer orange which is a layer. I had to use jokero orange which is a base or I couldn't get the Trollslayer looking right. Also what Jcrone said, wet palate, uh-mazing.

Branch out beyond GW paints, as has been said. Especially if you're using a light-colored paint as a basecoat, Vallejo's paints have enough pigmentation to them that you can very easily get a good layer over even black. GW paints tend to have less pigmentation and as such don't cover the surface as well.

I dont think saying to go out and buy a new set of paints that are essentially the same (water based acrylics) will help people here much.
The OP was about achieving a smooth coat with a brush. Something which can be done with any paint. theres no magic brand that is the only paint to be applied smoothly.
I get that vallejo's paints are good quality and a good price, and very popular.
Sounds like your having trouble with yellow's mostly. The answer is to thin the paints out (probably beyond what you think is useful tbh) and apply multiple thin layers. Being careful about how much paint is on your brush as you work, and to let each layer dry fully before starting the next.
There is no perfect formula for thinning the paints, as it will depend on your paint - is it new, old, slightly dried out, natrually thin or thick etc.
Also it will depend on your personal environment, the country you live in, weather outside, humidity levels, air conditioning you may have in your house.

Also going straight over black with yellow is always going to be a toughie, I find the best results come from undercoating the yellow areas with beige for warm yellows or white for cold yellows.... Zandri dust is my current go to basecoat for yellows on my Space Marine's.
Over a black spray I do; 1 (or 2 if its patchy) layers of thinned Zandri dust, Then 1 or 2 layers of thinned Averland Sunset, then 1 layer of thinned yriel yellow, then a 50-50 mix of dorn yellow and yriel yellow, then edge highlights of dorn yellow, with a yellow glaze and or wash.

Edit; one tip that comes to mind is that this really is one of those situations that less is more. The thinner (less paint) your layers are, the better result it will give, achieving opacity in less paint than is required with thick ugly coats.

To disagree with poda_t a little, your situation is NOT hopeless and it is completely possible to get eye popping yellows over black primers. It is much EASIER to get a bright yellow over white, but not impossible.

You can also use the GW base colors like XV-88 to make a good basecoat over black primer. Then you can start layering on your yellow.

To add, make sure your base coat is with a 'base' paint, not a 'layer' one. You'll get better coverage, even when thinning it down due to it having more (higher?) pigmentation.

JB_Man wrote:
I'd suggest first of all making sure that your paint isn't partially dried, old, nasty stuff. You get flakes in the paint, etc, and it makes it uneven. I also wouldn't use black as a base for yellow. A brown or something like that would probably be easier to cover. You'll also just have to get used to thinning your paint a bit, and putting it on in lighter layers. Build up your color, don't try to get the whole coat in a layer or two. You won't lose detail even after numerous thin layers. Just take your time, and you'll get a feel for it.

For my Cpt. Lysander model, I primed black and then base coated the armor dark brown before painting it yellow. The results were exponentially better than had I just painted it yellow over the black. It can be a tricky color to use, but the extra layer of brown really make the yellow pop. Don't forget to leave a little bit of the undercoat around the edges of knees, recesses, etc. to add more depth. Good luck!