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I ran across the following post and fell in loved with the color scheme here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/552653.page

I want to try it but I have no idea how to use the sponge to do it or even what sponge to use. Can anyone help? Is there a tutorial out there for painting with sponges? I've looked but found none here and none of the ones I found on youtube were much help either. Thank you.

keep reading through the post that you linked. He actually posted a quick and easy way of doing the sponging.

If you are looking for tutorials, just look up sponge weathering. It is exactly the same technique that he used on his Wraithknight.

As for what sponge, well I used to suggest taking the one out of the blister packs, but basically you want a sponge that has relatively small holes in it. Basically the smaller the holes the smaller the dots of paint on the model.

If you have any privateer press models they often have sponge and could be useful.

Blister pack sponge is fine.

Lucazi wrote:
keep reading through the post that you linked. He actually posted a quick and easy way of doing the sponging.

I read that but it didn't help me understand the technique. I'm not good at painting and don't have a lot of experience with most of the techniques. I tried to duplicate what he said but it came out looking like crap. I don't have any foam from blisters so would a foam paintbrush work? Or, and I'm afraid to ask, should I buy makeup sponges like I saw a lady use on youtube? Should I waterdown the paint or keep it thick? People always say to water paint down but I find that out of the pot it covers much better and there is no rneed to paint over something 2-4 times.

 Davespil wrote:

Lucazi wrote:
keep reading through the post that you linked. He actually posted a quick and easy way of doing the sponging.

I read that but it didn't help me understand the technique. I'm not good at painting and don't have a lot of experience with most of the techniques. I tried to duplicate what he said but it came out looking like crap. I don't have any foam from blisters so would a foam paintbrush work? Or, and I'm afraid to ask, should I buy makeup sponges like I saw a lady use on youtube? Should I waterdown the paint or keep it thick? People always say to water paint down but I find that out of the pot it covers much better and there is no rneed to paint over something 2-4 times.

obviously paint covers better without thinning, but that makes the paintjob look thick and chunky, which is why you should apply several thinned down layers.

Look up a few youtube tutorials on sponge weathering, basically same ffect you're going for.

How about the sponge you get in WM blisters?

 Davespil wrote:
I don't have any foam from blisters so would a foam paintbrush work?

Yep. The cheap foam sponge brushes have about the same cell size/density as blister pack foam. Better than makeup brushes, in my opinion, as there's more foam in the head to work with. You need to tear out chunks to give it the rough edge needed for a random, mottled pattern, so the extra material is a good thing. Really, though, any soft, finely grained open-cell foam will work. As many of those foam brushes as I have, I always end up using scraps from packaging, air conditioner weather sealing strips, etc.

Should I waterdown the paint or keep it thick? People always say to water paint down but I find that out of the pot it covers much better and there is no rneed to paint over something 2-4 times.

Keep it thick, but apply it sparingly. Again, you want an irregular, mottled application - that's why you use a shredded sponge. If you overload it, you're just going to end up splodging on big globs of paint. Load up a corner, smear it around on a palette to distribute the paint over the face of the sponge, then gently dab off on a paper towel, if necessary. Load the sponge more like you plan to drybrush than lay down a basecoat.

More generally, people recommend thinning because of the smoothness of the finish (thick paint is viscous enough to show brush strokes, thin paint is self-leveling and flows off a brush more readily) and the greater flexibility of translucent paint. Thicker paint definitely covers better, but that's not always desirable - dilute paint aids in blending, softening layer transitions and making subtle glazing possible. "Always thin your paint" is common advice thrown at beginners, because it's something they should learn as soon as possible, if they want to improve. In reality, thinning is a very fluid [rimshot] practice - something that you adjust, on the fly, to the task at hand.