Mr.Wizard Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 Hi All, Just wanted to share something new to me. Lately I have found that Liquitex Flow Aid allows me to do a couple of things. First, I can mix different brands of acrylic paint and achieve a single consistency and uniformity of color. Second, I can get inexpensive "craft" paints to behave like more expensive paints. They do on much more smoothly and brush strokes disappear. There is something besides water in this stuff that seems to help with surface tension. Because I am a physicst and not a chemist, I can't tell you what that is. I just know that it rocks. While I have painted dozens of miniatures, the skill of many of you casts a broad shadow over mine. Do any of you have wisdom you'd like to share? Have a great day, Mr. Willard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattmcl Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 A lot of people use this, it's sold under a few different brand names. It extends the drying time of your paint, which lets you blend easier, and it does make cheap paint behave a bit better. But IMHO it also accentuates brush strokes, and can leave a chalky finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokingwreckage Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Hmmm, I tend to find that flow medium (Jo Sonja's) actually helps in eliminating brush strokes on large flat surfaces. Also, it makes VMC act more like RMS, and with water makes washes shloop down into the cracks, for more lining and less staining. Also, if used just right, it helps paint flow off the brush for fine lining and freehand. Matte medium (Liquitex) is almost the opposite, giving paint more body, making it stickier and more inclined to stay up high where the brush makes initial contact. You can also use it to make paint more transparent without making it thinner, but it tends to build up dimension pretty quickly and can make the paint layer too thick. Finally (as far as I know) you can add a little to your washes or thinned paint to change adhesion and help stop VMC from dropping out of solution. Oh wait; mixing it into VMC layers makes them more friendly to inks, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Wizard Posted January 23, 2007 Author Share Posted January 23, 2007 Hey, those are excellent suggestions! I'll have to check into that Matte Medium. Also, I recently spoke with a follow model builder, and he uses modeling paste as a seam filler. I went to Hobby Lobby and got some, but haven't tried it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahatiel Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 Also, if used just right, it helps paint flow off the brush for fine lining and freehand. I'm always looking for new tips to test out, so what constitutes "using it just right" for freehand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokingwreckage Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 In my case, a lucky guess. You need to fool about with it so's it makes the paint very flow-y (I also wet the brush with dry-time extender) but not too transparent..... just IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.