Making a wash without flow improver...

[karpouzian]

Ok, so I was looking for flow improver today, and Hobby Lobby and Joanne's did not have it.

 

I want to make a wash similar to Les's wash recipes...

 

I have the ink, distilled water, and matte medium, but no flow improver... I've read Future works as a flow improver, also dish soap works...

 

So, anyone have a suggested recipe with the inks, and matte medium?

[CashWiley]

Did you ask an employee? I bought mine at Hobby Lobby. Otherwise, there's always dickblick.com!

[karpouzian]

Did you ask an employee? I bought mine at Hobby Lobby. Otherwise, there's always dickblick.com!

 

I did ask an employee. No luck. And if I buy at dickblick.com, I pay 4.99 for the flow improver, and 7.99 for s&h :(

[Heisler]

I don't typically put flow improver in my washes, but then I'm usually mixing them on the fly. Is your intent to make essentially make a pre-bottled wash? I think I would go ahead and make it without flow improver and you might go ahead and use Future. Future is the main ingredient the famous magic wash found on Dr Faust's Painting Forum.

[Doug's Workshop]

You can use Future, but you may get a shiny finish. Any of the big craft stores should have flow improver: Michaels, JoAnn's, Hobby Lobby. Or check out an art supply store. Reaper offers some, too. Essentially, all the flow improver is doing is making the water molecules a little less attracted to one another, and thereby allowing the "pooling" effect to maintain through the drying/evaporation process. In a one ounce bottle, it'll take just a few drops to get the effect.

 

If you really wanted to, you could use saliva as a flow improver. Not the best option for making a large quantity of wash, but it will work.

[Hot Lead]

I wouldn't recommend Future. It's glossy and will act more like a varnish than a flow aid. I'm surprised neither place had it... You may need to look in the craft paint aisles if you can't get Liquitex or Golden Acrylic artists brands. (BTW I trust store employees to know about their stock about as far as I can throw them! Ask me about my hardware store experiences.)

 

Look for any of these:

 

http://www.decoart.com/cgi-bin/Products.cgi?Easy_Float

http://www.plaidonline.com/folkart-outdoor-acrylic-colors-flow-medium/72/product.htm

http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/folkart-floating-medium-898858/

[ixminis]

Reaper has one, MJDesigns, Michaels and Hobby Lobby do typically carry them... of course, REAPER MSP has it in the paint already

[Kay]

I just got a bottle and found it at Michaels in the artist paint section- not the craft paint section. It was on the shelves under the hanging tubes of acrylics and oils. I was at AC Moore today looking for some jewelry findings (I do a million different things- paint, jewelry, sew, cross stitch, work on my yard haunt year round.... ) and thought I would check out their paint and brush section and did see it there too. I have found Hobby Lobby to be less well stocked than M & AC for painting stuff (but their jewelry department is better) and I haven't had much luck with JoAnn's with a wider range of painting supplies. If you have a Pat Catans near you check there. They are usually well stocked and have a wide variety of craft/hobby supplies.

[buglips*the*goblin]

I wound up going with the Reaper flow improver. I couldn't get anything else locally, not even at the fine art supply place.

 

Though they had everything else. Weird. Anyway, I think it's good but I'm not sure yet. It's so different from my usual gunk I haven't quite tamed it. Also I have no other brand to compare it to.

 

But I guess it's probably the same stuff Reaper adds to the MSP.

[karpouzian]

Is your intent to make essentially make a pre-bottled wash? I think I would go ahead and make it without flow improver and you might go ahead and use Future. Future is the main ingredient the famous magic wash found on Dr Faust's Painting Forum.

 

Well, as far as pre-bottled goes, I'm just trying to get prepared for the gajillion billion minis I'm getting from kickstarter... I'll have to look at Dr. Faust's forums, thank you.

[karpouzian]

You can use Future, but you may get a shiny finish. Any of the big craft stores should have flow improver: Michaels, JoAnn's, Hobby Lobby. Or check out an art supply store. Reaper offers some, too. Essentially, all the flow improver is doing is making the water molecules a little less attracted to one another, and thereby allowing the "pooling" effect to maintain through the drying/evaporation process. In a one ounce bottle, it'll take just a few drops to get the effect.

• Will the Matte medium counter the 'shiny' finish of future?
  
• Two Hobby Lobbys in my area, and one Jo-Ann's didn't have any flow improver. I looked in the 'craft' paint section, as well as the art paint section.
  

[karpouzian]

http://www.paintingclinic.com/clinic/guestarticles/magicwash.htm Thank you Heisler.

 

I think I may try this tonight... I may even have some future floor wax from my sculpy days... If not, a quick trip to the store should do.

[Onemanworkshop]

A simple wash can also be made with Windex window cleaner. Just use it instead of water, it really does work. Airbrush users have been using this method to thin paints for years. The Windex works as a flow improver and does not leave any paint brush markers. The blue in the cleaner does not effect the final colors, and the alcohol in it aids drying time. All the flow improvers I used ended up slowing drying time.

-James

[karpouzian]

A simple wash can also be made with Windex window cleaner. Just use it instead of water, it really does work. Airbrush users have been using this method to thin paints for years. The Windex works as a flow improver and does not leave any paint brush markers. The blue in the cleaner does not effect the final colors, and the alcohol in it aids drying time. All the flow improvers I used ended up slowing drying time. -James

 

Also something worth a try...

[buglips*the*goblin]

It should be noted that ammonia can react very badly with acrylics, and windex contains ammonia. Don't use it with any kind of Future gunk mix, and if you intend to use this method you'll have to test your acrylics first. Ammonia can be used as a stripper agent with acrylics, so while it might work with some - be aware of the risk before you wind up ruining a mini because of a reaction.

 

ETA: There is an ammonia-free version, though.

 

ETA 2: Experimentation is good, just remember you're playing with chemistry. Safety first, be careful, and watch out for weird reactions between ingredients. If in any doubt, play it safe with materials you know are designed to work together.

 

ETA 3: Just so you know, mixing Tamiya paints with acetone-based paints may result in toxic smoke, melted plastic, and even fire. Surprised me, too.