Grainy texture while painting

[pcktlnt 36076]

I am posting from my iPod and a little sleepy so I apologize for weird sentence structures. I have read through several suggestions and had it suggested to myself to use reaper sealer to remove the grain.

 

Reaper sealer is 3 something a bottle. I am Jain it to seal minis and if I add it to paints I will run out of it fast. Are there any cost effecive substitutions for the sealer that I can pick up a hobby store?

 

Am I suppose to add the sealer to paint or to pain it over the grainy texture?

 

Thank you. :)

[Dilvish the Deliverer 50800]

First, I haven't tried it my self; yet.  My understanding is that you brush it on the grainy surface.  I have head some use it straight and some dilute it slightly. 

 

Somewhere, someone was saying that adding matte medium (less expensive by volume) to paint can help reduce graininess.  Again, I haven't tried it yet.

[MonkeySloth 9148]

You can get rid of it by glazing several layers of a darker color over the problem area. The brush on sealer just prevents this from happening but you don't need much--maybe one drop of sealer to 3-5 drops od paint depending on the color. It last quite a while as I go through a bottle maybe every two years. I don't paint the volume others do though. Also, in all honesty, $4 for a year supply of something really isn't all that expensive. One meal at a fast food place is twice that now days.

Edited May 19, 2014 by MonkeySloth

[Willen 9611]

First, I've used Brush on Sealer for getting rid of the graininess or chalkiness of white (and off whites), so this is my experience:

 

- Brushing on the surface after painting does not really get rid of the chalkiness, but the satin reflection of the sealer makes it less apparent, so you can't notice it so much.

- Mixing it with the paint, only a brush tip in a couple drops of water, helps to make the paint keep the pigment bonded, and levels the surface, reducing rough surface dry and the separation of "lumps" of pigments that is the cause of the chalkiness. In fact, I was discussing these things with my mum yesterday (she is a chemist, PhD, investigator and teacher, so is very open to exploring and learning about stuff). She said that in principle the problem sees to be the vehicle (medium) cannot hold the pigment together because, perhaps, the pigment is hidrophobic itself and separates when too much water is applied.

 

We tested Golden Fluid Matte Medium and it helped in allowing paint (in our test, Golden Grey Payne) to take much more dillution through water before showing separation. This was in about 1 part medium, 5 parts water or more.

 

In my own work, however, I tend to use Vallejo Glazing medium more than the brush on sealer, because I use the sealer more to cover imperfections and seal a piece. It works great to avoid the rough effect in paint when too much paint is applied; and I got a "big" bottle of about 35ml if I recall correctly. Still expensive thou, but again, I only add a brush tip to my mix so it will last a long, long time.

[Inarah 41678]

Sealer is $3.29, the same as a bottle of paint.  I use it to smooth the surface of the figure before, or sometimes during painting (between layers).  Do not mix it into your paint bottles. 

[Heisler 10712]

Just a quick question. When you talk about grainyness are you talking about physical bumps in the paint? How does sealer help correct this issue? What I'm familiar with would be caused by dust on the mini or transferred from the paintbrush, or dust settling on wet paint. Or when you apply paint over a previously painted surface and the underlying paint pulls away from the mini. If that condition is what you are talking about, quite frankly I would strip the mini or that specific area (acetone works for small areas) and repaint, rather than try and hide it with sealer.

[Willen 9611]

Just a quick question. When you talk about grainyness are you talking about physical bumps in the paint? How does sealer help correct this issue? What I'm familiar with would be caused by dust on the mini or transferred from the paintbrush, or dust settling on wet paint. Or when you apply paint over a previously painted surface and the underlying paint pulls away from the mini. If that condition is what you are talking about, quite frankly I would strip the mini or that specific area (acetone works for small areas) and repaint, rather than try and hide it with sealer.

 

Small bumps create surface texture, yeah. Problem is sometimes the paint itself bunches together... I have no idea why but when I showed it to my mum she said, as I explained above, that perhaps the pigments are hidrophobic?

 

It is a well known effect when dilluting white too much, the surface texture looks like dusting. So it is the paint, no actual flying dust settling on the surface.

 

How does sealer help that? Well, basically a rough surface texture, you know, scatters light away. If the surface texture (even when it is only a clear coat) is more level, it gets more shiny or satin but you don't "see" the roughness below so much. So yes, it is hiding. 

 

It is the same effect when you use clear floor polish, basically.

[pcktlnt 36076]

Just a quick question. When you talk about grainyness are you talking about physical bumps in the paint? How does sealer help correct this issue? What I'm familiar with would be caused by dust on the mini or transferred from the paintbrush, or dust settling on wet paint. Or when you apply paint over a previously painted surface and the underlying paint pulls away from the mini. If that condition is what you are talking about, quite frankly I would strip the mini or that specific area (acetone works for small areas) and repaint, rather than try and hide it with sealer.

Yea, physical bumps.

 

Her face has small bumps, but the golem that I painted with the same paints does not have said bumps. The bumps are not noticeable from table top distance nor close up, until you magnify. Not sure what it looks like with sealer on top. I sent the miniature out and forgot to take a picture.

 

 

--- edit ---

Oops, hit submit when I was trying to preview the post. Seems like the consensus is to purchase reaper sealer. I shall just tack that on to some of the future orders. Sealer and brown liner.

Edited May 19, 2014 by pcktlnt

[fanguad 7065]

This happens if you thin light-colored paints a lot.  Faces are particularly susceptible because we try to be careful on faces, which means thinning our paints a lot and using many layers.  If you use matte medium (aka glazing medium), this will help prevent the situation and let you thin your paints more without them falling out of solution.  I also like using "Airbrush medium" for this purpose - it's similar, but thinner and I think has some other chemicals added.

 

The reason it probably didn't show up on the golem is that you probably didn't think the flesh color very much.

Edited May 19, 2014 by fanguad

[MonkeySloth 9148]

This actually looks like paint not thinned enough to me.  Are you doing any thinning at the momoent or just straight from pot?

[Willen 9611]

This actually looks like paint not thinned enough to me.  Are you doing any thinning at the momoent or just straight from pot?

 

Grainy-ness happens to me with near-whiites and white, and I thin paints like nobody's business MS... I am not saying it cannot happen if you don't thin it enough, but it certainly also happens (to me at least) when you thin it quite a bit.

[MonkeySloth 9148]

 

This actually looks like paint not thinned enough to me.  Are you doing any thinning at the momoent or just straight from pot?

 

Grainy-ness happens to me with near-whiites and white, and I thin paints like nobody's business MS... I am not saying it cannot happen if you don't thin it enough, but it certainly also happens (to me at least) when you thin it quite a bit.

 

Oh I know it can. His example, though, doesn't look like my personal experiences with chalky highlights.

[Nissiana 875]

Another factor that might be happening in the face example is paint drying on the brush while painting - a result of smaller/thinner brushes combined with taking more time and care to place the paint on the model.  I have run into similar graininess from time to time, but far more often when using my small brushes (00, 000) than my 0/1/2 size brushes.  I've not used brush-on-sealer in m paint mix, but sometimes I'll put a tiny bit of drying retarder in the mix to help prevent this - a little goes a looong way, since this will keep paint wet on the model as well (good if you like to do wet-on-wet blending, a pain if you prefer layering on top of dry paint.

[ShadowRaven 55968]

I think it was Anne or Pingo that was explaining this some time ago, that it has something to do with the way the pigments, especially lighter pigments remain in solution with the binder. Can't recall all the alchemy behind it, but I believe whichever one it was,said that by making it too thin, the pigments clump, nut by adding in a transparent addition to the solution that didn't thin the medium, you are able to get more layers, without it going grainy, or something like that. ~licks brush~ Pingo we need you

[pcktlnt 36076]

Hmm, so too slow on painting the face. I shall attempt painting faster on the face of the next mini to see if this happens.