Painting Large Water Elemental

[Neal B 0]

Hey Reapers!

 

I have just picked up my  Large Water Elemental  and it's being a PitA to take any paint.  I have given it a wash with soap n water.  

 

It fails to take any paint (generally Vallejo), ink or varnish.  I have seen examples painted, and wonder if I need to do something special with it first.  I would like the translucent effects to remain.

 

Cheers

 

Neal

[Laoke 3667]

You could try coating it with clear acrylic medium first which should help.  Also, if you're using water to thin your paints or inks, that'll likely be the cause.

[EvilJames 7881]

What Laoke said. Bones don't like water so if you are trying to thin paint with water, and I assume you are since you want to keep the translucent affect, it just won't work well. Try thinning with rubbing alcohal or some other medium, or as Laoke said, try putting a clear coat on first. What ever method you choose, you should be able to use water or whatever you like to thin afterwards.

[Neal B 0]

Awesome - thanks for the tips guys!

[Couvs 188]

just found this post now and just wanted to clarify for when I get to painting my water elemental. Will any brand of acrylic medium work as an undercoat to try and keep the translucence?  Specifically I have Citadel's lahmian medium.

[TheMandolin 1181]

What I did for a few of my translucent Bones (that I just wanted to add a wash to bring out the details) was to wash it and then give it a coat of brush on sealer. Took washes fine after that. 

[buglips*the*goblin 92280]

Brush-on sealer is a good thing to try, and Reaper's wash medium can work for thinning the colours if you want some extra adhesion.  It took me forever to try out either of these products and now I can't live without them.

[CorallineAlgae 7853]

On 7/17/2018 at 8:58 AM, Couvs said:

just found this post now and just wanted to clarify for when I get to painting my water elemental. Will any brand of acrylic medium work as an undercoat to try and keep the translucence?  Specifically I have Citadel's lahmian medium.

 

I also recommend a brush on sealer, but I would not use a fully matte sealer. Gloss sealers and mediums can make the clear models look even more transparent than they look straight out of the package. Lahmian medium is a matte medium. It will work, but if you happen to have some Citadel Ardcoat or any other gloss sealer or medium, I'd start and finish with that.