Thinned Oils over Enamels

DON'T USE TURPENTINE!

Oils work well with mineral spirits which do not have as an aggressive effect on enamels. But keep in mind that the drying time is slow -- up to 24 hours or more.

Cookie Sewell

Basically..."what he said"....

Turpentine is pretty vile and nasty, for scale modeling purposes. Use plain old white/mineral spirits (here in the USA usually labeled simply as "paint thinner"). You don't even have to overspend either, as usually the cheapest stuff is ideal.

Also, I could not infer this from your post...but you can easily *mix* oils and enamels. This serves several functions. It allows subtle tinting of your enamels. It gives enamels a bit more "working time". And it also

I don't use Humbrol, but have put such washes over Testors enamel frequently. Yeah, the thinner CAN mark up paint if you use too much. However, if you are careful to put the wash only where you want it to look weathered, the results are okay. It does tend to dull down the finish if used over gloss enamel, but over matt stuff the effect is fine. Just let it dry naturally. Do NOT rub with tissue or cloth while still wet. And do not brush hard. Only daub on with brush and let it run into cracks, and then air dry.

I have also used a coat of future. Have not had alot of trouble using turepentine, but I illl avoid it in the future. I will miss the smell though. Takes me back to my fine art 102 painting class.

Thanks for the tips folks, and not trying to hijack the thread, just wanted to show my appreciation.

Rich

An aggressive solvent like turpentine or lacquer thinner can lift enamel (indeed some will even attack exposed styrene--a lacquer thinner wash on individual link tank tracks can dissolve the track pins). However, drying time is important too. Enamels are touch dry in an hour or so, but aren't really hard until a few days have passed. I usually wait a week before applying a mineral spirit/enamel wash to enamels. If time is of the essence, a watercolor wash can be applied immediately. Artists watercolors are the most forgiving weathering medium--if you are unhappy with an effect, you rinse it off and start over. When you're satisfied, seal with a clear flat overspray. Gerald Owens

Apply a gloss acrylic coat over your enamel base coat (after the enamel has dried sufficiently) apply the turpentine washes over that or use artists turpentine ,its not as aggresive.You will still need to be gentle with the acrylic coat even, I have wrecked acrylic over coats using turpentine in the past. Also I beleive there are water soluble artists oil paints available now.