Getting even non gritty paint

[Pierdzioszek]

Hi,

decided to get back to painting after way to long and am facing following problmes:
-undercoating chaos black, or new imperial primer is ok, but than when I try to paint over it, say flesh colours, the undercoat stays visible (trying not to soak element in paint, watering down a bit paint off course) when I try to paint few layers, I get a gritty effect, as if I painted over dusted area? how can I avoid that?
-anyone knows, if GW paints have a time limit? I have some very old paints (in hex bottles) and they seem to be still ok, I have newer paints (say 3 y old) and they are all dried...what can I use, to be able to use tham agian, as adding water doesn't help really

 

[Serenity]

The grittiness may be because the primer (spray I am guessing) did not go on smooth enough. I haven't used that primer, so can't say if it is common with that brand. Sometimes you can fix that by priming from a closer distance. It takes some practice to prime correctly. Do not overspray or you can clog details. Cold, heat, and humidity can cause problems, too, I'm told, but I've had good luck with Tamiya primer in many kinds of weather extremes.

Paints can survive a long time on the shelf if they are in a good (well-sealed) bottle. It is still best to stir or shake them up regularly to make sure they don't separate permanently. If the paint has gone rubbery or worse, water can't save the paint. If it is just a little thick, water will usually work. The only way I know to prevent the problem is to add water before they get too dry.

 

[Wicksy]

Texture to an undercoat is a sod. rom my experience it tends to come about from one or more of these elements:

- Not shaking the paint can long enough - up to 5 minutes shaking needed. the more there is in the can, the longer you shake
- Spraying too far from the mini does this. the paint partially dries mid air and then sticks to the surface
- Humidity. A big problem for our American brothers and sisters. not much to do but wait until better conditions come around
- Excessively cold conditions. keep the mini and spray can indoors then go outside, spray then come back in again with mini and paint can.

There's probably more but thats all that comes to mind.

 

[Einion]

-undercoating chaos black, or new imperial primer is ok...

First off I'd recommend you use something else, there are many alternatives all of which are likely to be better primers and most are going to be cheaper, sometimes a lot cheaper, on top of that. In addition to the issue of the quality of what is in the can many people prefer to paint over grey rather than black, which is a lot more work to cover.

The gritty problem you're experiencing, I'd also guess it's from the spray itself and not from your paint. IME the #1 culprit for fine texture is from spraying too far away. There are many tips for using spray primers and just shaking the can enough is the main one, but I think you should also warm it up in hand-hot water which can help a great deal in getting a finer finish.

...I have newer paints (say 3 y old) and they are all dried...what can I use, to be able to use tham agian, as adding water doesn't help really

Once paint of this type has dried past a certain point you can't recover it. There is a previous thread on reviving paint you might like to look for which has some tips but really, if it's dry you won't get it back to the same smooth paint it once was.

Don't wait so long to post again :wink:

Einion

 

[Pierdzioszek]

actually I am not using spray cans to undercoat minis- not enough control, imho. I am using standard/large brush, chaos black with a bit of water. I will be changing water more offen and try to double check if there is no dust or something either on mini or on the brush. Thats for sure. Anyway, to get around problem with multiple uneven layers, i have decided to buy new gw foundation like paints- at least for the big areas- like flesh and so on. Hopefully it will help Will post some minis in few days, to get as much critics as possible.
Thanks for advice about spray cans guys!

 

[Einion]

actually I am not using spray cans to undercoat minis- not enough control, imho. I am using standard/large brush, chaos black with a bit of water.

This over primer or as primer?

Anyway, to get around problem with multiple uneven layers, i have decided to buy new gw foundation like paints- at least for the big areas- like flesh and so on.

FWIW if you're not tied into the colours it's well worth looking at other paint ranges; GW paints are pretty notorious for not being good value for money if that matters at all (and that's even before issues with them drying in the pot). And some of the competition is materially better paint along with being cheaper, sometimes way cheaper.

Einion

 

[moonmin82]

Hi,

decided to get back to painting after way to long and am facing following problmes:
-undercoating chaos black, or new imperial primer is ok, but than when I try to paint over it, say flesh colours, the undercoat stays visible (trying not to soak element in paint, watering down a bit paint off course) when I try to paint few layers, I get a gritty effect, as if I painted over dusted area? how can I avoid that?
-anyone knows, if GW paints have a time limit? I have some very old paints (in hex bottles) and they seem to be still ok, I have newer paints (say 3 y old) and they are all dried...what can I use, to be able to use tham agian, as adding water doesn't help really

I know exactly what you mean.

My old (hex bottle) GW paints are all still perfect (still going strong after 15-20yrs), however my newer GW paints have dried after a similar time to yours. I also get a similar dusty texture to you although not exclusive to painting over Chaos Black...

 

[RuneBrush]

One thing that I found when I went from brushing on my undercoat over to spraying it on, is that the finish when I brushed it was always glossy. What this meant is that when I begun to actually apply paint, I was applying it to a very smooth surface rather than a slightly rough one. What sometimes happened was that my paint hadn't adhered when I put on my subsequent layers, so it pulled tiny hair like particles off the surface.

Technically citadel paint doesn't have a shelf life, however as you've discovered, some pots seal really well and others don't - the hex pots and round pots that came after were (and still are) fantastic, the pots made from "hard" plastic are naff and the latest revision look like they might be OK. One thing I have been told is if you're looking at the new pots, the black lids are better than the clear ones as they have a double seal, the clear ones are just older stock.

 

[Pogue]

I was getting problems similar to this. My primer coat looked ok, but when I started painting I got small amounts of grit in my paint. If you are using tap water to thin your paints you might have a lot of minerals in your water. I switched to distilled water and so far the grit hasn't showed up.

 

[RuneBrush]

I was getting problems similar to this. My primer coat looked ok, but when I started painting I got small amounts of grit in my paint. If you are using tap water to thin your paints you might have a lot of minerals in your water. I switched to distilled water and so far the grit hasn't showed up.

Any water that's had the limescale filtered out is an improvement over normal tap water, it's even more important if you're in a hard water area. I have a dropper bottle with pure RO water in that I use for thinning paints and cleaning my airbrush.