liquitex flow aid

[richilincez]

I have some problems with it.I prepared a bottle filled with 20 parts water, 1 part flow aid as it is written on the instructions, but this way it\'s like water only.
Which is the correct ratio tu have good results?
Thanks, Richilincez

 

[No Such Agency]

Yes, I too have noticed it doesn\'t actually make my washes any better... aka they still want to leave tide marks and not settle in the recesses of the model. This is my single greatest annoyance as a mini painter

 

[Ritual]

I use to put just a little of the flow aid on my brush straight from the bottle and mix it into the paint. It works fine...

@NSA
To me it sounds as if you put too much paint on your mini at once. That will cause those problems regardless to if you have flow aid or not.

 

[supervike]

Yup, I have the same exact problem too.

I did the roughly 20 parts per 1, but found out that didn\'t seem to help, so the ratio I\'m using now is closer to 10-12 parts per 1. (I don\'t know exactly because it was just \'by eye\')

It has helped with the tiding problem, although that does seem to crop up now and again. Especially with certain colors of paint.

The one thing I have noticed though is that is gives the paint a bit of a glossy sheen. (which is fixable with dullcoat at the end)

I also seem to be able to \'tell\' if the ratios seem right by taste.

I\'m a brush licker, so I can taste the flow improver (I use Winsor and Newton and it tastes AWFUL). If there is just a slight hint of the taste, I figure that ratio is about right.
Too much (and you\'ll know) requires a bit more water.

 

[Modderrhu]

Interesting, vike. I use the W&N stuff too, and at a 1:20 ratio, it just the job, though my preference is 1:15. It\'s only when I thin my paints down 1:8 or more that I start to see inconsistent coverage.

@NSA: Have you tried Future instead of flow-aid for washes? The difference is noticable as soon as you put the brush to the mini.

 

[Sukigod]

Mix Ratios

I use a mix of extender and flow aid. I got these mixes from the interweb:
Anne Foerster\'s Recipe

* 80% Folk Art Extender
* 10% Winsor and Newton Flow Improver
* 10% water

Jen Haley\'s Recipe

* 25% Liquitex Slow-Dri
* 25% Winsor and Newton Flow Improver
* 50% water


I persoanlly prefer Anne\'s recipe.

Good luck!

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by Ritual
I use to put just a little of the flow aid on my brush straight from the bottle and mix it into the paint. It works fine...

Ditto.

 

[richilincez]

I didn\'t think the flow aid was for washer, but to increase the fluidy of the colour, reduce the friction, increase the power on the surface, so for example useful on small details...so what happens using it roughly from the bottle?
richilincez.

 

[loydb]

If you want to reduce pooling, use a drop or two of dishwashing soap in your mix. Flow aid lowers viscosity, but doesn\'t seem to do much to surface tension (which causes pooling) unless you use it in really heavy amounts (as someone mentioned above).

I keep 2 squirt bottles of water mix -- one for inks, and one for paints (Vallejo).

The ink mix is 20:1 water:flow aid, then 5 drops of dishwashing soap (the bottle is a restaurant supply-house squirt bottle that holds about 8-10 oz).

The paint mix is 20:1 water:flow aid, then remixed 15:1 mix:retarder. No soap.

loyd