Thickness of paint layers?

J

JonasCalhoun

Guest
As I wrote in my intro post, I've been airbrushing scale models for years, and want to get into more art. I've been working with paper for years to practice techniques, and will probable branch out to canvas and metal panels.

I've primarily got com-art, golden, lifetone, and Vallejo paints. I'd like to try the Createx paints. I don't care for the fragility of the com art or lifetone paints, but they are incredibly thin layers, and have some reworkability to them. Vallejo is wonderful for me, but not in large enough quantities for what I'm wanting to branch out to. For art, it probably doesn't matter too much if the layers are a little thicker, but on models it makes a big difference. What's the layer thickness of the Createx paints like? Just trying to figure out what kind of a (un)learning curve I'm up against with the Createx line--specifically the wicked detail. Anything else I should worry about switching up paint lines?

Thanks,
Dan


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You can reduce it super thin, for very thin layers, but that will dilute the colour intensity.
 
I'm used to working with transparents, so I'm ok with reduced opacity...but I'd like to keep the color intensity--that's one of the things that intrigues me about the Wicked colors...at least in pictures they seem a lot more saturated than the com art paints. How are the Createx illustration paints?


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I only use Createx Wicked, they are very heavily pigmented and colours are really vibrant. Hopefully someone can vouch for the illustration, but they look very bright from what I've seen.
 
Thanks. Maybe it'd be worth buying the primary wicked set to at least play. It's not terribly expensive.


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Thanks. Maybe it'd be worth buying the primary wicked set to at least play. It's not terribly expensive.


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Buy a primary set of illustration too, then you'll know exactly what to expect, and don't forget a big bottle of HP reducer (4012) it can be used with both.
If you want to see what can be produce with illustration paint the check out MusicMacD's threads in the work in progress section. Most of his are done with Createx illustration and synthetic paper which is very similar to working on a hard surface.
 
haha, no offence but thats a "How long is the String" question ;)..Its as thick as you want it to be. :) nderstand why you ask because some paints just way too thick for models and you begin to loose your details but seems you have a good understanding of that and the paints you use may better suit that application...On canvas as you say it prob doesn't really matter (Well it does as less sometimes in a pic suggests more and lay on opaque to thick and you see that chalkiness to it, to light it cld go grainy so there is a balance still on canvas as to thick etcEspecially also on automotive as we dont want thick raised tape edges and the like, so some paints may suit better..The simple fact is though if you feel a paints to thick, simply thin it and apply more lighter coats to maybe get to the same point as one heavier coat..Airbrushing models is also about the angles of the airbrush, wrong angle gains buildup in areas you may not want and sometimes especially the distance..Light coats generally require more distance so doing detail on a model with an airbrush may be a good idea, in some cases may not as detail generally requires to be quite close and then the paint, no matter the type, becomes harder to control the "amount" going on...
 
The Illustration line is the same as the wicked with regard to saturation, it's the size of the pigment and the binder that changes :)
 
Illustration pigment is smaller, I'm unsure of the exact size but I want to say wicked is .5micron and illustration is .1 micron
 
So I bought primaries of wicked and illustration. Played with each for a few hours. I'm feeling better with the illustration colors, a little because it works a lot like my beloved com art. It's not quite as opaque as com art, but that's. it necessarily a bad thing. Now to play more with them!


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So I bought primaries of wicked and illustration. Played with each for a few hours. I'm feeling better with the illustration colors, a little because it works a lot like my beloved com art. It's not quite as opaque as com art, but that's. it necessarily a bad thing. Now to play more with them!


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Createx illustration now have an opaque range too :)
 
Nah, I prefer transparents. I'm just used to having my paints labeled transparent if they are, and no labeling if they are opaque. Like I mistyped up above, not a bad thing--just have to get used to and understand it.



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I painted models with Vallejo... never the airbrush line they have though. In my opinion, Createx is way better than Vallejo, and I like Vallejo
 
Illustration pigment is smaller, I'm unsure of the exact size but I want to say wicked is .5micron and illustration is .1 micron
I think about wiked details has the same pigment size than CI. Normal wicked is bigger. Am i right?


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I know wicked detail has smaller pigment than regular wicked but Im pretty sure CI is the smallest from the createx line.
 
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