Artists Acrylic Gels (was dried paint....etc.)

[Peng F. Mok]

At 07:40 AM 06/05/97 -0700, you wrote:

>
>A little dab of vaseline on the threads works wonders to prevent
>sticking
>cap syndrome on Formby's wood stain bottles.Probably would work on
>enamle
>model paints,also.
>
Hi Rick,

Thanks for the tip. Here's another. Use artists' tube acrylic gels
as a thickener/extender base for bottled hobby acrylics. I used to
have difficulties with flesh colored paint - too thin, poor covering
power and too many layers obscure the facial details.

Mix hobby flesh into gel white, not only does it give a better tone of
flesh, it also dries better by drawing into a real tight skin over the
plastic face. Skin tones can be simulated by blending in burnt sienna
or yellow ochre. Once I got the feel of artists' acrylic gels I
regretted not having experimented with them earlier. One tube goes a
really long way too.

I was into German WWII armor but have recently gone gaga into British
8th Army African campaign stuff because blending white acrylic gel
with Tamiya Desert Yellows, Dark Yellows, etc. really produces that
sun bleached battle worn look instead of that factory fresh finish.
With just the basic earth colors (raw umber, burnt sienna, yellow
ochre), black and white artists acrylic gels blended with the usual
hobby acrylic paint camouflage colors I could simulate just about any
condition of wear and tear. The finish had just that right sheen of
semi-gloss - not too flat/dull or too unrealastically shiny.

Painting with this blend with a stiff brush produced the best
resullts. Great medium for dry brushing. Actually I haven't used
my airbrush for ages as painting by brush gave superior results.

Kelvin Mok
pm...@ee.ualberta.ca
http://www.ee.ualberta.ca/~pmok