artist's oils

Hints here for painting, decalling, weathering and displaying your finished models.
Post Reply
rob_van_riel
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 3317
Joined: November 4th, 2012, 11:28 am
Location: The Netherlands
Contact:

artist's oils

Post by rob_van_riel »

I'm starting a bit of experimentation with artist's oils for figure painting. Just to get the feel for the material, I put a very thin coat of oil paint on an old aircraft model (which had several previous layers of paint on it, so no bare plastic). That was last sunday. Four days down the line, and the paint is no dryer than it was half a day after application. I'm getting a bad feeling about this...

Anyone here have experience with artist's oils? Any info I could find on the web assumes the paint is used on prepped canvas. Modeling forums generally ignore the inconvenient business of drying :sad:
User avatar
Dirkpitt289
NUMA's Auto Mechanic
Posts: 8722
Joined: May 2nd, 2011, 1:55 am
Location: New jersey USA
Contact:

Re: artist's oils

Post by Dirkpitt289 »

I use oils from time to time and I use pastels. I've gotten good results with both. The good thing about the olis is if you're not happy take it off and start over
.... Dirk

Beware of the DOG's of WAR

My Youtube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/user/ModelingGu ... rid&view=0
User avatar
59North
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 1323
Joined: January 9th, 2016, 2:55 pm
Location: Canada

Re: artist's oils

Post by 59North »

I've used artists oils that have taken 3 weeks to dry. Mostly, I use them for items having a simulated wood finish. Oils are easy to alter.
You can buy stuff (can't remember its name) to speed dry time up, but I've never used it.
DH-Drover
Active Participant
Posts: 653
Joined: May 1st, 2011, 7:25 am
Location: Grenfell NSW Australia

Re: artist's oils

Post by DH-Drover »

There are new oils on the market that dry in 24 hrs. I have found them very good.
When using the standard oils I use a drying medium which really speeds up the drying.
My favorite method for painting figures is "Wet on Wet" which gives, to me, greater control over subtle shading.

Dai
Life or Death there no other options.
Indian Proverb.
User avatar
Arcwelder
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 1228
Joined: July 17th, 2015, 1:56 am
Location: Cork City, Ireland

Re: artist's oils

Post by Arcwelder »

I use oils for wood effect. Two techniques to speed up drying: thin a little with Liquin, which you'll find in any art store and radically accelerates drying. Alternatively, squeeze your paint onto a wadded paper towel and leave for an hour before use. The towel draws out oil and again speeds it all up. Hope that's of some help.
Is this your sanderling?.

2016: A:40 B:12
rob_van_riel
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 3317
Joined: November 4th, 2012, 11:28 am
Location: The Netherlands
Contact:

Re: artist's oils

Post by rob_van_riel »

DH-Drover wrote:My favorite method for painting figures is "Wet on Wet" which gives, to me, greater control over subtle shading.
That's the main reason I'm looking into this medium. Since accellerators (at first glance) seem to cut down on the very reason I'm considering these paints, I wanted to use the unaltered paints for my tests.

I don't mind waiting for weeks for the paint to dry, in fact, that was somewhat expected, but I was getting worried that it might not be curing at all. Specifically, I had expected it to at least show some noticable change within a few days, so I was getting worried I might have missed some crucial step in preparation. I'll take the fact that nobody has called me out on such an omission as a good sign :grin:
User avatar
Arcwelder
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 1228
Joined: July 17th, 2015, 1:56 am
Location: Cork City, Ireland

Re: artist's oils

Post by Arcwelder »

Rob, another issue might be the environment the paints are in: in the Northern latitudes we live in, the weather is pretty damp and miserable right now. Overly moist air will slow down the evaporation of the water (and even oil based paint has plenty of this) and delay drying. You probably knew that already, though.

Liquin is worth experimenting with: it knocks days rather than hours off drying so wet on wet is still very possible, and I'm sure different concentrations in the mix would have different effects.
Is this your sanderling?.

2016: A:40 B:12
rob_van_riel
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 3317
Joined: November 4th, 2012, 11:28 am
Location: The Netherlands
Contact:

Re: artist's oils

Post by rob_van_riel »

Arcwelder wrote:Rob, another issue might be the environment the paints are in: in the Northern latitudes we live in, the weather is pretty damp and miserable right now.
Not inside the the house it isn't. The cats would never forgive me if I allowed that to happen. Also, I'm not at my best when I'm damp and miserable myself (outright foul tempered, actually). Long live central heating :-D :-D
Seriously though, high humidity levels will have an effect. That said, the only time relative humidity seems to go down here is when it's freezing :cry:
Liquin is worth experimenting with: it knocks days rather than hours off drying so wet on wet is still very possible, and I'm sure different concentrations in the mix would have different effects.
I certainly intend to take it for a spin, but after I've figured out the pure characteristics. Not much point testing without a proper baseline.
User avatar
Ratch
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 9889
Joined: May 1st, 2011, 9:16 am
Location: Northampton

Re: artist's oils

Post by Ratch »

Oils were recommended to me by figure painters because their slow drying times allow the painter to subtly blend the shades and variations in colour. Depending on how thickly they're applied, I've had figures that have taken up to 3 weeks before the can be handled.
These figures were painted in Reeves Oil Colours ;-)
Image
All models are equal. Some models are more equal than others.
Airfix Tribute Forum
Post Reply

Return to “Finishing Tips”