removing speckles of paint?

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Bissyboat
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removing speckles of paint?

Post by Bissyboat »

I´ve used gloves painting models to avoid smudges and leaving finger prints on the surface. Regardless of my safety measurees I always seem to get little speckles of paint on the finish. It´s not from fresh paint. They´re bone dry. Could come from a cloth or even the cutting mat. Tried to gently rub them off with a toothpick, but it doesn´t work. Any suggestions? :-|
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Dazzled
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Re: removing speckles of paint?

Post by Dazzled »

Hi BB; this could be caused by a number of things.

If you use an airbrush, the speckles could be from overspray. Also, sometimes airbrushes get paint build up on the needle tip or around the guard which get thrown out when you least expect it.

Similarly, you may be inadvertently flicking paint when brush painting.

You may need to change your gloves more often as you could be rubbing residue from them onto the model while you're handling it. if the cost/availabity of gloves is an issue, wash your hands while wearing them; treat them as a second skin and keep them clean.

What you perceive as paint particles might actually be airbourne dust particles. Personally, I'm a messy sod and never dust or hoover my hobby room often enough. :roll:


Removing paint speckles/overspray/spatter is a risky business. You can try lightly sanding depending on how confident you feel or try a cotton bud (Q-tip) dampened with the appropriate thinner. DAMP is the key here rather than wet and there's a very real risk that you might go through the base paint layer.

A better solution is to paint over with the correct colour.

I hope this helps. If you could share a little more information like how you paint, what paint you use and maybe a picture it might be easier to pin down the specific issue.
COLD WAR S.I.G. LEADER

Wherever there's danger, wherever there's trouble, wherever there's important work to be done....I'll be somewhere else building a model!
Bissyboat
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Posts: 1708
Joined: January 11th, 2023, 11:49 pm

Re: removing speckles of paint?

Post by Bissyboat »

Thank you for the input on the troubled matter. Nothing to do with airbrush spatters or flicking of paint from the brush. I see. What you mean. I don´t won´t to ruinthe base by scraping all the way through. It would do the finish more bad than good. I´ll enclose a photo to better show the problem. My paintting methods are based on using acrylics and I paint slowly and carefully with vertical strokes (painting the hull) I never use excess of paint on the brush. The mix is always thinned out like skimmed milk. small application of paint on the brush only. I can pick up the pace and paint faster provided there´s little paint on the bristles. Changing gloves more often is a good idea and maybe move the model away when I´m painting parts on the sprue.

Thanks again and I really appreciate your advice. :)
"We're going to need a bigger boat"
Bissyboat
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Posts: 1708
Joined: January 11th, 2023, 11:49 pm

Re: removing speckles of paint?

Post by Bissyboat »

Dazzled wrote: January 21st, 2023, 10:52 am Hi BB; this could be caused by a number of things.

If you use an airbrush, the speckles could be from overspray. Also, sometimes airbrushes get paint build up on the needle tip or around the guard which get thrown out when you least expect it.

Similarly, you may be inadvertently flicking paint when brush painting.

You may need to change your gloves more often as you could be rubbing residue from them onto the model while you're handling it. if the cost/availabity of gloves is an issue, wash your hands while wearing them; treat them as a second skin and keep them clean.

What you perceive as paint particles might actually be airbourne dust particles. Personally, I'm a messy sod and never dust or hoover my hobby room often enough. :roll:


Removing paint speckles/overspray/spatter is a risky business. You can try lightly sanding depending on how confident you feel or try a cotton bud (Q-tip) dampened with the appropriate thinner. DAMP is the key here rather than wet and there's a very real risk that you might go through the base paint layer.

A better solution is to paint over with the correct colour.

I hope this helps. If you could share a little more information like how you paint, what paint you use and maybe a picture it might be easier to pin down the specific issue.




Image
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Dazzled
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Re: removing speckles of paint?

Post by Dazzled »

Hi BB and thanks for sharing the picture. I think I have an idea of what your issue is.

The problem with painting with acrylics is that they dry very quickly; so quick in fact that the paint can partly dry while it's still on the brush causing thick build up with brush marks which I can see in your picture. The speckles you see are likely to actually be very small flakes of part-dried paint that have either fallen from your brush or been dislodged from the build-up of paint on the surface.

There are people on this forum who are much better versed in brush painting acrylics than myself (TomW and kitaholic for instance) as I'm very much a convert to airbrushing and have done for many years but I can pass on to you what I know and apply when I very occasionally return to using a hairy stick.

First thing, and you have this right, is thinning. This is very important. It's also very important to use the correct thinners as not all acrylics are the same. Tamiya acrylics are alcohol based so they shouldn't, under any circumstances, be thinned with water or you'll end up with a gunky, flaky mess. Use 99% isopropyl alcohol or Tamiya's own X-20 thinner. Vallejo and Mr Color acrylics are water based so should be at the very least, thinned with water. I personally use Mr Color thinner for both. More expensive but good results every time.

The secret ingredient in the Mr Color thinner is a retarding agent that slows down the drying of the paint and allows the paint to settle properly before drying. I even take these steps when airbrushing. An additional safeguard when brush painting is to get some retarder; Vallejo, make a good one, and add a drop or 2 to your paint mix. It makes a big difference.

The final step is lots of thin coats rather than 1 thick coat. Even if each coat is see-through, it's fine. Just build the colour up slowly and keep cleaning the brush. Swap brushes if necessary, particularly on larger paint jobs.

I'm pretty sure that these things will help BB. Fingers crossed for a good result.
COLD WAR S.I.G. LEADER

Wherever there's danger, wherever there's trouble, wherever there's important work to be done....I'll be somewhere else building a model!
Bissyboat
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 1708
Joined: January 11th, 2023, 11:49 pm

Re: removing speckles of paint?

Post by Bissyboat »

Dazzled wrote: January 24th, 2023, 10:08 pm Hi BB and thanks for sharing the picture. I think I have an idea of what your issue is.

The problem with painting with acrylics is that they dry very quickly; so quick in fact that the paint can partly dry while it's still on the brush causing thick build up with brush marks which I can see in your picture. The speckles you see are likely to actually be very small flakes of part-dried paint that have either fallen from your brush or been dislodged from the build-up of paint on the surface.

There are people on this forum who are much better versed in brush painting acrylics than myself (TomW and kitaholic for instance) as I'm very much a convert to airbrushing and have done for many years but I can pass on to you what I know and apply when I very occasionally return to using a hairy stick.

First thing, and you have this right, is thinning. This is very important. It's also very important to use the correct thinners as not all acrylics are the same. Tamiya acrylics are alcohol based so they shouldn't, under any circumstances, be thinned with water or you'll end up with a gunky, flaky mess. Use 99% isopropyl alcohol or Tamiya's own X-20 thinner. Vallejo and Mr Color acrylics are water based so should be at the very least, thinned with water. I personally use Mr Color thinner for both. More expensive but good results every time.

The secret ingredient in the Mr Color thinner is a retarding agent that slows down the drying of the paint and allows the paint to settle properly before drying. I even take these steps when airbrushing. An additional safeguard when brush painting is to get some retarder; Vallejo, make a good one, and add a drop or 2 to your paint mix. It makes a big difference.

The final step is lots of thin coats rather than 1 thick coat. Even if each coat is see-through, it's fine. Just build the colour up slowly and keep cleaning the brush. Swap brushes if necessary, particularly on larger paint jobs.

I'm pretty sure that these things will help BB. Fingers crossed for a good result.
Thank you so much again for taking the time to voice your advice on this matter. I see what you mean. I use the X-20 to thin out the paint, but I´m also guilty of mixing water with Tamiya paints. But to be very clear. I Never mix the two in the paintpots. Only in separate painting pallets or spare lids. I do think paint from the bristles may have flicked onto the model at times when I paint parts from the sprue. Perhaps carelessness modelling etiquette might be the reason. I might repaint the lower hull to mask the speckles and touch over with pigments. We´ll see.
"We're going to need a bigger boat"
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