Two questions re: oil paints

[Ovidius Incertus]

Have not tried using oils yet, but will be in the near future on a Knight project (x2).

 

Two major questions:

 

1. Can oils be sprayed from an airbrush?  I've got a tube of burnt sienna that would be a great base color but don't want to airbrush it unless I know the results and also know I won't mess up my Iwata.

 

2. How do oils and acrylics interact?  If I base with oils and then spray acrylics over top, will it look odd?

 

Sorry for the total newb oil questions, but I've been acrylic all the way so far.  (Will be trying an oil wash on a 'Nid in a few days just to get my feet wet.)

 

Thanks!

[IamJacksUserName]

You probably do not want to base with oil paint. Oil paint, and the substances you would need to use to thin it enough to put in an airbrush, would melt your plastic.

That and oil paint can take days to dry properly. Thinned down oils would run off your model before you would ever get it dry enough.

Of course this is based off my experience working with oil on canvas. I can honestly say I have never tried oils in an airbrush.

[Father Mehman]

Alright, first things first: no and no. Those are reasonable questions you've asked but, to my knowledge, you'll just end up crying if you do either one.

 

Steps to use oils are this:

 

1- Paint model with acrylics

 

2- Seal model with Satin or Gloss varnish

 

3- Use the oil paints in whatever form you need (Line Wash, All-Over Wash, Rust, etc)

 

4- Seal model with Matte varnish

 

5- If you need to do any highlights or paint something else on the model, go for it!

 

Hope that helps

[Ovidius Incertus]

Thanks for saving me the troubles!

[Bartali]

You probably do not want to base with oil paint. Oil paint, and the substances you would need to use to thin it enough to put in an airbrush, would melt your plastic.

That and oil paint can take days to dry properly. Thinned down oils would run off your model before you would ever get it dry enough.

Of course this is based off my experience working with oil on canvas. I can honestly say I have never tried oils in an airbrush.

 

White Spirit/turps on plastic is fine, it won't melt it.

 

Re using thinned oils through an airbrush - it is possible, and some scale modellers do it. You'll need a respirator though (if you don't already have one) and the paint will take an age to dry.

Will probably be better just to find a similar shade in an acrylic - Vallejo have a load of colours in their various lines.

[Lucien Eilam]

You can airbrush with almost anything, as long as it's thinned sufficiently and cleaned out promptly. You need to be extra careful with ventilation and respiration though - a lungful of atomised turpentine is unlikely to be good for your health. And where miniatures are concerned, the things oils are good for don't really benefit from applying them with an airbrush.

 

You could, in theory, use it for base coating, but there is a reason everyone uses acrylics. None of the properties of oil paint are of any benefit as a base coat, while the long drying times are a significant hindrance. Even when seemingly dry to the touch, it's unwise to paint or varnish over oils - you need to allow them to properly cure, which can take days for a solid, opaque coat.

 

The solvents you'll use with oils will strip acrylic if given the chance, you need a layer of varnish between them. They'll eat into the varnish too, but the quantities involved should evaporate before getting as far as the underlying paint. You can't really mix oils with acrylics at all due to the different bases, and while you can paint acrylic over (fully dry) oil, there's a potential for cracking because they don't have exactly the same flexibility and don't react the same way to changes in temperature.

 

So they're good for washes and filters as the last stage, but other than that stick to acrylic.