Paint Texture Problem

[HandsWithLegs]

I've been having a lot of trouble with a few paints recently, namely Zandri Dust, Celestra Grey, Ushabti Bone, And White Scar. When I paint them on the models the paint seems to clump slightly and result in a chalky texture. At first I thought that I needed to add more water, but that seems to make it worse. Using very little water helps but I am worried about obscuring detail. I am using a wet pallet when thinning my paints and all the paints I'm getting this with are new, just being obtained in the last 6 months or so. Is there any advice from people who have had similar issues? Or is this just something that I'm going to have to practice more to get the hang of?

[Grotsmasha]

How thoroughly are you shaking the pot prior to use? For paints that do that, adding a stainless steel ball bearing into the pot will also help, specifically for whilst you're shaking it.

 

Cheers,

Jono

[Lucio]

They're all very pigment heavy paints. Mix in a little Lahmia Medium into the pot directly and shake them up well, as Grotsmasha mentioned, an aggitator like a ball bearing will help.

[Magos Takatus]

This isn't uncommon by any means. I have issues with Rakarth Flesh and Pallid Wych Flesh quite often. I just shake them for a long time, use a wet pallet and hope for the best currently. 

[Stoic Raptor]

With the colors that use chalky pigments, I actually stir the pot with an old brush handle.  Shaking may not always distribute the pigment.  Definitely good to thin it a little in pot, as others have said using medium or flow improver.

[Arkhanist]

White or off-white acrylics are particularly prone to chalkiness. The magic fix for me was using flow aid, which reduces the surface tension of the water and helps prevent clumping on the model - it literally makes the paint flow easier. It's also known as flow improver. As suggested, a ball bearing and vigorous shaking/stirring with a bit of matt medium/lahmian medium helps avoid big clumps in the pot, but I still find flow aid to be essential for some paints, particularly rakarth flesh, bone, light greys and the like.

 

There are various acrylic artist brands for it - winsor and newton flow improver, liquitex flow aid (i have this one) etc which come concentrated; the usual instruction is to dilute them right down before use, I've found a 1:10 solution (i.e 1ml flow aid plus 10ml distilled water) to be about right, I keep it in a dropper bottle and just add a drop or two to any paint that's being a pain - too much flow aid can prevent paint adhering properly. Since you dilute it so much, a small bottle lasts forever.

 

Flow aid is primarily a surfactant, so the old, old tip was to add a couple of drops of washing-up liquid (aka dishwashing liquid) in your water pot, which has a somewhat similar effect, though obviously less controlled than flow aid! Some acrylic medium thinners also have flow aid already in them, so can perform a similar job - I think lahmian medium might. (I'm pretty sure vallejo's airbrush medium doesn't) 

Edited January 16, 2018 by Arkhanist