Matt Medium

[p1per]

Hey guys!

Ok first of all why I'm going with this kind of topic.

My main problem when painting often is that my miniatures get quite glossy during the process. As for my "style" of painting, I'm doing my transitions with glazes/juices with usually a paint:water ratio of about 1 part paint : 1-2parts water (no wet-in-wet as I can't really get the hang of it). This is ofc just a general rule of thumb sometimes more sometimes less and to smooth out stuff I'm using even more water. With my latest miniature, the terminator, I could reduce the amount of glossyness by always waiting for the previous layer to completely dry (using a small blow dryer to speed up the process) but I think it could still be better.

Ok now the interesting part ... ever since having this problem I thought of using MATT MEDIUM as an addition to my thinning but I don't really know how to handle that stuff. I was messing around a bit with GW paints and adding Matt Medium to the mix yesterday and tried to get a feel for it but well didn't quite get it. To my surprise you also never read anything about people using this or at least I couldn't find anything helpflu in this matter.

Is anyone using this stuff or tried it once and could give me some advice on how to use it properly? Or is there something else I'm missing? What are your secrets to achieve matt paintjobs?

Looking forward to reading your oppinions and/or hints.

Cheers
p1per

[mahon]

Nobody, huh?!

I wouldn't say matt medium is for thinning paints but for reducing opacity.

There are many different matt mediums - thinner or thicker. Ours (talens?) is pretty thinck, nearly like mayonaise. You add a bit of it to your paints and they become more transparent (and flatter) than before, without becoming too "watery".

With most mediums you add just a little bit or your paints can behave really weird. This is very important with retarders, which can make your paints almost useless if you use too much of it.

So with your matt medium, you can ever increase thickness of your paints if they're already thinner than the medium. But opacity will always drop.
So it can be useful for glazing.

[sea.man]

Didn't write anything about Matt Medim, becasue I am still learning how to use it. I started to use it because of the reasons that Mahon pointed - thinner paint, better glazes. I actually never heard that it takes the glossines away

[p1per]

Thanks for your replies.

I have been experimenting with it and tried to paint some bits with this medium in my mixes but I dropped the idea of using it pretty soon. I just couldn't get used to it and painting got quite frustrating with those mixes. Maybe I used it wrong but as for now I will stick to water.

[mahon]

@sea.man - just try glossy medium. you will see how nice it takes flatness away ^^

@p1per - actually both I and Ana rarely use it now, too. glaze medium is pretty cool too. like a mix of matt medium, retarder and flow improver. if I was to recommend one it would be this one. We have the one made by Vallejo and can recommend it.

[sea.man]

my problem ist, that it is hard for me to get the ratio for paint + water + medium right

[p1per]

@mahon - hmm never tried that might be worth a look. Do you use it for all your mixes or only for final glazes (color nuances in a part)?

@sea.man - yep same here (I guess)... I tried a lot and neither of this mixes felt right so at some point I stopped and dropped it.

[mahon]

P1per, that depends on your technique - try it, choose your favorite way.

I tend to try to achieve fast results, so I only use glazes for some tweaking. On the other hand Ana relies on glazes more heavily, so she uses glaze medium for most of her painting.

Regarding mixes - start with a tiny amount - like just slightly dipped tip of the brush. Then try adding a little bit more and more and keep looking at changes. The only way to find your own mix.

[p1per]

thanks

I guess I will pick up a bottle and give it a try.