Help: why my paint does not stick to the mini

[flagoon]

This is my nightmare since the beginning of painting. I've seen lot's of video tutorials, read tons of stuff but I still cannot get this right. I have huge problems with painting small objects that have lots of recesses (like teeth, ropes, sometimes muscles). My paint is almost always flooding the recesses. I know I should dilute my paints, and mainly it's about 1:1 with water (I've seen tutorial when people were diluting with more water and paint was covering just fine), but there are a lot of times, when I'm thinking this is too much diluted. If you can look here Youtube time 1:30 when he is painting skull on the chest. If it was me, most of the paint would be in recesses instead of pops out places. It's like painting with water with some pigment. I'm using Vallejo GC and MC. I'm shaking them like crazy before painting. Since now I was painting on primers made with airbrush (Tamiya I think). Any pointers what I should do to overcome this? My morale is dropping each time I take brush in my hands (until now I've finished one mini, the rest WIP landed in breaking fluid, when I was angry with the effects).

[arctica]

Before i read what you wrote, my initial thoughts on the title were possibly that your surfaces may need a clean or that your primer wasn't quite suitable for the paint consistency. I think others might be able to offer some more insight other than this, but you could try using a different primer?

[Nameless]

1. don't expect you'll paint like a pro from the outset
2. find the proper dillution for different techniques. I won't give you any ratios - this may depend on paints you use, their thickness etc.
3. learn to control the paint flow. amount of paint you take with a brush, dillution, sculpt characteristic, technique, way you move your brush - all of these need to be adjusted to each other.

those were general remarks. try, learn, get experience. experts will probably give you more detailed pieces of advice.

[flagoon]

1. don't expect you'll paint like a pro from the outset
2. find the proper dillution for different techniques. I won't give you any ratios - this may depend on paints you use, their thickness etc.
3. learn to control the paint flow. amount of paint you take with a brush, dillution, sculpt characteristic, technique, way you move your brush - all of these need to be adjusted to each other.

those were general remarks. try, learn, get experience. experts will probably give you more detailed pieces of advice.

That was the kind of the answer I was afraid to I just hope I was doing something obviously wrong that can be solved in one advice. Right now I'm painting red armor, then light brown skull, the paint is rather watery and flood the red armor. I'm taking red paint, but then paint flows slightly on the skull. I'm taking light brown... My dreadnought will land in breaking fluid soon.

[Nameless]

ok, one quick advice - don't dillute your paints as much as you do know, so that it doesn't run where you don't want it too. paint a mini, most probably we're gonna tell you that paint is too thick. Nevermind, at least you'll have a mini painted. take another mini, dillute your paints slightly more, paint it, expect the same answer from us. repeat until increased dillution starts to make your paint flow to easily. we're gonna tell you you dilluted your paints too much. that's the perfect moment to realize what's the good water/paint ratio and to start learning how to control dilluted paint. not an easy process, I'm still struggling with it.

[Marek]

I think I have recently overcome this problem by myself, and you will not like the answer

1. Dilution - try to make the paint not as thin as you think you should. You do not want to paint with washes but with wet paint. Washes are something different and they are applied on an already painted surface.

2. Dispose the excess of water from the brush before you touch the model. Touch a paper towel with the side of the bristle. That should do the job.

I have also noticed, that some GW paints stick better, other worse (the latter require thicker paints). So you must know your paints.
You may also try a trick - prime the model white. Then even with very diluted paints you will still see color. Of course this will not work for very small objects and details like eyes.
Good luck!

[flagoon]

I think I have recently overcome this problem by myself, and you will not like the answer

Why shouldn't I like an answer like that? Both of you (you and Nameless) gave me something to think of. First thing I learn about painting was: DILUTE YOUR PAINTS. It's better to paint 3 thin layers then one thick. So I'm always dilute my paints, I didn't know it was too much (but 1:1 shouldn't be wrong...) I bought white primer few days before and I'm going to test it today. I'll also try touching paper towel with the tip of brush to remove water. I hope I'll be ready to show you some better painting soon. Thanks for replies.

[Marek]

I'll also try touching paper towel with the tip of brush to remove water.

Try to touch it with the side of your brush - you want the paint to remain on the tip, but you don't want too much water inside the brush which will cause the flooding effect you are struggling with. You see, there is something which is called the capillar effect
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capillary_action
which makes the water being sucked inside the brush. However, the pigment is heavier and denser and remains relatively low, close to the tip of the brush.

At least this is how I understand these things...