Oil wash using Mig 502 Abteilung Oils - no luck!

[Tony Maloan]

Hi all!

In a very compelling oil wash demo, a Mig 502 Abteilung Oil is thinned with Humbrol Enamel Thinners with a 50/50 ratio, and is applied over a gloss coat (they don't say which product). Based on this I have also tried to make a wash with a Mig 502 Abteilung Oil (Engine Grease) but I haven't had much success

I'm using Vallejo Model Air (Acrylic) as the base paint and have tried two combinations:

Attempt 1

- Vallejo Gloss Varnish, giving 48 hours to dry and cure

- Mig Odourless Turpentine, but with a ratio of 10/90 oil to turpentine

Problems

• The wash just will not dry, it's now been four weeks! I've read that as turpentine ages it yellows and takes longer to dry. Perhaps I bought a very old bottle? I even tried letting the oil sit on top of a sheet of cardboard to draw out the linseed oil but that didn't seem to make much difference.
  
• No capillary action... I literally had to push the oil down the groove
  

Attempt 2

- Pledge Multi-surface wax (the new Klear formula). Again giving 48 hours to cure.

- Winsor and Newton Artists White Spirit (again with a ratio of 10/90)

Problems

• The wash traveled down the groove with some capillary action (still need a tiny bit of nudging), but when I looked again 10 minutes later, most of the wash had literally been repelled out of the groove!
  
• The mess dried fairly well within a couple of hours, but after cleaning, the surface was slightly stained.
  

I have yet to do a third attempt (Perhaps Vallejo Gloss Varnish and Zippo Lighter Fluid) but before doing so I wanted to see if anyone else has had success making a wash with these oils.

Also, what ratio should be used? In the demo it's 50/50 which seems really high compared to the various wash tutorials I've seen.

Thanks for your help!

Tony

 

[andygh]

I was doing an oil wash a week or so ago, I don't measure accurately but I'd say 5-10% Abteilung oil paint and I use odourless turpentine substitute

I put this on top of a couple of coats of original Klear which had cured for about an hour and gives a nice satin surface, the wash dried in a couple of days as usual

It sounds like your wash is beading ie. the surface is repelling it like rain on a polished car

A couple of suggestions, don't make the surface too glossy before you apply the wash, a slight sheen is what you're after and anything that contains wax sounds like a bad idea

Before you start give the surface a brush over with clean turps or whatever youre using in the wash, the damp surface helps the wash to grip

 

[backonthecase]

I can vouch for andy's 2nd point there - even taking a cotton bud dampened with thinner along the panel lines before chucking the wash in helps to spread it along the joint, as you're giving it a good surface to merge with/flow into. Also, I've used Tesco white spirit and Mig Odorless Turpentine with similar if not identical results.

Regarding the first point, I've found that glossier is better - if there's a "soakable" surface it does take some cleaning up. Only my experience though, I might have been lucky.

HTH

Stuart

 

[Tony Maloan]

Thank you, I'll definitely try dampening the surface prior to applying the wash.

I also raised an eyebrow when I read about people using the new Klear (plege multi-surface wax); perhaps they aren't adding an oil wash on top...

 

[backonthecase]

Washes work on Pledge as well as Klear as far as I can tell.....