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To thin acrylic paints, use They SC Johnson Pledge Floor Care Multi-Surface Finish (formerly Future acrylic floor polish). Also good for shiny surfaces on polycllay projects.
To straighten a brush with crooked bristles, wet the brush, put a little dish soap on it, then put it in the freezer until solid. Remove and let it thaw, and then wash out the soap.
After pouring the last of the fabric softener into laundry... take the bottle and fill with water and use this water in the paint rinsing cup. There seems to be enough softener left in the bottle to do the trick and keep bristles soft. Wash them with Dawn detergent when done painting.
Spilled paint on a favorite article of clothing? Immediately apply fabric softener and massage into the area. Then wash normally. For carpet stains, pour fabric softener over the spill, work it in, blot many times and then use seltzer water sparingly; blotting until you can no longer see and remains of the paint. Use a fan to dry the area.
To thin paint, try a few drops of rubbing alcohol or window cleaner. Add a few drops at a time.
To clean paint brushes, soak in alcohol. Works even with long-since dried brushes. Just soak them longer. Rinse then wash with soap to clean the bristles. Alcohol also removes acrylic paint from clothing if caught immediately.
For dried paint in brushes use 50-50 softener and water from the tap, a couple of inches in a glass jar.. Suspend the brush in this mixture so the brush doesn't rest on the bottom. Leave it for 24 hours. Then use a tooth brush to work out the softened paint. Use new water & softener again for 24 hours, wash out the brush using a clean tooth brush and it should at least be serviceable. The brush will never be good as new but usable at least.
Painting plastic - use a primer called: Fine Surface Primer (L) for plastic and metal (white). Apply a fine mist. The can is half the size of a normal spray paint can and has two stars on it, one with a red background and one with a white background. It is sold in hobby shops and train stores that have war-gamer products.
Wash item first with a detergent, then soak in vinegar to remove grease and mold release agents.
Painting plastic Chrysnbon dishes - try Adirondak markers. They come in beautiful colours and can do quite intricate work. Sealed with acrylic gloss spray and it will not rub off. Zig Brushables come with two different shades of the same colour on the ends. Also Tombow Dual Tip pensand Zig writers. Or try RIT dye,or food colouring which soaks into the plastic. Set with vinegar. The Krylon gold and silver leafing pens are great for edging.Or use a stamp pad.
Painting metal - first prime with Zinssar Bullseye 1-2-3 Primer, made specially for metal, glass and plastic. (available at home improvement centers, paint stores and hardware stores) After the metal miniatures are primed, you can paint with any craft paint, and then either paint or spray with a sealer like polyurethane or other clear acrylic sealer
.Painting a bunch of small parts? Attach double sided tape to a surface and place the items on the tape. Now you can paint or spray without mess.
Crackle finish - Apply a base coat of acrylic paint and allow to dry. Then apply a coat of glue mixed with the top colour. The thinner the glue, the finer the cracks. It is the different drying times which makes the surface crack.
Spatter painting - a screen and a toothbrush can make some really cool speckles. Make a frame for the screen to hold it stiff. Get the bristles of the paintbrush barely wet with paint, and brush it back and forth over the screen. The combination of the 2 gives a really neat speckled look to your project. This would make a nice wallpaper pattern, or possibly a ceiling. It would also work for wrapping paper, enamel ware, and furniture. rush method mentioned. Any brush can be used. Vary the size of the splatter by holding closer or further away from the item. It is a good idea to test this. Someone mentioned to have watery paint, this is a good idea, but not too much as the spatters can run. So again tests are good. Or try spray paint: paint the base color and let it dry. Then use spray paint held above the dishes and spray into the air above the dishes and let the spray gently drift down on them.
Faux Marble - paint the item with a base colour and set aside to dry. Fill a container with enough water to immerse the item. Put a few drops of oil-based paint into the water, then stir gently. Stick the object perpendicularly into the water, blow on the water to take the paint away, then lift the object out. The finer the paint separates in the water, the finer the marble. Also see marble and granite by Terragenesis.
Mix metallics from Jacquards Pearlex Pigments. For a gloss effect, add some of the pigment to an acrylic gloss medium and paint with that. For a metallic paint, add silver or pearl pigment to regular acrylic paint. Only mix up a bit of dry pigment every time, and the particles are so fine they make an easy flowing metallic paint. To glaze a mirror frame, mix the dry pigment with water, or a little bit of glue. In this form metallic paint is a joy, although metallic markers give a great result, having a bit of gold pigment handy if the marker is too old to use is worth it. To print something and add 'real gold' later, or add 'gold leaf' effects to furniture, use either a yellow ground or a red one. When the gold paint is added, it takes on a bit of color from the paper or surface below, and the gold blends in easier with the colored areas.
Special paints are not needed to paint your dollhouse! Primer - The only type of wood, which may benefit from a primer, is ply. For other types such as MDF a primer is not required - but some people still prefer to use a priming coat as a base. Eggshell -for main surfaces choose a hardwearing, easy maintenance paint. Surfaces can be cleaned with a damp cloth. Matt - not recommended because it tends to mark easily. Gloss - produces a very shiny finish and not for use on main surfaces. The 1:12 scale seems to accentuate the shininess of the paint. However, a well-chosen gloss colour is perfect for your front door - everyone loves a shiny front door. Sandtex - provides a more textured look for your house. After application, you can then stipple the paint, which will even out the textures. You can even experiment at making your own textured paints by mixing sand with the paint of your choice. This not only gives you an unlimited range of colours but also allows you to vary the texture to your choice. Sand tends to add a creamy colour. Wall fillers such as Pollyfilla can be tinted, but must be used quickly before they harden. Any peaks and valleys can be sanded smooth. When applying paints, two or three light coats rather than one heavy one are recommended.
To prevent warping, paint both sides at the same time. If you only need to paint one side, paint an X on the other with water. The water will dry and counter-act the paint moisture on the other side.
Any place that sells painting supplies such as artist's acrylics and oil paints will sell Gesso. It is like a paint that you apply to the surface of the canvas to make it easier to blend colors on the canvas, creating a smoother surface, or to add texture to a painting. Some canvases have Gesso pre-applied to it the surface, like a sanding sealer, to make it easier to paint on the canvas. Applied to plastic or a shiny surface, it gives a "tooth" so paint sticks.
Paint can measurements - 3/4" dowel which has been cut 7/8" long
Use a good quality brush. It doesn't have to be super expensive but you do want it to be able to hold a point in a round brush, and a chisel (tight flat edge) for a flat brush.
Don't let your brushes sit in water, it will loosen the glue in the ferrule (metal part) and you will lose hairs which will always end up stuck in your work. Also by leaving your bristles sitting in water they are likely to start to bend which can be permanent. Gently, with a back and forth motion in the palm of your hand, clean your brush thoroughly with plain hand soap (something like Ivory) to get paint out from under the ferrule (try not to get it in there in the first place, you need less paint than you think) After you rinse out your brush gently stroke it over the soap, form it into a point or chisel and let it dry. This will protect the brush's shape. Rinse out before painting next time.
Don't try and cover in one coat. You may be getting brush strokes because your paint is too thick. You can even thin the acrylic paint with a drop or two of water depending on how much paint you have. If you are painting up to a line start away from the line and allow the paint to flow gently up to the line. If you start on the line the paint will usually spread further than you want it to. If you are painting a stripe on anything or just masking off an area to paint with green or blue low tack painters tape, once you burnish the edge of the tape lightly with a fingernail or whatever (to avoid leaks) make your first coat a light coat of the other color it is up against. This will completely seal the tape and you will have no leakage. Follow up with two light coats of your desired colour of thinned paint. Remove tape promptly. Keep a very light touch with the paint or you will end up with a ridge.
If you want to decorate with dots or paint tiny knobs etc. use a stylus, a metal tool with different size tiny balls on the end. Make sure to clean off the point every time or two or each dot will get progressively bigger.
Sanding lightly between coats of paint will give the best finish. Use a very fine sandpaper or even a piece of brown paper bag. If you varnish sand that lightly too. It may take a bit longer but you will be happier with the end result.
For carpet paint spills, always keep an emergency tool bucket handy in the mini-ing area. One bottle of liquid fabric softener, one bottle of seltzer or club soda with twist off cap, paper towels and clean rags. When a spill occurs (you haven't got much time) blot excess paint with the paper towels. Pour some fabric softener over the paint, work in with finger tips. Then after a few seconds pour small amounts (ΒΌ) cup of seltzer and blot. Keep doing this for as long as it takes to remove the paint. This only works for water based paint. It may take several applications of the fabric softener and water but eventually it should be unnoticeable .
Don't store upside down or sideways thinking it's best for the paint - it's not
Always unscrew the top, squeeze the bottle from the bottom until you see paint in the top of the bottle and the screw the cap back on. This eliminates the air which will dry out the paint. Storing upside down doesn't eliminate the air.
If paints are water based they have the AP in a circle on the label meaning water based and non toxic..With water based paints - if they are thickening - a few drops of water added in and shaken well will thin it out.
The dates on the label are not the dates the paint was bottled - they are the dates the label was revised. All paints are bottled fresh when a company like Michaels or Joanns puts in an order...then the batch is sent to the main store and stored there before sending on to the various stores....warehouse s store things differently so how well the paint fares depends on whether the warehouse temperature is proper or if they are stored in a trailer and not a temperature controlled warehouse.
There is a small code number on a label that tells the plant when the batch was run - sometimes they are readable, other times not - but that is the only number that tells them if a batch is bad or not.
Use a fine point marker like a Sharpie and put the date on the bottle when you bought it to remember what is newer stock and what is older on your shelves...I 39;ve been trusting my memory, foolish child that I am.
And the best hint of all - don't Google for answers to questions - call the 1-800 number for a product and get the manufacturer's answers to your questions. Hints get passed around and sometimes they are great but other times they are not correct....with costs the way they are, we all want the money we spend on products to be well spent and not tossed out before their time because of improper storage etc. and it's best to get the information from the manufacturer.
Washes - Combine a clear acrylic medium...or clear acrylic varnish with a small amount of color. Experiment with proportions but basically it is mostly clear with a small amount of color. Create a formula and save it for making the same stuff next time if you like the results. Use burnt umber for a darker glaze with a brown/black look, raw umber for a lighter more golden brown look, white for a white wash, (old lead flashing can also get a white patina look to it), grey for a driftwood effect, grey with yellow oxide for a slightly dingy aged ivory look.(like old white lead paints yellowed somewhat and slightly dingy in a kitchen or bathroom) the verdigris look of blues, green or blue green such as found on copper and brass, the green algea look on outdoor garden items...sap green is close to that color.
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