Jump to content

Oil wash gone wrong


Recommended Posts

So yesterday I had prepped a helicopter I've been working on as I usually do, mr color primer, model master and tamiya acrylics, with a coat of tamiya clear.   Then on went the decals, waited a couple days, and sealed the decals with another layer of tamiya clear.  Nothing new.  I went to put what I believe was an oil wash, but it might have been an old enamel wash or an old oil wash (but I didn't detect the distinct odor of enamel thinner, I added a little more oil paint to it and then thinned it with mineral spirits.  I applied the wash, and then went on to work on another project for maybe about 3 hours and came back to remove the wash with make up sponges and mineral spirits.  

 

The wash hardly budged, I would get a tiny amount off as could be seen on the sponge and mineral spirits.  But it wouldn't come off AT ALL, I tried applying coat after coat of mineral spirits to "soak it" for an hour, nothing, tried soapy water, nothing.  Then when I was about ready to call it a day and start over I went and took my dog for a walk and thought it over and it occurred to me, enamel paints are oil based, and I wasn't entirely sure of which wash I used.....  So I had a small amount of enamel thinner left over and tried it...and it worked, but was incredibly slow and required a lot of elbow grease to remove. I used an entire bottle of enamel thinner and a box of q-tips that I was able to pick up at the hobby shop at the last minute.  

 

Only tiny amounts of paint got stripped from the vigorous scrubbing, so its fixed, but looks like a very weathered UH-1Y which wasn't exactly the look I was going for as these are mostly clear but it'll have to do, and leads me to believe it wasn't an interaction between the tamiya clear and the wash because the decals held up beautifully and didn't rub off at all!!  I've left oil washes on longer than 3 hours and while a little more difficult I have never had this kind of problem.  I left the second gloss coat to cure for 48 hours, and like I said it protected most of the paint and I was able to remove the oil wash...The mineral spirits smelled funny, almost like B.O., does that mean they've gone bad?  I'm going to toss that bottle and trying mix up some new oil wash.  I noticed to that when I applied the wash it seemed "granular" like the oil paints were either old or hadn't dissolved.  Anyone have a similar experience?  Do you think I used an old enamel wash accidentally and then mixed in the oil paint and mineral spirit and thats where it got all messed up.  I spent 6 hours removing this wash, which should've only taken about an hour...thoughts....ideas....?????

 

Should you always mix up a new oil wash rather than save it for months on end?

 

Thanks

 

Dan

Edited by dsahling
Link to post
Share on other sites

Like you said, I suspect your problem was because of the enamel paint in the wash. I once tried lightening an oil wash with MM enamel paints (thinned with odorless thinner) and I had a similar problem. It difficult to remove after a few hours. Never had that issue with pure oils. Also, I always create a fresh wash from scratch when I need it. 

 

Also have to add, I have three bottles of Ammo washes. They are fantastic. They mix well with regular oils to create different colors.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I feel like it must've been been an old enamel wash that I had kept, cause I remember dragging it out of one of the drawers and putting it on the shelf and thinking in the back of my mind like it was an old enamel wash.  I was able to salvage it, and it just looks like a weathered helicopter, it'll do.  But I guess the lesson is always just take the few seconds to mix up a fresh oil wash to be safe.  Thanks for the input though.

 

Dan

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...