Danol's Retribution - Reaver-Class Titan of the Legio Invigilata

Disaster has struck!

On Saturday morning I varnished the checked armour plates using Humbrol Clear then went away to make my breakfast......

Upon my return i noticed pink streaks over all the white checks........

Horrified doesn't cut it as a word.......

TIP
The Humbrol Clear does not react at all well with something in the Tamiya paint causing it to bleed.  This didn't happen on the white squares I painted using exclusively Vallejo paint so the problem lies in the reaction between two of the active agents in the Humbrol Clear and the Tamiya Paint.  So word of advice don't use Humbrol Clear with Tamiya unless you want instant and random rain streaks :)  I would assume that the same happens with Gunze paint as well but I have no proof of this.  

So the whole lot needed stripping and redoing......the joy

As such my Saturday was not too productive as I was a tiny bit angry and don't paint when I am like that.  

So Sunday was productive right?

Was it f**k 

I spent all of Sunday trying to repaint the red but could either not manage to get the colour right or I ended up with a sand paper like texture on the surface that looked utter bobbins.

I eventually found out what was causing this.......

TIP
When airbrushing the higher the PSI the finer the atomization of the paint will be, meaning the small blobs of paint will be smaller.  This also means that if you hold the airbrush too far from the model the paint will dry enroute from the nozzle of the airbrush to the surface of the model leaving a rough sand paper like texture, the smoothness of the blend between colours might be perfect but you will not have that lovely smooth finish.  Therefore it is best to lower the PSI to a level you are happy with and keep the airbrush fairly close to the surface you are spraying.

Therefore the higher the atomization (due to PSI) the smaller the droplets of paint will be and therefore the quicker the paint will dry.

Find a balance by practicing. 

So although it may look like I wasted a weekend I learnt some stuff that will only benefit me in the long run.  So it was not a total loss.......

Oh and I managed to get the red bang on perfect last night, possibly better than it was the first time (well second infact) around.  To coin a phrase used by one of the painters who inspires me; Roman Lappat....

"Everything happens for a reason" 

The reason here was to teach me lessons. :)