I'm looking to add a mottled/spotty effect to a plain finish on my current build. I'll be using standard spray cans for the base and have only a little experience with spraying and no specialist kit. Help/advice would be appreciated please. Cheers
I can kind of visualize what you're talking about, but do you have a link to a picture that might better define what kind of mottled/spotty effect you're trying to emulate? This could help narrow the specific method needed to get the style you want. I can think of a few ideas off hand and will suggest if you'd like, but it'd be helpful (for me at least) to see what you mean.
Valor, thanks for that; not replied sooner as I've had difficulty in finding a good example of what I mean. What I want is the sort of spotted look with random little blobs of paint that you can get when spraying goes wrong. Watch this space, still looking for a good example...
You kinda gave yourself the solution. You have to handle the spray can "wrong". -don't shake it enough -start to spray directly on your objects instead of coming from the sides onto it... - push and release instead of continously pushing the spray vent This will obviously end up pretty random, though. I'm currently doing something similar while painting my scratch build. Another way, that gives more control, is using a brush and normal paint. Dip the brush into the paint. Aim and shoot. :-D
Tooth brush or hard stiff brush, pull the bristles back and let the paint 'flick' this is how I do it when painting models and gives a more controllable effect than just flicking the brush.
Guys, thanks for the valuable input - something I can get going on and experiment with. Is modelling enamel paint ok to use with rattlecan paint? Never tried mixed media before. Thanks again for the support - once again it shows that BT is a great place to be on.
If paint can't go with a specific type of paint, it's noted on the paint. For instance, I have some paint that doesn't like to be painted with acrylic based paint, but it's fine with other types of paint, like water based paint... Even if it's not noted on the paint, it should be noted what type of paint it is and you can do some research on how the types of paint you got interact with another. That being said, I still mixed the paints I mentioned above and had no issues. Just give it a try.
An idea I had that you can try for if you want a intentional blotchy look would be to make a pattern. Maybe have a 'hidden image' or something, or a pattern to the mayhem. I guess I would compare it kind of like making a constellation in your paint. Have a base color for the background, have smaller random blotches, then have a rough cut pattern of slighty larger blots that can be a constellation if you were to 'connect the dots' lol. Not sure if you are aware of or do the horoscope thing, but taking me for example, I'm a Taurus, so I would try and hide the Taurus constellation in the paint. Just my idea that popped into my head. A more extreme version would be to actaully transpose one of those hidden image dot pictures... a lot harder, but not impossible. They're called stereograms if you want to google it.
rattlecan paint? is that acrylic? Most paint types are ok to be mixed (i use oils for washes over acrylic paint jobs for example). Enamel should be ok, however I cannot stress highly enough how much I most people I know hate using it. Plus its incredibly difficult to get a decent finish. I would always suggest acrylic paint, then add a medium if you want a specific effect like crackling medium, or in your case water it down (with a proper thinner so it doesnt loose colour) then finish off with a cheap spray of 2 layers of varnish. Which I would suggest doing even with enamel.
