# Wet Palettes and watering down paints.



## Tyr852 (Oct 19, 2011)

'ello ello again , so it's been a week since I started and I'd like to say I've gotten the hang of it but I seem to be smashing my head in to the wall in the first steps. So maybe someone can educate me on these seemingly simple questions I have ^_^. 

First question is about the we palette , how wet does it need to be to do what it's suppose to do ? I know when it's _too _wet as then the paint just disperses as soon as I put it down but my paints still dry out fairly quickly if it's anything less then that. 

Second do you need to water down fresh paints if I'm using a wet palette ? I have the citadel paints and I find that if I even add the slightest amount of water to them they go from a paint to almost a wash where the paint pulls to all the recesses when even if it's lightly loaded on the brush , needless to say it's frustrating >.>. I'm curious as my friend doesn't water down anything and uses the same setup and his paint looks like it should ie , smooth in one coat , not thick and just generally healthy. 

Anyhow , any insight is appreciated as the previous tips I got were excellent 

Cheers 
Tyr :drinks:


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## Paikis (Sep 5, 2011)

I'm using a bowl that I stole from the kitchen, a dish-cloth and some baking paper. 

I folded the dish cloth into a square shape that fits in the bottom of my bowl... its probably about 20 or so layers thick. Then I fill the bowl until the water level is about half way up the side of the cloth. Ontop of the cloth you put your baking pare and then it... just works. The water wont leak through the baking paper, so you still have to water-down your paints... if you're getting your paint turning to liquid as soon as you put it in... are you perhaps not using the baking paper?


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## Tyr852 (Oct 19, 2011)

I'm using the P3 wet palette paper so I assume it's the correct stuff , it was about the same price as the baking paper and I get less death glares from the wife >.<


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## Paikis (Sep 5, 2011)

No idea then... try baking paper? Just dont tell the wife!


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## Rems (Jun 20, 2011)

I use several layers of paper towels and a sheet of baking paper on top (after wetting the towels first of course). I find the best amount of water is enough to thoughaly soak the paper towels but no so much that there is water pooling. After you've wet it, try pouring out any excess water. 

As to watering one's paints i find the consistency of milk is best and i still water then even when using a wet palette.


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

wet palettes are for seasoned painters, you should concentrate on working how to water down your paints before worrying about wet palettes and such, and watering your paint down is vital, but it you add water to your paint and it turns to a wash then you have added too much water, so scrap it and try again, get a dab of paint on your brush and add a very tiny dab of water, and mix, if you have a wash consistency add a little more paint, if the paint is too thick then add another tiny dab of water.

there are no tricks to this process it is a skill that you can learn, if there were tricks then we would all be amazing painters, some people have a talent for it and some people will never ever be able to put paint on a model well, those are the facts.

the wet palette was invented so acyrlic paints would mimic the longer drying times of oil paints, using a wet palette is great if you need longer working times because your doing some bad ass blending, but for every day painting of models at a very novice level its a complete waste of money and effort to use one. 

if you want your paint to be thin and cover well it will take practice, but getting your paint to be the right consistency is the key and to be honest its not something you can learn on a forum, its one of those things you have to either watch someone do in the flesh or learn yourself.


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## Paikis (Sep 5, 2011)

I would say wet palletes are for anyone who doesn't want their paint to go hard in less than 5 minutes. They may be more useful for advanced painting techniques, but paint lasting longer is good for everyone.


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## TheReverend (Dec 2, 2007)

I'm not the greatest painter and so I probably don't get the most out of a wet pallette but I can tell you that using one saves A LOT of paint, because it stops the paint drying out, and I'm a slow painter so this can happen quite a bit for me. 

I water down my paints just as much as if I wasn't using a wet pallette, which means I just have to apply more layers, but this is no big deal and can really help with highlighting. 

But mate, I had been painting for 14 years before even hearing of a wet pallette and so I'd second B&K's comments and concentrate on honing your skills in other areas, using the wet pallette as a suped up dry pallette for teh moment. 

I use a butter tub lid with three sheets of damp kitchen roll covered by 1 layer of baking paper and it works just fine. 

Good luck!!

Rev


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## Lubacca (Sep 4, 2011)

....

You're getting advice from seasoned and unseasoned painters in equal measure here. I can only tell you what I do. 

first. Don't use a wet palette. It is for someone who is a bit more experienced and a bit of a luxury as someone who is starting out. 

Go to your local either paint store or hobby store and buy the following: 
Retardant, Flow Aide, empty droppers. 

Once you have those put equal measures of Flow Aide and Retardant into the empty dropper and shake well. I use this in lieu of water to thin my paints. The reson is thus:

The Retardant keeps the paint from drying within 5 minutes of being brought out of the pot, the flow aide helps the paint flow better onto the mini. You will probably do two passes on the mini with each paint to get it covered how you want. 

So for every dab of paint I get from the pot I drop 1 to 2 drops of the mixture. Again, it depends on the consistency of the paint once I'm done mixing the first drop. You want it to be of a milk like quality. I was once told that if you paint a strip of thinned down paint onto a newspaper, you should still be able to read the print after the paint is on there. You want that so that the detail isn't destroyed by the amount of paint that's being applied. 

Fuck that's long winded. But I use this method and it has done wonders for me in not destroying the detail that I work on. 

hope it helps.


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

I use a wet pallet but rarely water my paints down that much if I am using one since the pallet does that for me. Normally I mix drying retarder and flow aid with the wet pallet water. When adding water to your pallet make sure you do not flood the pallet. The sponge should wet but not super soaked.


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