As the months went on, I knew I wasn't going to be able to resist the name that was right on his price tag. He had to be black, & he had to be named Come To The Dark Side! Custom Made will simply have to wait for another model.
Since I am pressed for time, this isn't going to be as in depth a NaMo tutorial as I usually write. But I have a few people interested in how I do a dapple black, so, even a less detailed tutorial has to be better than nothing! :)
Of course I wash (in warm water with dishsoap & a nail & tooth brush to get any mold release off), prep (sand any seams, fill any holes, remove any blemishes), & prime (with red Dupli-Color sandable automotive primer) my model. All ready to paint now!
Let it cure fully, & then spray it good with Testor's Dull Coat. The colorshift is glossy, & if you try to oil over it, the oil paint will not be happy about having to cover such a slick surface. Dull Coat is matte enough that it gives it a good 'tooth' to hold on to. I've never used it, but workable fixative *might* work for this as well.
I had to mix a new batch of paint for Dark Side. My last black pallet dried up in Dec, but it was nearly three years old too, so I can't complain!
The colors I used were:
Oils-
- Lamp black
- Titanium White
- Cobalt Blue
Powders-
- Pearl-Ex Carbon Black
- Black pastel chalk
- White pastel chalk
- Pure Carbon Soot*
Shading:
Oils-
- Lamp Black
No powders.
Blue Shading:
Oils-
- Cobalt Blue
Powders-
- Pearl-Ex Carbon Black
Brown shading: (probably not going to be used on this guy)
Oils-
- Burnt Umber
Powders-
- Pearl-Ex Carbon Black
Highlighting: (also probably not going to be used on him)
Oils-
- Titanium White
Powders-
- Pearl-Ex Micro Pearl, or Pearl White
Many other Pearl-Ex powders can be added as well, blues, reds, browns, etc.
Fold a sheet of pallet paper in half (wax paper is, unfortunately, not a substitute for pallet paper, the oil just soaks through), & mix these colors on the seam & one half only; then you can fold it over & store in a Ziploc in the freezer to keep!
You can see below that the biggest blob of color is the Body blue-grey. It is what I use the most of.
About 98% of the splendor of the colorshift is lost when you oil over it, but it is still slightly there, especially in bight & sun light. & anything to add depth & dimension to black is worth it in my opinion!
Once you have your whole horse painted, take a clean, big (I grabbed an inch) soft flat, & lightly stroke the paint in the hairgrowth direction to smooth any brush strokes that may have remained.
Set aside & let dry. Black can unfortunately take a long time to dry. The powders do help, but if you really want to speed it up, you will need to add dryer to your pallet, which I don't use since it's tricky.
Til next time! Happy painting all!!