White Paint App Tricks

This is the first of many tutorials I want to get posted. I'll do more video tutorials as well but that'll have to be in the new year. For now let's tackle an issue I see many people mention: dealing with white paint.

Now there are many ways to deal with this, the most simple is to use a primer coat and then carefully spray the paint on with an airbrush. But what about details? Or smaller toys you want to hand brush? Well I'd like to share two easy ways to deal with this.

1: Properly Mixed Colors
When I need to paint stark white I don't use straight white paints. I use a mix of these two guys:

4 parts Gloss White to 1 part Flat Aluminum. Both Tamiya brand acrylics. This mix gives the white a very slightly pearlescent look so that it has a nice luster while giving it just enough of a viscous body to adhere and spread evenly. This is of course after both have been thinned properly. Always remember that thinning your paints is a must for an even coat.

By using this blend you'll get a white like the one I used on this guy:

2: Sometimes White Isn't The Answer

Now let's take a look at this guy:

Notice the difference between the gloves and his hat/shirt? Yeah, he's not white but a very very light gray. This is an example of working with subtleties instead of extremes. Using that light gray adds more depth and allows you to keep a screen accurate look as the gloves and shrt are indeed different colors in the game itself.
Now when I saw work with subtleties I'll have you know I rarely use stark black on my customs. It's almost always a very dark gray. it allows for, again, more depth and let's you differentiate between colors and shadows.




With that in mind I think our next lesson will be about panel lines and why you should never use black washes. Never ever.