Hi all. Has anyone got some tips on dry brushing? Such as what to use, what kind of paint, techniques etc. Alternatively has someone got a link to an article about this?

Cheers

Rich

I watched this guy. I got the link somewhere in aeroscale.
Lots to pick up on here. But you see him dry brush and wash the cockpit of a p-47.

I expect there’s other articles all over Armorama, but here are the basics:

Type of paint: any, really, although enamels often work better than acrylics because of the greater pigment density.

Type of brush: flat, with short bristles (shorten them if you can’t find one short enough), and above all old. Dry-brushing knackers your brush in pretty short order so there’s no point sacrificing a new one. You need a short brush because that makes it easier to control where the paint’s going - you don’t want loose ends flicking paint where you don’t want it.

Technique: you need, er, a dry brush. This means getting a small amount of paint on it, then wiping it away until it looks as though you’ve removed it all. There will still be enough to do the job. Application: whisk it back and forth across the part to be painted. All the raised edges and surfaces will magically pick up the colour that you thought had vanished. Go gently: it’s much easier to add a layer than to remove one. (Some people use the sludge at the bottom of the tin - I avoid this because of the risk of using too much paint at once. Also it reduces the amount of pigment in the tin, which thins the paint.) With practice you can make dry-brushing look almost like a sprayed dust coat, and it’s possible to blend colours even when they’re dry, since the coverage can be made so thin that it’s almost translucent.

One warning: dry-brushing can be quite hard on the object being painted, since you’re flicking a short brush (without much give) repeatedly across it. Some items, like small bits of photo-etch, may not appreciate the treatment much.

A good surface to practise on is the part numbers on sprues - they’re generally raised.

seán

As a wargame modeller originally I am used to drybrushing with acrylics, specifically Citadel (Games Workshop). The technique described above is spot on so I'll only add any extra thoughts.

I dry the brush off on dimpled kitchen towel, that way I can see how much is likely to come off onto the model as it drybrushes the towel.

When highlighting by drybrushing, don't only use white to lighten your base colour, it can make the model look chalky. I add light colours, such as grey for black, beige or flesh tones for red (adding white just makes pink!), yellow and white for green.

Smooth surfaces don't take drybrushing well, it works best on detail and edges.

Games Workshop sell specific brushes for drybrushing which are made of tougher bristles so they don't get destroyed in the process (a sable brush might only last two or three vigorous sessions).

Hope that helps.

Jon