Global Scale Modeller

A question for you weatherers. What is the best way to fix pigment. I have the humbrol range of weathering powders which I think they use decal fix on. Then mig ak and ammo use fixers. Is there any recommendations.

Yes, there are some (expensive) MIG (and other companies) fixers, but you can also simply use rubbing alcohol. Be careful though, as too much of it and rubbing can cause your paint to go off. Just lightly dab it on with a brush or trickle some pigments on the surface.

Ok I went ahead and bought some ak stuff

other ways of fixing pigment which is a little more DIY is using thinned white glue (PVA) Ive experimented with it is the past and it works very well when trying to build up thick layers of mud, another safer way that i use all the time is either coating the area of the model with matt varnish and loading the brush with pigment and dusting it, or if your looking for thick mud, mixing pigment and varnish into a paste works very well


hope some of this helps



Shane

Personally I just use White Spirit, nothing special. Just ensure and double make sure, you have a VERY good coat of gloss varnish on your model before you use it! Otherwise you'll end up with stains that cannot be removed.

can I just use gloss coat and put the powder on that then put on dullcote later?

I have the Mig pigment fixer and it just smells like white spirit to me! Don't forget you can also spray these fixers on with much better results

Dullcoat works, I just tried it.

I tend to stick to the brand of Fixer that matches... the pigment I use when It comes to Fixer ! just to play safe !

of course.... getting Pigments to ""adhere"" to a model is easy using White Spirit or Turpentine
when the Model is protected with Klear or Future floor polish ! as a Barrier !
after Wetting the model and sprinkling pigments where required ! and you have let it dry !!!

The beauty of This technique is that it will enable you to brush off the Excess pigments easily ! it is not FIXED permanently!!!! to the model but rather
affixed temporarily !

The AK interactive Fixer is Enamel Based ( yes ) and smells like their other Enamel products... I suspect it is a re-bottled "Enamel Dull coat" ! (purely speculative)
This product is applied after a pigment has been "set in place".... i.e. with turpentine ! and will permanently glue in your pigments and give it a DULL appearance...
and works really well ! and won't change its appearance too much... and will retain some of its Grittyness !

Take care and happy modeling

Norm.

Using a wet fixer on a dry dusty finish kills it for me, so I prefer to use a very light mist of spray varnish. For wet applications decalfix works great, plus you can reactivate it with water to remove it if you like

Many roads lead to Rome.... I am sure there is a technique for us all!

Always nice to hear a new one! Thanks!