'Micro-painting' ultra small parts/details?

[shepard]

a toothpick does the job.... and a good wash on the edges and corners will take care of any missed spot....

 

shep

[Guest Peterpools]

Bri

I'mm 66 and seing all the small details is getting tougher and tougher. I still get the job done but it does take a bit longer:

#1 .. Highest magnification Optivisor I can buy.

#2 .. The best brushes available: Winsor Newton Series 7 Kolinsky brushes. They are the best and hold a perfect point. I find anything smaller then a 000, just doesn't hold enough paint.

#3 ..For dials and switches .. a toothpick

Peter

[ssculptor]

I have had some running of the lines when spraying a clear matt finish over lines draw with thin Sharpie felt tip pens.

Any suggestions? Should I go  back to the old India ink pens?

Thanks,

Stephen

[Iain]

I have an older version of these and use it all the time - best investment I made (after a decent airbrush) -especially as my near vision isn't what it used to be!

 

Agree on the comments about not getting too stressed about what faults you can see under magnification - it's what the eye sees without that's important - but the magnifiers help you get there! 

 

Stephen - in my experience all permanent types of marker can bleed - but I do use the sharpies a lot - fave tool for running around the edges of transparencies before fitting 

 

Iain

[ssculptor]

I have a device the jewelers use. I wear eye glasses. This device clips on the edge of the glass frame and has a lens on an arm that can be positioned in place in front of your eye. I can move it around a bit and get a pretty high magnification of the small detail. In reality my device has two enlarging lenses on flexible arms so I an get a much closer view.

I like the Behr Model 55 Double Loupe for Eyeglasses.

You can buy it here:

http://www.behrloupes.com/

Take a look at it. You find it by scrolling down a bit.

I got mine at a jeweler many years ago and found it quite useful. It is such an important tool to me that I can find it immediately, without having to look all over the place for it.

Other models by other manufactures can be found that are slightly different. The advantage over a loupe that fits into one's eye is that it is less fatiguing to one's eye socket and it is easy to swing out of the way when not needed.

Also it is quite portable unlike a large lens attached to a light fixture.

Take a look.

Enjoy,

Stephen

Edited February 22, 2014 by ssculptor

[happy1]

I got my visor optic on eBay for about $10.00 bucks with fuur lens don't know what I'd do without it.

 

Paul

[Heavens Eagle]

There are a lot of great suggestions here, and I will try to do some sumarization to tie it together.

 

First off, being able to see what you are working on is very important. I have had an Optivisor for about 25 years and just can't do without it. It has the #4 lens and gives decent magnification with depth perception and reasonable depth of field. (distance from the work to your nose) The higher the magnification, the closer to your nose the work has to be. The problem with jewelers/watchmaker loupes is that they haven't enough depth of field to get the tools in there to do the work. I use loupes and work on watches for a living and there are times when my shnoz is just in the way.

 

Once you can see, it is time to pick out some good paint brushes. What you want in a brush for painting detail is not neccessarily tiny, but "POINTY". I have bought many brushes over the years that were pointy in the store, but once paint, thinner, and brush cleaner hit the bristles, the tip would curl. Once that happens, the brush is junk for detail work. Use it for other things. The best brushes I have worked with have been the new brushes that Games Workshop carries, specifically the size 0 and 1 brushes. While they are a bit large, they have perfect points, hold enough paint to actually paint with, draw super fine detail lines, and still have a perfect "no curl" pointy tip after numerous uses. Worth the money!

 

Finally, the paints I like the best for detail painting are the Vallejo acylics. I have used Polly-S, and Games Workshop paints, but like the Vallejo paints better. The trick to getting good results with the acrylics is to use a WET PALLET.

 

A wet pallet is basically a sponge that is soppin, super soggy full of water, wet, with a piece of parchment or vellum on top. The vellum is kept wet from the water underneath and you place a drop of paint on top. From there it works pretty much like a regular pallet for mixing and thinning ACRYLIC paints. The benefit is that the paint on the pallet doesn't dry out during your paint session.

 

Hope this helps!

[LSP_Kevin]

The wet palette idea sounds great Paul! Is it something you buy or do you have to rig it up yourself?

 

Kev

[Heavens Eagle]

There are some wet pallets available to buy, I know as my local hobby shop carries some when they can get them.  My first one was one I made from a  ziplock type sandwich box, some grey packing foam (about 1/2 inch thick) and some vellum I bought at Office Depot.

 

Basically any low side plastic box under 2 inches (5cm) that will hold water, a closed cell type sponge that doesn't have large holes and any type of vellum drawing paper or parchment will work.  I have even heard that wax paper will work.  Then it helps if it can be a container that can be closed.  I have even had paint somewhat useable the next day.  Dyes and inks in the paint will leach out into the sponge over time so the colors would change, but it isn't an issue unless it is over several days.  The wet pallet is usually good through a day long paint session without any problem. 

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks for the info Paul. I have to confess though that I have no idea what vellum is!

 

Kev

[Heavens Eagle]

Ahh! OK,  I sometimes forget that folks don't have a lot of my experiences.

 

Vellum is a white, somewhat translucent smooth finish paper that was used for drafting.  The translucency made it so that contact blueprints could be made through it.  While not used to the extent it used to be (computers) it is still a great paper for drawing and doing all kinds of things.  At the office supply stores I can still find pads of 8 1/2 x 11 and 11 x 17 sized sheets of it.

 

Computers and large format printers kind of did in the old smelly blueprint machines.  That process used ammonia to develop the blueprints once exposed.

 

There is also some paper that is basically the same thing but thinner that is called tracing paper.

 

Supposedly wax paper will work too, but I have not tried it.

 

Hope this helps!  Have a great weekend!  

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks for the explanation Dan - I might just have to give it a go!

 

Kev

[dodgem37]

I store my enamels upside-down and in so doing the pigment settles into the cap.  When it's time to detail paint, and after I open the bottle, I put a drop of thinner in the cap and use the cap as a mixing bowl.

 

Within this drop of thinner I can mix any consistency I need, from the very thin, which is dipping the brush into the paint-tinted center, to developing a denser mix along the periphery.

 

Sincerely,

Mark