Decoy paint question - Trying oils

Joe Dunleavy

Joe Dunleavy

Active member
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica] I'm going to try to paint my next decoys in oils instead of acrylics.
I've picked up some white, black and primer Rustoleum oil base paints.

I need to buy a few different tubes for the other paints.

Any brand recommendations?

Thanks,
JD
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Go to Dickblick.com...that's where I get my tube oils.....actually I get Alkyds since they don't take months to dry. I use Grumbacher pre tested oils and mix them in with Rustoleum to help drying too.
 
Joe, every body has different opinions, but as for Rustoleums, I am quite happy with the white, but find the black is too shinny and not as flat as I expected. Ace Hardware's flat black oil paint is much flatter. Just a suggestion. As far as tube oils go, I'm not picky, but then I am no artist...just a simple duck hunter.
 
burnt and raw umber, burnt and raw sienna, cad yellow, van dyck brown, etc. from Ronan's in pint cans....get the SUPERFINE JAPAN COLORS, they have drier in them and it will shorten the normally long drying time of oils....you can then use tube oils in those colors to make those base colors richer. Ronan's are nice because they are so thick that they really texture well. You can stipple it with a brush, texture it with a sponge and its thick enough so that it combs well. Good stuff. Persoanlly I also use theeir lampblack and flake white because ilo of the rustoleum.

Steve
 
Mike, some cans of rustoleum black seem flatter than others..don't know why. You are probably right on the tube oils..I've found the Grumbacher pre tested to have a heavy pigment load so it takes a lot less to do a lot more..hence...cheaper. I still like Alkyds though and need to order some.
 
More satin than gloss..after a day in the mud they are flat. Steve, I don't like Ronans...damn stuff went hard in the cans on me..they stink pretty bad and dry before the brush gets to the end of the stroke. They ARE flat though and I find if you don't mix a good amount of tubes into them, they will scuff badly.
 
W&N Griffon alkyd. I use dirty mineral spirits for a thinner on the tube stuff. I mix my color up then dip my brush in the thinner so it gets all the way up into the ferrule..then touch the end of the brush on a paper towel or rag slightly and roll it into the paint pile getting a small amount of paint on the brush..then off to the side ( I use white paper plates for a pallet) let the thinner in the brush thin the paint..if it's too thin get another daub of paint on the brush and add it to the thin pile. You have to experiment with it.
 
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they will dry up on you if you don't take care of them but I haven't found them to be any worse than any other oil paint...I buy them in the pints even though that a bit more expensive so that if I do have a can crust over I haven't lost much....

Drying time is extended here in the land of it nver gets hot so I haven't had the same quick drying that I've heard other people complain about....mixed with tube oils or a little boiled linseed oil and it will take longer to dry if heat is pushing it too fast...

I do't seem to have the scuffing problems with it either. I've heard that and when I started using it I sealed my birds with a quick coat of varnish tented with raw umber to age and protect it but quit doing that because it didn't seem to be needed....

Paints paint when it comes to smell...they all stink to me

You get my e-mail today?
Steve
 
I'm proud to report that I have failed it over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over myself and plan on failing it several times tomorrow as well....

Steve
 
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica] I'm going to try to paint my next decoys in oils instead of acrylics.
I've picked up some white, black and primer Rustoleum oil base paints.

I need to buy a few different tubes for the other paints.

Any brand recommendations?

Thanks,
JD
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JD,
If you want a true Flat Oil Based Enamel........give our FME (Flat Marine Enamel) a try. It was designed for decoys and boats and available in a bunch of colors and custom blends as well.
Give me a shout if you think I might be able to help.
Lou
www.lockstockbarrell.com
Paint info on website
 
For the last 20+ years I've been using Sign Painters "One Shot" Flat Oil Base paints on my decoys. It has stood up to heavy hunting use and is flat, really flat.Sign Painters use it for outside Signs that are always exposed to the weather.
But for my hunting scull boats I only use Lou's FME. It's Great! Bob H
 
There are two drying agents available for tube oils. Japan Drier is the most well known but I have found that it makes a gloss finish. The other, which I use, is Cobalt Drier. It will dry pure tube oil and thinner in short order. My wife Judy, the far better painter in the family, blends a lot of different colors as well as using Lou's FMEs, Rustoleum, and also Parker Paints.

Bill
 
Lee,
A tip on the Ronan's, store the cans upside down, with the lids tight. This prevents air from entering and keeps the paint good as new!
 
Jode, did that..I even took paint out of the can with a spoon to minimize open time..and put a smidge of thinner in on top of the paint..tried everything I could think of. I must have gotten bad batches or old product. I also didn't like the way that it would roll off one brush stroke with the next...seemed to dry on the deke while I dipped my brush for the next stroke. Maybe I wasn't doing something right.
 
as the paint is used drop marbles in the can to raise the level to almost full.....minimizes air in the can and also helps when you shake it up......whenever I remember to do it it works like a charm...I lose "some" paint over the winter every year, typically those cans that are less than a quarter full when I kind of sel the lid back into the paint encrusted grooves.....but there isn't an oil paint in the world that won't do that....

How hot is it when you have the rapid drying problem? Derek Z. told me he didn't like them for the same reason and when I asked that same question he told me "over a 100-no humifity"....he solved that problem by adding linseed oil to the mix.....

Steve
 
I'd say a mean temp of 70F..didn't seem to matter whether it was in the shop or the basement(cept the wife bitched about the smell). The marble thing sounds good..have to tag along with the grandson at school when marble season comes in and skunk a bunch of those young punks. Did she use littly's, biggy's or boulders..or biggy-boulders?
 
Lee that reminded me of of the marble wars back in grade school. I got in trouble for that, seems some kids don't think you can take away their marbles permantly. Even if you win them fair and square.

For keeping the paint from drying up put a little bit on lindseed oil on top, a dash of turpintine or just put water on top of the oil paint, and pour it out before you paint.

I have used TV dinner plates ( the plastic kind) for my palete and if your going to take a break for a few hours or days put water on top and the paint doesn't dry out.

I have never done the marble thing,but why not. Get you grandson a good steely and tell him go for it. He can be the marble king and make his grand father more proud. Hee hee
 
DiAnne teaches art and being more of a free thinker might have used a combination...wouldn't seem to mattr as long as the displacement is there....

Here's a hint though....when you've got more marbles than paint you better be sure that lid is on tight when you shake the can....the marbles do a great job of helping the paint mix but they'll also knock the lid off a can of paint in mid-shake....

You think the wife dis-likes the smell just wait till that splash of paint is across the water heater, the wall and the shoe rack, (where her thirty seven pairs of outside running shoes are kept).

Steve
 
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