Lifecolor have released two new sets of liquid weathering pigments:
LP02 - Rust Wizard
LP03 - Rain And Dust Makeup

Both sets arrive in typical Lifcolor fashion with 6 x 22ml plastic pots with screw-on lids packed in an attractive cardboard box. The back of the box carries bi-lingual Italian/English instructions. Each set comprises 5 x pigments along with a jar pot of Remover with which to manipulate the pigments after they've dried.

LP02 - Rust Wizard contains the following:
LPW 06 - Deep Rust
LPW 07 - Eroding Light Rust
LPW 08 - Eroding Dark Rust
LPW 09 - Orange Marks
LPW 10 - Yellow Marks
RE Remover

LP03 - Rain And Dust Makeup consists of:
LPW 11 - Rain Marks
LPW 12 - Road Dust
LPW 13 - Light Earth
LPW 14 - Dark Rust
LPW 15 - Soot
RE Remover

The pigments are very finely ground and held in a thin acrylic solution that can be applied by brush or airbrush straight from the pot. I used the Rust Wizard set for my tests and found both methods work very well; the colours have good density (obviously stronger where they form pools) and dry quite quickly even on a cold winter's day. I found no tendency to clog the airbrush and clean-up afterwards was quick and easy.

The results of the two methods of application were quite different, as one would expect: hand brushed, the pigments gave a hard edge with a tendency to leave "tide marks" as they dried, while the airbrush gave a soft edged finish. Of course, you could also achieve a soft edge with a brush using water or Remover, but the object of this exercise was to see how well the latter worked on full-dried pigments.

Coming back to the test samples after leaving them for a day in my paint drier, I applied some of the Remover with both a brush and a cotton swab. It definitely works, gently softening edges and knocking back areas to reveal more of the background colour. It's possible to form streaks and burnish away patches with no tendency for "tide marks" to reform as the liquid dries. I think the effect would be still more pronounced on wet or semi-dry pigments, and it should produce some excellent weathering effects with practice. Although not an intended use, the range of colours in the Rust set and the way they can be manipulated opens up some interesting possibilities for creating wood grain patterns.

Both sets cost £16.99 including VAT, while additional pots of pigment can be purchased for £3.40, with Remover available for £2.00.

Conclusion

Lifecolors new Liquid Pigments will be very useful for producing a range of weathering, highlighting and other effects. They are simple to apply and should give excellent results as you gain experience using them. The revelation for me was just how well they airbrushed straight from the jar, so I think Lifecolor would do well with a range of airbrush-ready camouflage paints mixed to the same formula.

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