Here is some weathering tips I posted in another forum when I was building an Airfix Spitfire Mk. XII. I hope they might be useful to you!I am a lazy modeler. I see the work that others do, and I really would like to achieve the same results. But I'm also somewhat impatient and a bit lazy with my modeling. I may get all into filling seams on one model, and ignore it on another. Or I may go all out detailing a cockpit, and then on the same model completely ignore weathering the undersides at all just because I am bored with it. (I've even left off decals on the undersides.)
So my techniques are "quick" and a bit lazy. I don't model for contests at all. (I simply don't enter them. That's for another post....
I basically do things purely for fun.
And I
do not model for realism. Again, it's all for fun. If it's fun on one build to try and be realistic, I do. But often I just see what I can do and simply enjoy the journey.
So anyway, with those caveats, I'm going to document how I weather aircraft at Roy's request, and a few others. I'll post it as I go along in this build.
Again- this is "my" method. Mostly ripped off from others, minimized and/or simplified where I feel it's needed. And then I may or may not do all of these steps on any build. (I might not do any of them, sometimes...)
But I'll throw all of them in this build, just for fun. We'll see how it turns out. ;D
OK- so I started out with shooting just straight colors- no lightening or darkening. Right out of the bottle with some thinning. All of this is done with my Badger 105 patriot, and I shoot at 8-12 psi.
Step 1- The CanvasHere is the Airfix Mk. XII I'm working on. It's painted in Pollyscale Azure Blue undersides, and Pollyscale RAAF Foilage Green and Vallejo Model Air Earth on the uppers. The wing leading edges and tail surfaces are Tamiya Flat White.
Step 2- The FadeI prefer to post-shade rather than pre-shade. I just find it easier. Like I said earlier... I don't worry about realism, so I don't even get into the debate of "to shade or not to shade." I like the
style that this technique results in. I always keep in mind that I'm a middle-aged man with a paunch and slightly thinning hair who who gets up once or twice a night to pee. And I play with plastic model toys. ;D
Anyway, I put two or three drops of Tamiya Flat White in the color cup, and then fill it halfway up with 91% alcohol, and mix it up. Then I shoot about half of it out. Why? To make sure I blow through all the thicker stuff. I want very, very thin paint.
Then I basically start filling in between panel lines. I can't really see any color as I shoot, just a small gloss spot where the alcohol hits and is wet for just a second. I just keep filling in and filling in all over, every now and then checking my work. I try to get to the point where it's just a bit obvious, as later weathering will tone it down a bit. It takes some experimenting if you haven't done it. (Side note: I think the fact that I build 20 kits a year has really helped me because it gives me lots of chance for experimenting.) And I don't try to fully fill things in. I just sort of dodge around and make swirls and so forth. I don't even let off the trigger, I just jump from panel to panel.
So it ends up looking like this:
Step 3- The LinesNext up are the panel lines. Some folks like to use dark gray, or a mix of Tamiya Smoke and NATO Black. I prefer Tamiya Flat Black. I want to see my post-shading. Again- that's the style I prefer, so adjust to your tastes.
I put three or four drops in the cup, and then fill it halfway again with 91% alcohol. Again, I blow through half of the color, and then test it on a test surface. If it's a bit too dark, I add more alcohol, and repeat the procedure.
I start by getting just the lightest flow going, and fill in the panel lines. At 8-12psi, with paint this thin, you can get a panel line sized pattern, so I just keep it real tight. I get right down on it- probably a half an inch or closer. Again- experimenting will yield great results. And I just do an entire section in one "pass". Basically, when I get the paint flowing right, I just start tracing the panel lines, almost like I'm driving around them. Up one, back down the other, across to this one. It will take 4 or 5 passes before you can see color built up. I like it to be rather apparent, so it takes a while.
After I've done the entire aircraft, I go back and redo any areas that appear too light.
I then go over them again, but this time from 1-2 inches away, going for a lighter look. This helps "soften" things up.
Here is the result:
Some notes:
- If I do the undersides, I may use a lighter color than flat black for the panel lines. On this one, I used Tamiya German Gray.
- I generally fill in areas around the control surfaces, and major panel lines, a bit heavier. Also, areas that may have oil staining will get some additional coverage, as that will play into later weathering.
On to
Step 4- Playing with Oils!
This next part is something I often use independent of the above methods. In fact, I generally don't combine them simply because I don't want to take the time. But I figure it would be neat to see how it turns out.
The tools for this exercise are some artists oils in white and raw umber, a bit of odorless turpenoid (not the "green kind!), a toothpick or two, and some wide brushes, about 1/4 inch wide, and somewhat stiff..
Here you can see the wing before any oils are added. (The bright flecks are shiny spots from brushing off the wing with a paper towel- they only showed up in camera.)
I mixed up a dab of white, and a dot (literally) of raw umber in a small cup, with some turpenoid, to get a dirty looking wash.
Next, I dip the tip of the 1/4 brush into this, just enough to soak some up, and I start bouncing it up and down around the wing until the whole thing is covered. it should not be soupy.... just moist. If it's too wet, just dab the brush on a paper towel until it dries up a bit. When I'm done, it leaves a fairly distinct layer of blotchy white. This photo does not show how prominent it is, but you can sort of see it.
Once that dries- just 5 or so minutes will do, I take a clean brush similar to the one just used, and I dab it around as needed to tone down the effect. (Or, if needed, you can add more of the wash to increase the effect.) it's really cool because you can control the degree of "dirt" easily. if it's too much altogether, just rub it off with a bit of turpenoid.
Step 5: Shine, shine, shine!I like to add some paint chipping. Because this bird is getting dirtied up pretty well, I'll go heavy on it. I use Tamiya Flat Aluminum (XF-16), a Prismacolor Silver oil pencil, and the same brush from step 4.
i start by getting some XF-16 on the brush tip, and dabbing it on to a paper towel until most of the paint is gone. Then I "bounce" it up and down wherever I want paint to look chipped, building it up as I go. I like this method because it "layers" the wear fairly nicely, and will stand up when later steps may tone down the effect.
I then go behind that with a Prismacolor Silver pencil to add scuffs and so forth in smaller areas.
I ended up with this:
When that's all done, you get this:
It looks a bit heavy, but later steps- especially the Future and Flat Coat will blend it a bit. And the oils are forgiving enough that if you want to tone it down a bit more at this point, you can.
