Weathering First Time

[Guest]

Now into my tenth month of modeling , all aircraft of 2nd WW.

Finishing a 1/48 Mosquito. Put off the weathering thing until my construction skills have advanced to a better stage as I did not want to be tempted to hide the lack of skill behind weathering. I was going to build the PBY Catalina 1/48 next & wished to weather this one as it is large & after consideration felt it will look very stark without weathering.

Have been very impressed with the stuff appearing on this site. Less impressed with others seen elswhere either over cooking the thing or parts of models weatherd other bits pristine which looks so stupid.

Decided first I must have a go as something less ambitious to get hopefully the hang of weathering. I wanted to start with a 1/72 as I will not be to disappointed if it does not look so good while a 1/48 will as there is a lot more work involved.

Also thought a Tamiya WW11 as I have not worked on one which seems to be the tops. So your suggestions would be appreciated for a model which will only test my entry into weathering ie simple.

Also what to get in simple terms otherwise I will tend to go & buy, as is my still despite the years my youthful want, every weathering product in sight. Large ask but better to ask than fall into the abyss.

Laurie

[Guest]

Never done weathering but i understand that a lot of the washes are just highly thinned/diluted paint.

If you plan to drybrush then special dry-brush brushes are better as you dont want to ruin your good ones.

I think that for the aircraft you might want to pre-shade first. Not sure if you can still do that with brushing (you are a strickly brush only modeller, is that right?)

I want to start weathering soon and i think its a great idea to start it on a 1/72.

I shall stop rambling now hehe.

[Dave W]

Have a look on you tube at 'Promodeller'.You will find several video's explaining weathering techniques .The man doing the tutorials is Phil Flory.He makes the weathering washes featured.Just so happens John sells then in the shop.

[Guest]

One thing to keep in mind is that aircraft tend to get a bit more tender loving care than vehicles, so with the exception here and there the weathering should be rather light. Washes of color to create a dust coated look, some paint wear in areas that can be walked on, paint chipping around removable panels, maybe some fuel residue around the fuel caps, stuff like that. For washes the easiest paint to use are water based like Tamiya's acrylics, try out on an old kit or some sheet styrene to get a feel for it, but don't judge the results until its dry. Once dry you can rub some off or scribe some streaks or scratches in it for those areas that see activity...wing roots, around the engine covers that sort of thing. As Dave W said looking at some videos would be a great help.

Looking forward to seeing some of your work.

[Dave W]

The great thing about Florymodels washes is they are clay based.So if you overdo it or get it in the wrong place,you can wipe it off with a damp tissue.And no im not on any commision!!

[Guest]

I'm a complete novice myself mate but I bought some of Phil Florys Dark Dirt Wash a few weeks back and for a start into weathering I think it's great. You can put on as much or little as you like and being water based, if your not sure of the results they wash off completely. I believe you get a better finish on gloss coated surfaces as the wash can adhere more to matt.

For a lightly weathered look they are great at showing up panel lines and rivets.

[Guest]

Dry pastels are a good starting point as well and are easy to apply a little at a time for more control

[Guest]

I have to agtee with using chalk pastels to start with.They are cheap and very eazy to use.Scrape some dust off and mix a few drops of water in to form a slurry.Brush it into the pannellines (after an overall clear closs coat!)wait for it to dry and wipe off with a damp kitchen towl.

As for exhaust and gun stains I use the pastel dust on soft brush and carefully aply to a matt covered model, it will not take on gloss.

Theuns

[Guest]

Thanks blokes for all of that. Have a good box of pastels from trials at using my artistic capabilities (not good so now found another use for them) so will try those & the Flory method. Suspect that both will come in handy for different aspects.

Laurie