Dry brushing?

[Guest]

Morning people,

Having never dry brushed anything before in my life (don't laugh) I think it's about time to take the next step to improve my models.

Are there any tips for ways of improving my technique without ruining models? What can I practice on? Which parts of 1/24 cars and 1/12 bikes should I be looking to drybrush? Obviously where I'd like to bring out detail, but can I do things as small as brake discs and calipers on 1/24th cars or will I be wasting my time?

Say for instance I'm doing a bike engine, painted in a base coat of aluminium, do I need to go lighter or darker with the dry brush colour?

Sorry if this is all second nature to you guys, but having never tried it, I don't wanna try it on my current project (Tamiya Honda RC211V Minolta) and ruin it.

Any advice will be much appreciated.

[Guest]

I practice on my hands! Sounds silly but I use my fingerprints to "clear" the brush of paint before applying the correct amount of paint to the model. Try it with a few colours and let them overlap a bit. An old model, or bits from your spares box are also good for practice.

I'm sure there's a tutorial around here somewhere on drybrushing.

[Guest]

as to where to dry brush and should you go lighter of darker then think about the item you are modelling....

eg for brake parts you may wish to go a bit darker to represent road grime and the build up of brake dust.... or maybe you have some footpegs on a motorbike that are painted in a dark colour, through wear and tear that painted surface has worn away exposing raw metal below, so i recommend going lighter here...

- study the item you are painting and go with your own research.... dry brush where it exists on the real item you are modelling, dont dry brush everywhere because you 'think' that the model needs it.... less is more !

also use dry brushing to pick out the places dirt and grime would build up, tyres, , panel joiints, also use it to apply a fine layer of say rust on an older / weathered model,

practice first, dont spoil a great model as you perfect your technique- it takes time but is well worth it- good luck

[Guest]

Most models I build, I like to build 'brand new' as if they have just rolled out of the workshop they were built in and ready to race, I'm not particulatly trying to achieve a weathered effect, more to enhance detail and make things look more realistic, particularly engine blocks and other metal parts, radiators, intercoolers, exhausts etc.

Although I've got a couple of unbuilt rally kits that I might go for the end of rally look.

Is it possible to produce a discolouration due to heat in say a titanium exhaust using just a brush or is it only achievable using an airbrush?

[Guest]

I only build planes, so I can't really help you with the specifics. However, I endorse what "new to trains"; it depends on whether the extremities of the part would be darker or lighter in real life.

On parts with deep recesses, you might also consider a "wash". I use a smear each of black and raw umber oil paint diluted in turps to give me a fluid that looks like thin coffee. You load your brush with a little and touch it to the recess; fluid seeps along the lines, giving a deeper shadow. Wait a hour or two and wipe any excess away with cotton bud or paper towel dipped in the thinner. Some people use water colours or even coffee or tea. You can dry brush on the same part after the wash has dried.

[Guest]

Howdy tamiya-Gaz,

Well, once again, i went back into my old postings to come up with a link for you on drybrushing. This site contains a section on useful tips and tricks along with alot of useful info on modeling.

http://www.craigcentral.com/models.asp but more specifically it contains a link to this 'tutorial":

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/tnt1/001-100/TnT087_Drybrushing_Bamford/TnT087.htm

The above link is a tutorial on drybrushing by Steve bamford, maybe it will help answer some of your questions.

The one extra tip i would give you is that when painting items like cockpit control panels, you might also want to place a small drop of clear fingernail polish over the dials after the paint has dried....it gives the appearance of a glass cover over the guages and dials

And hopefully you will glance over the first link above and look around for any other info that may be helpful to you.

Have a good day,

greg

[Guest]

Nice one! That tutorial is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for, gonna practice on a couple of old models I have lying round in boxes first, then have a serious think about where drybrushing will benefit my current build.

Cheers for the advice, will get some pics up soon of a couple of kits I've put together

[Guest]

Have a look at some of the models in the gallery, there are a few motorbikes in mine and I always use dry brushing on them.

As a general rule you should always think of a darker wash as this is developing the shadows and a lighter dry brushing as this is picking out highlights. Be carefull though not to use too big a differrence in the base colour and the dry brush colour as it will look odd. The idea is a subtle blend that will enhance the highlights without it being obviously done. For something like a bike engine I would use a metallic grey or gunmetal for the casinmgs and then dry brush with the same paint but with a small amount of silver added. If you use neat silver it will look too obvious.

Similarly if it is a painted object I would try to use the same colour as the base but with a spot of a lighter colour added for the dry brushing. Always have loads of tissue or kitchen roll handy and practise on scrap before committing. It is far better to start off with too little paint than too much and build up a bit of confidence.

I actually really enjoy dry brushing as you can see your model come to life before your eyes!

The two pictures are not the best examples but they have both been dry brushed around the engines.

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[Guest]

Nice! I had a quick experiment on the links for the chain, looks good, onwards and upwards.