Masking camouflage ?

[Guest]

Hi All

A new returnee to the hobby, whilst at the same time attempting airbrushing. What's the best method for masking camouflage, I've always painted camouflage freehand before using a normal hand held brush, but now as I'm trying out airbrushing, I'm not sure what the best way to mask camouflage is?

Thanks

Tony

[AlanG]

I use masking tape/newspaper and blue-tak

[Guest]

Tony I placed this piece below a few months ago & perhaps this may help. I have now used it a number of times & found it makes things a lot easier & also protects the finishes already applied.

Laurie

The camouflage part of the paint scheme on aircraft I have found very frustrating. On my sixth model now & on the third, fourth & fifth devised a method, using some of the techniques garnered in my fifty years of architecture (I knew the training would come in useful at some point).

Really it is for those who use blue tack (actually I have found white tack better as it does not leave a grease type mark). So just my thoughts using White Tack. Seems White tack is used to provide that very haze line. Some like the line hard which I find unreal on a model as it brings attention to the hard line. A slightly ghosting of the line to me is more realistic & pleasing. But those are, using that horrible word, subjective.

However found with this medium, with experiment, that depending on the thickness of the roll, the way you apply bluetack & the method you go about spraying you can get very fine lines or a fading line which would satisfy all except the very hard liners, no pun.

So my suggested method eliminates trying to manipulate whitetack by eye, putting pencil lines on the model paintwork & all the grease from fingers. Sticking tape all over the model surface. Knocking the model about as you manipulate it into position & pulling whitetack off the model where the pattern has gone astray. Also much quicker I would say about half the time. You also get absolute accuracy with the camouflage pattern.

First a summary of the method. This is after the base or main coat of the camouflage has been applied.

1. Scan the plan & elevations from the instructions & resize graphic to the exact size of the model & print.
   
2. Example to start for a wing. On tracing paper trace the wing & lines of the camouflage from the resized plan. Do not cut tracing paper
   
3. Turn upside down & apply very lightly blue tack to the lines of the camouflage.
   
4. Lay tracing paper over the wing with white tack under.
   
5. Carefully press white tack to the plastic wing.
   
6. Gently peel the tracing paper back.
   
7. Manipulate white tack as required for haze of line.
   
8. To mask the base colour. Cut out from the tracing paper the parts of the wing to be masked undercutting from the edge by half the width of the white tack.
   
9. Place the cut templates on the white tack & gently press to attach.
   
10. For double protection tape over the joint between blue tack & tracing paper.
    
11. Air brush.
    

Result no tape on the plastic of the model

I have honed the method over a couple of models & give below a more detailed piece. If you do try this method & find improved ways please let me know.

In detail.

A. So first of all scan your plans & elevations of the aircraft. Measure the length of the model & stretch the plans to give that proportion. Print the plans to that scale. Any desk top programme has the facilities for scaling up. Watch the plans as some manufacturers have different scales for plan & elevations.

B. Using thin tracing paper 80gm or 60gm if you can get it. Most art shops, W H Smiths etc do A4 packets. Trace as a start a wing with say an HB pencil which gives a good distinct line. Cut tracing neatly along the wing root to give a guide to lining up. No need to cut any other part of the tracing paper. Shade a border on the side of the line where the bluetack is to be attached makes it easier to distinguish.

c. Turn the tracing upside down & temporarily fix down on your desk. No need to cut out the wing shape. Apply the white tack rolls very gently just enough to catch hold of the tracing paper. Allow an over hang of 10mm of the whitetack roll at the edges to give sufficient turn under the wing.

d. Lay & line up the tracing over the wing, whitetack underneath. Turn the overhanging edges of the whitetack under the wing. Gently press whitetack directly onto the wing & carefully roll the tracing paper from the whitetack along the general length of the whitetack not across. Then manipulate the whitetack as required.

e. Cut out from the tracing the templates of the areas to be masked. Cut these slightly smaller than the actual full size. Lay the template on the whitetack & press to form a bond. For peace of mind to ensure there is no paint creep I then tape the joint between the blue tack & tracing paper. Tape tracing paper to the masking tape on the underside of the wing.

Fusalage. Bit more intricate. May have to carry this out in two or three stages to make it easier & more practical due to receding size of the fusalage. Front first then rear part.

1. Draw a centre line on the tracing paper.

2. Fold over the fuselage with centre line on the top centre of the fuselage. Trace on the line between the underside paint & top side

1. Back to the plan & trace on the camouflage.
   
2. Now the elevations (sometimes called sections but they are not) Place the line drawn in 2 above at the bottom of the elevation & then trace on the lines of the camouflage.
   

The plan & elevation overlap. The reason for lining up for the elevations on the border line as mentioned in two above.

1. Proceed in the same way as the wings.
   

Found that some of the camouflage lines on the elevation & top are not well defined by the manufacturers & do not meet correctly but it is easy to amend on the tracing before getting near the tracing paper or model with whitetack.

Apologies if it sounds complicated in words but works well in practice & keeps your model ‘s paintwork pristine & you get accurate camouflage patterns.

Laurie

[Guest]

Hi

Thanks for that, looks like I have to and get some supplies, and give it a whirl

Cheers

Tony

[BarryW]

I use white tac bit find it a lot easier to cut thin strips of it (about 1/8th inch for 1/32 or half that for 1/48 scale) then roll it until it is about half as thivk, round and twice as long. Apply it in the right pattern and then with a mix of tissue and masking tape mask 'inside'.

When spraying, I do it about 15psi and have only a slight but consistent angle of spraying applying in thin coats.

It works for me....

[stona]

It also depends what you are camouflaging!

Some camouflage has a hard demarcation between colours,particularly in scale,whereas other were softer.

You can adjust the height of your masks to alter the edge or,ultimately,spray freehand.

A picture is worth a thousand words!

Here's a Hurricane,hard edge,sprayed with Blu-Tac and masks very close to the surface. There were strict rules about the demarcations on British aircraft and,whilst contentious,it is probable that masking mats were used when these aircraft were sprayed.

Here's a Messerschmitt sprayed freehand. The RLM/Luftwaffe seem to have been less concerned and many schemes have a very soft demarcation. The only part of this aircraft which was masked are the blotches on the fin. A sub-assembly probably painted by unskilled labour.

Camouflage is a huge topic,hopefully we've wet your appetite!

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

what do you do when it comes to upper wing lufwaffe markings? they seem quite "sharp" edged in photos.

[Guest]

I like to use silly putty as it does'nt have a lot of tack strength ,less chance of pulling up the base color.

[stona]

what do you do when it comes to upper wing lufwaffe markings? they seem quite "sharp" edged in photos.

Hi Wayne, The markings varied by type and time. The early "splinter" scheme seen on fighters and bombers was sprayed with a very tight demarcation and certainly in scale would be a hard edge. As time went by the demarcations became much looser,even diffuse.

I'll try and show this using examples of one type,the Bf109,giving a very simplified over view of the evolution of the schemes.The same applied to other fighters. Bombers and transports retained the "two greens" splinter scheme virtually throughout the war.

Here are the two early schemes. The "two greens" (RLM 70 and 71) and the one that succeeded it (RLM 71 and 02)

You can see that these splinter schemes are composed of straight line demarcations and are quite tight. I don't believe that they were masked in the factory,there is no evidence for that. These demarcations are easily within the ability of a skilled painter spraying free hand and early in the war such people were still available to the manufacturers. On a model,in scale,they will appear as a hard edge and I usually mask them as such with tape.

Next we move on to the mid war "two greys" scheme (RLM 74 and 75)

You will notice that the straight lines have gone and the demarcation is more diffuse. This is typical of this period. To represent this on a model I will spray freehand but raised masks are another option,particularly in a smaller scale.

Finally we're off to Australia! The AWM has the only Bf109 in the world which still carries its war time paint job. It is a late war aircraft and was repainted at a sub-contractor's repair depot after an accident.

I suspect skilled sprayers were hard to find by now. This can easily be sprayed free hand.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

unskilled sprayers? i can do that LOL thanks