Dirty White ???

[takeslousyphotos]

Hi All,

I'm looking for some advice with regard to paint mixng / spraying. I'm after a dirty white flat finish on an aircraft. I'm really not sure how to achieve it. Should I mix a colour into the white (maybe yellow or khaki or somesuch) or spray it white and a dirty effect over that....???? Also what colour shouls I use for a preshade ????

Any ideas here would be welcome.

Peter

[Guest]

I guess that generally, a dirty white surface consists of two layers: the background layer and the dirt. The background started as white but faded or whatever, probably appearing as though it now has a very little grey and yellow added, fairly uniformly except at edges and where the surface level changes and you could airbrush there with a slightly different darker colour in a fine spray. That approach might give you a base. Dirt seems to me to be mainly greyish: dust, scuffing, etc. plus oil stains etc. This dirt is usually in patches with fuzzy edges, and different shades here and there. Dirt seems to collect at edges, ridges and sunken areas. I guess that the dirt could be best done with a wash (I think there are one or two designed for that). Perhaps in streaks to show the effect of airflow over the plane. This sort of thing needs a lot of artistic skill to be convincing and not everyone has that, me included. Experimentation is needed, and looking at dirty surfaces. (This is how I would approach it.)

[Ian M]

I would probably use a greyishgreen for the preshade and bring out the highlights with a white. Then spray with normal white. Maybe with a single drop of greyish yellow.

Once all dry and hardened off, give it an all over wash with paynes grey oil paint. When that has dried, rub off gently front to back as the air would flow. This would sort out panel lines and any raised points would get a "tail" of grime in the lee side.

Ian M