Weathering and Distressing

[Guest]

Entered this field of model making with my last model. I in some ways made it up as I went along on the Swordfish.

Seen various articles etc & as Josh has mentioned in another article today regarding Magazines I decided to ask where is the best place to get a good grounding in the art of weathering & Distressing.

I am not in love with the pre weathering I prefer the post type. Need this for aircraft and also my next few models entering the world of military ground hardware. Warrior Jackal & Landrovers in Afganistan.

It is the techniques that I am really after and not how to carry out this work on each vehicle etc although this would be handy.

Laurie

[Guest]

I also think it would make more sense to paint and build the kit in its entirety first, and then apply weathering and stains.

Just like what happens to real aircraft, as they don't roll off the assembly line with dirt already on them!

My problem is that I don't like spoiling my paint jobs sometimes. And it's easy for me to go too far...

[PaulTRose]

check out ScaleModelMedic on youtube,.....same guy that now does all of Humbrols youtube vid,.........ive found his vids very informative and easy to follow

like you i dont bother with preshading, tried many times never got it to work properly

[eddiesolo]

I have tried 'chipping' techniques-this is where you paint the model in a pre-shade, I.E steel or red-oxide, then once dry it is coated in a laquer to protect it, once this is dry a covering of 'hair-spray' is added, once dry your top coat is added, once this is dry you then add water to your top coat, this dissolves the hairspray and the original base colour shows through. I found it tricky and too much faffing for me. Another method to use 4/0 brush this is used in a 'tapping' motion, useful for around bumpers, hatch areas etc. Also a dragging technique can be achieved by using a piece of sponge this can create a 'scratch' pattern. The there is using the dry-brushing technique of getting a small amount of paint on your brush and dabbing off until the paint is nearly dry then apply in side ways, or downward strokes this is handy for edge wear around doors hatches etc.

Si

[BarryW]

I spotted this thread over the holiday period and thought I would explain my methods when I get access to my pc rather than just the Blackberry I had with me.......

These methods have been put together based on what I have gleaned from a number of sites but the most influential was the Flory site.

It should be noted that I have been doing this on 1:32 WW2 aircraft where it works really well. I am planning to have a go on a small Airfix 1:72 Hawker Typhoon when my current build is finished within a couple of weeks. The Tiffy is in my stash waiting and will be a little 'light relief; before I get on with the Special Hobby Fiat G50bis.

We have to remember that we are trying to fool the eye into thinking it is looking at a full scale aircraft. Just look at a full size aircraft and the play of light and shade over the surface. Even if it is painted a uniform colour it does not look uniform all over. In a small scale model this play of light just does not work so we have to create this illusion before we can actually do any real weathering or distressing. Without allowing for this any model will just look, well, like a model or toy. We also have to allow for 'scale effect' as well, as the exact shade of the original looks too dark on a model. My methods allow for all of this.

I will describe the process I use on the exterior of a model.

First a list of materials:

H&S Airbrush - 0.4mm needle with primer and varnishes, 0.2mm and 0.4mm needles with paint

Vallejo Primers (I have black, grey, bronze green and white - each has its uses)

Vallejo Model Air paint - I also use some Vallejo Model Colour with the hairy stick for detail

Gunze buffable metallics - I find these far better than Vallejo metallics.

Vallejo pigments - Iron Oxide and Smoke Black

Pastel chalks (various, a full range of 'earthy' colours used as pigments, ground up)

Oil paint - Burnt Umber (thinned heavily for interior washes and straight from the tube for oil staining)

Indian Ink - (thinned heavily for interior washes)

Flory Washes for exterior, Dark Dirt and Black.

Prismatic Silver Pencil

MicroSol and Microset for decals

White tac

Tamiya or similar masking tape

Flory polishing sponge

I had an error message due to the length of this post so I am splitting it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stage one next post......

[BarryW]

Continued from above.......................

---

Stage 1 - wash/wipe the model all over with ipa. It is essential to get rid of mold grease and finger grease from the surface or it can compromise the finish and cause paint to come away with masking tape.

Stage 2 - I spray Black primer. I build it up in thin coats, unthinned with the 0.4mm needle at about 30 psi. Please note that the only place I do not use primer is on transparencies.

- leave 24 hours to cure

Stage 3 - check for imperfections and deal with them, fill/sand as needed and 're-prime' affected areas.

- leave 24 hours to cure

Stage 4 - spray into the centre of panels Grey primer and in particular areas that will catch the light, round surfaces like the top of the engine cover or aircraft nose. The appearance will be a bit of a patchwork, this is the first stage in dealing with the play of light on the surface and scale effect. This does not have to be all neat, tidy and even, indeed it is far better if it is not an even colour or tidy at all. If you will be using a yellow or white as a base colour, where you use these you might want to do a thin overspray of the grey to reduce the contrast between the black and grey areas because these colours are known for poor coverage - do not overdo it though as we still need some colour modulation/shading in these areas.

- leave 24 hours to cure

Stage 5 - spray your lightest base colour. It might be the aforesaid yellow or white or the underside camoflage colour. Important, build up in very light coats and stop before you get full coverage and when you still think there is more contrast between the pre-shaded grey and black than you want. Dry it down with just air from the airbrush. I do not mask this colour, I just make sure all the area it is needed are covered and don't worry about overspray into other places at this stage.

Now mix some white into your base colour. For a 32 scale aircraft I mix in about 20% white. This will make the colour lighter than I want the result to be, this is intentional. For small scales you might want to increase the amount of white. Just do not worry about it looking too light at this stage. With Model Air I add about 20% thinner as well and spray at a low pressure of about 20 psi (about 25-30 psi where I do not thin the Model Air). Spray this into the centre of panels and onto raise/round areas that will catch the light (as you did with preshading). The result will be an appearance that will be a lighter base colour than you want with more of a contrast between the centre and edges of panels than you want.

Clean the airbrush and reload with the base colour. You now need to thin this base colour by 50% (where you use Model Air). You need a very thin paint as this will be a 'filter'. You now 'mist' this onto the model in very thin coats at about 15-20psi. After every coat switch to air only and dry down the model and check the shading. Remember the paint finish will look different wet than dry and it is important to dry it down to get an idea of how the colour is building. You will find with each coat the darker areas will lighten and the lighter areas will darken reducing the contrast. You keep doing this until you get the subtle effects you want. Overall you will want to appearance to be lighter than the base colour to allow for scale effect with lighter and darker areas to replicate the 'play of light' accross the surface. In some cases you might want a less or more subtle effect for instance to replicate additional sun bleaching on a machine used in the desert. The important thing here is that you can to a very large extent control the level of contrast between different areas of the aircraft.

- leave 24 hours to cure

Stage 6 - mask up ready to apply the next darker colour. I use white tac snakes mostly applying them along the border of the colour infilled with Tammy tape to protect what you want to keep and the colour just painted. Check carefully looking at where any overspray may happen and make sure you mask those areas.

Repeat Stage 5 over all of the exposed model.

- leave 24 hours to cure

Stage 6 - if necessary, mask up again to apply the next camo colour, do not remove previous masking This might be for the darkest colour in a 3 tone scheme. When masked I apply some black preshading along panel lines. This is because too much of the contrast will have been lost by previous paintwork in these areas. I then apply the next colour as per Stage 5, the full process again.

You might have to repeat again as needed, some aircraft will have 4 or even 5 different colours to deal with.

Stage 7 - assuming all you base colours are applied. Carefully remove all masking (except, of course, that covering internal detail such as canopy and wheel wells) then remask if needed to apply mottle and/or touch-up and paint in any details as needed. For small details I use a hairy stick but for touching up on airbrushed paint I apply some 'localised' masking then airbrush to touch up. If you use a hairy stick for touching up on an airbrushed paint job it really shows. I want a perfect paint job before weathering it!! Do not forget to mix a little white into the base colour and thin it or the touched up area can look too dark - some experimentation is needed with this.

- leave 24 hours to cure

Stage 8 - Apply a gloss coat as a surface for decalling. Varnish as always needs to be applied in light thin coats. I always thin the Vallejo varnish with about 15-20% Vallejo thinner. You might want to use a very fine sanding sponge (a polishing sponge would be ideal) and run it over the model before varnishing. I wipe over the model with a damp (not wet) cloth to get any dust off it before applying the varnish.

- leave 24 hours to cure

Stage 9 - Decal time - use solutions to make sure the decal conforms to detail. Don't be afraid to cut the decal to help it. Check for silvering and deal with it (pricking and then more decal softening solution.)

- leave 24 hours to cure

Stage 10 - wash of any excess decal solution. Do this carefully with a damp lint-free cloth. It must not be wet. I use the airbrush, air only, to make sure this is dried down then I apply a sealing coat of gloss varnish.

Varnish as always needs to be applied in light thin coats. I always thin the Vallejo varnish with about 15-20% Vallejo thinner

Stage 11 next post...

[BarryW]

Next installment...

Stage 11 - This is when I apply a surface wash. Having dealt with colour modulation, scale effect and the play of light, we need to get away from the freshly painted look and start making the model look like a miniature of the real thing. A wash deposits a thin layer of 'dirt' over the aircraft and you can leave a thicker deposit in places where dirt with gather and show. For this I like to have a controllable process as I do not like to overdo things. This is why I use the Flory clay based wash. I use a wide large brush to apply it over all the aircraft making sure it gets into detail and panel lines. I leave it to dry for a couple of hours or overnight and then start removing the surplus. For this I use an old hankerchief wrapped around my finger wetted with saliva (you can use a pot of water!). The wetter it is the more wash you remove. I use a circular movement to wipe the wash off in small sections, finishing always with a wipe in the direction of the airflow. Make sure the wash gathers in the panel lines and other areas where it would happen. You can use a cotton bud in areas hard to reach with a finger.

Remember - in weathering there is a 'scale effect' too and less is often more. This goes for every stage of weathering. I have seen many models where the weathering effects look overdone and the aircraft is just too dirty. It is worth remembering that pilots and aircrew have their own share of vanity wanting to keep their aircraft reasonably clean even in a high tempo of operations. This is specially true if the aircraft belongs to the squadron leader or an ace.... Consider also where the aircraft is being operated. Is it off a concrete strip? A desert airfield? A muddy jungle clearing? In wet, dry, or sunny conditions. All of these factors will have a bearing on how much you will want to weather the aircraft. In some conditions despite the best efforts of the ground crew they will not be able to keep a clean aircraft. Always though I recommend, as I said, less is more. Better not to overdo it.

Stage 12 - Once you are happy with the wash you will need to seal it. I use a matt coat. Again I thin Vallejo Matt varnish 15-20% and apply a single all over thin coat at this stage.

- leave 24 hours to cure

Stage 13 - Now is the time to apply some more targeted weathering effects

- paint chipping. Refer to your references. Around hatches and where crew clamber onto the aircraft are all targets for this. Use a fine pointed brush with a silver or aluminium paint in some places, be careful placing your chipping carefully. The silver pencil should also be used in places to compliment the brushwork.

- gun burn and exhaust smoke marks. I use pigment or ground pastels for this. Look at your references as you need to take account of airflow and some quite strange patterns can arise. I brush on the pigments with a dry brush for which a matted surface is needed for the pigment to take to. Blow off excess.

- Oil streaks and leaks. Again use references. I use oil paint for this. A tiny amount on the end of a cocktail stick dabbed by a filler cap, for instance, then a cotton bud swiped over it in the direction of the airflow is a favourite of mine. Mostly I use burnt umber and black oil paint.

Stage 14 - Apply a final coat of matt varnish to seal the weathering and ensure an even matt finish all over the model. This will help blend all the effects into the model as well and two coats might be necessary.

- leave 24 hours to cure

Stage 15 - You will have a nicely weathered model with an even matt 'sheen' but it still wont look right....It will lack some depth as real aircraft do not have that even sheen.... So we need to give it depth.

Firstly I get out the silver pencil again. I will use this sparingly around the areas where you have applied chipping effects. This will add a 'freshly chipped' to parts of the chipping and will give a slightly different level of sheen to the rest of the model. Do not overdo it.

Then I use Satin Varnish - thinned about 40% in the airbrush. Again this needs to be done very sparingly with a thin coat sprayed only in areas of the model that will catch the light adding a different sheen. This is all about tricking the eye and supplements the other measures we have taken to provide some lighter colour modulation to these areas. It can really help create that multi-dimensional finish we need but it must be very subtle, again less is more. If you do not like the effect then a simple thin matt coat can cover it.

Stage 16 - Final fittings - canopy, aerials etc..... do not forget many of these parts will need some of the treatments mentioned above.

.......

I hope the above helps. You will note that there are a lot of 'wait 24 hours to cure', patience is important in these stages as I have found the hard way. Acrylics are great and in many ways ideal but touch dry is not the same as being cured, ready and hard enough for the next process. You will note that my priming and preshading procedure is different to what most advocates suggest using the black over grey. I find it easier and more effective using grey over black in the way I described.

I should also say that what I describe really only works well with an airbrush because the paint and varnish applied is much thinner than with a hairy stick.

For the interior I do not use the whole process. I prime, spray the base colour, add pin washes, black in highly detailed areas and burnt umber overall then drybrush to highlight detail first the lightened base colour, then a light grey, then a metalic where appropriate.

For rubber tyres I use the Vallejo Panzer Aces Dark Rubber paint which initially looks too light and grey but is very effective when a black wash is added and pigment brushed onto it, sealed by a fixing agent.

For guns I simply paint them with buffable metaliser paint then buff them to highlight detail. This works for engines as well.

I am applying all the processes above on my Bf110 currently. I am restricted next week as I am spending a couple of days in the City at a conference and will not get any bench time those days, but it should be finished within a couple of weeks and I will post the pics so you can see how it looks.

[Guest]

Wow thanks for your time on that that is great. Have to read it in depth this evening but that is a tutorial and a half.

Longest message on the forum.

Did not realise there was a length of message rule.

Laurie

[Guest]

Thanks for the tutorial. Very useful. I have saved it to my infobase. I have also used flory's water-based clay washes and being reversible (by washing off) it can be experimented with. (I don't remember whether you mentioned that such washes need to be applied to gloss varnish if you want to remove them for further efforts—washes on matt varnish clings to the slightly rough surface and can be difficult to wash off.)

When you show us photos of the finished Bf110 model, could you please indicate the areas that have had the special treatments that you describe, so we can concentrate on the effects. (Good photos are necessary for that, I hope you can do good ones).

[BarryW]

Steve - The Flory wash is indeed done (stage 11) after the second sealing gloss varnish coat (in stage 10 with the decalling) and the treatments are applied all over the model and to all colours. Only the specifics I mention, the smoke, oil and chipping are to limited areas and these should be seen clearly.

[Dave W]

That's a great tutorial.Barry.Ive been thinking about trying to do weathered paint effects for some time.But so far Ive chickened out of having a go!.I will have to try some of your techniques.

[Ian M]

That was a great post Barry. In fact if you had popped a few photos in it would have made a first class article.

very good read.

Ian M

[BarryW]

I will get a few progress pics of various stages of the weathering of the bf110 up, a bit at a time Ian.

[BarryW]

I promised some pics of last nights work so here goes.

I had already finished the pre-shading, painted yellow wing tips and an underside yellow band and the underside so the first pics show where I was at that stage.[ATTACH]75593.IPB[/ATTACH]


A wing - pre shaded

[ATTACH]75594.IPB[/ATTACH]


The spine - pre-shaded

[ATTACH]75595.IPB[/ATTACH]


The painted underside with the yellow sections masked with Tammy tape. It is difficult to make out the shading in this pic, hopefully you can see it better below.

[ATTACH]75596.IPB[/ATTACH]


I had also painted and weathered other bits ready for final fit so I thought I would show some of these below.

[ATTACH]75597.IPB[/ATTACH]


The exhausts are the Quickboost ones as the kit exhausts are not 'hollowed' at the ends. Drilling them would have been problematical. I still have a little work on the props and bombs to do.

[ATTACH]75598.IPB[/ATTACH]


Here she is, masked up ready for the top base coat of RLM75 (it is a 74/75/76 scheme)

[ATTACH]75599.IPB[/ATTACH]


A close up showing how I combine white tac snakes and Tammy tape to mask.

[ATTACH]75600.IPB[/ATTACH]


Here is a wing showing how it was before I applied the filter coats. This is the point of maximum definition between the dark and lighter areas after a base coat and then the lightened base coat sprayed into the centre of the panels. This is a 32 scale kit, if you are working on a smaller scale kit you will need to lighten the base colour more for spraying the inside of the panels then thin it a little more and lighten the darker areas a little without too much loss of definition. This is to be able to get a scale effect. This picture does not fully show the degree of difference between the dark and light areas - my camera and photography is not very good.

[ATTACH]75601.IPB[/ATTACH]


Here is the wing after the filter coats that 'knock back' the difference between dark and light areas. Again, sorry about the quality of the pic but I hope it is sufficient to get across what I am trying to achieve. The overall impact is lighter than the base-coat for that essential scale effect.

Tonight my plan is to mask up and paint the RLM74 splinter camo. I will show pics. The side mottle in RLM74 will be done Saturday or Monday. I will keep the pics coming at each stage.

[BarryW]

I have just done the RLM74 and you can see both the scale effect and colour modulation a bit more clearly.

Here is the model at 'maximum contrast' after I have sprayed the insides of the panels with a lightened base coat. I also did a little overspray to the dark areas to bring that back a bit.

[ATTACH]75713.IPB[/ATTACH]


Below is after I sprayed the filter coats reducing contrast to the level I want it. Again my photo does not make it clear enough, it is a very subtle effect as I did not want to overdo it. The real advantage of doing it this way is control over the level of contrast but the filter coat must be very thin to work.

[ATTACH]75714.IPB[/ATTACH]


Below is the model after I removed the masking and did the mottle. It looks very clean and pristine but I will deal with that problem later after decaling.

[ATTACH]75715.IPB[/ATTACH]


I have only temporarily attached the nose, it is such a good fit that it stays firmly in place while painting. I will remove it to weather then fit the machine gun assembly and glue it in place as part of the final fit.

Look at the starboard wing - you will see a dark patch near the end. I boobed a bit and did a touch up with the base coat without lightening it a little. What that shade difference shows is how my approach reflects the scale effect in lightening the overall base coat. I will blend that in when I next get the airbrush out Monday before applying the gloss coat for decalling. I will post next some pics at the wash stage.