How to paint a convincing cockpit tutorial (Updated 2018)...
Hello, since there seems to be some interest in how I paint my cockpits, I figured I would walk you through "MY" process which I have pretty much standardized over the years. Hopefully you can adapt some of these techniques and make them work for you:
You will need (not necessarily in order, but the order I thought of them):
* An airbrush, preferably a double action with a fine setting.
* A paint brush for painting fine details.
* A paint brush for drybrushing.
* Acrylic Flat Black paint (I use Tamiya Paints pretty much exclusively).
* Scheme specific paint (ie Interior green, RLM 66....you get the idea)....
* Masking tape.
* Testor's Gloss Coat.
* Testor's Dull Coat.
* Lacquer Thinner.
* An acrylic wash.
* Isopropyl "Rubbing" alcohol (I use 91% from any drug store) or your paint thinner of choice.
* Enamel based silver for drybrushing.
* A metallic silver Sharpie.
* Airscale instrument decals (optional)...
First, here's my paint mixing "system". I mix all my paints in these palettes with cheap Testors paint brushes. I keep my Alcohol and Lacquer thinner in pump bottles which I dispense into the palette as needed. It works great for me and paint never gets wasted.
I will use my SBD-3 Dauntless build as a walkthrough pictoral..
1. Prime the cockpit pieces in flat black (I use Tamiya Acrylic XF-1 cut with 91 Isopropyl). This is the base for a "shadow" effect. TIP: I attach mine to a clothes pin with Blue Tac for easy painting and handling.
2. Spray the base color, interior green, RLM 66, RAF green, for whichever subject your building. I normally use Tamiya Acrylics because I have good control with them, but here I am using Gunze Aqueous with their own thinner because I like their Interior Green (I use their Olive Drab and RLM colors too but thats another story). Use low pressure and sort of fill it in slowly to create shadows in the crevices. There is no rush here. Here I'm using Gunze Interior Green thinned with Tamiya X-20.
Here you can see the shadowing effect. Much better than spraying grey plastic green.
3. Tape off the boxes and such then spray them NATO black (XF-69) or something similar. This can be tedious but I like the results. EDIT: Truthfully, as of late, I've been lazy and hand paint these in. Just dilute it slightly with 91% Isoprophyl to avoid brush strokes. Capillary action will carry the paint where needed. I'll now admit that there is little difference once finished with the process.
Paint other boxes too. It adds visual interest...this box may or may not be brown. That said, if you have photographic reference, by all means use it.
4. Like above, silver is also an eye catcher. Take your silver of choice and paint some boxes to draw the eye in. You can also use a metallic silver "Sharpie" and hit the little knobs and dials. I find this easier than using a brush and it works on seat belt buckles too.
Some of these knobs are then picked out with Tamiya Flat Red and Yellow with a toothpick to also draw in the eye.
5. Its drybrushing time. Use silver enamel on the black boxes I suppose you can use acrylics but I have better luck in the drybrushing technique with enamels. Dust some of the raised details, such as the seat corners, floor and rudder pedals, with the silver to simulate wear (I use Model Masters Chrome Silver or Floquil Old Silver). I usually go easy with the drybrushing, just enough to bring out the details. The I use a diluted postshade with XF-69 NATO Black and XF-64 Red Brown to weather it up a bit.
6. Now we need a barrier between the paint and upcoming wash. I still use the old Testors gloss and dull lacquers. I have yet to find anything better. Shoot everything with a coat of the gloss and allow it to cure for a few hours, or even overnight. (NOTE: I used to use Future for this, but for some reason their "new" formula sucks and won't cure for me.....just thought I would put that out there). You may be able to use Model Master's enamel thinner too if the fumes are too much with Lacquer thinner. I suppose I'm used to them.
7. Once dry, it's washed with "The Detailer" which is a pre-made water soluable product I discovered a few years ago. Just slop it on.
It will look like this...
On a side note, I got mine at the LHS for like 4 bucks but you can get it here too http://www.thedetailer.net/. I love this stuff and use it for all my washing needs. I like to cut the black with a touch of brown. After a short time, you can remove the excess with a damp paint brush. I suppose you can use it over an acrylic clear, but I like it over the Testor's Gloss Coat. I like how it dries fast too. I've gone from sprue cutting to wash in one night several times.
I then remove the excess with water with a brush. Just fill a small bowl with water to rinse the brush. Let it stay in the grooves and cracks..
This is about right...
8. Once I have the wash where I want it and the excess is removed, it's sealed with Testor's Dull Coat, cut again with Lacquer thinner. I try to leave an ever so slight sheen by adding a drop of the above gloss to it. I just dont find a dead flat finish that appealing.
Done!
9. On another side note, the things that tend to change from subject-to-subject are the seat belts and instrument panels, which tend to depend on what I have available. I generally prefer molded on seat belts like an Ultracast or True Details seat, but sometimes I'll just fire on a set of photo etch from my stash. Regardless, it still gets the same treatment described above. A few seats...
Ultracast with molded belts (Corsair)
Kit Seat with Photo-etch belts (1/32 Corsair)...
Resin seat with Photo-etch belts (Fw 190 F-8)...
On instrument panels, I like a decal snuggled down with Micro-Sol. Fortunately alot of kits nowadays offer this option on the decal sheet. Tamiya's P-47 has the best I've seen so far in this regard (see below). Other times I have to go old fashioned painting then drybrushing the dials. Then I add Airscale individual decals. This is my NEW preferred method. Heres's a few instrument panels...
Drybrushing, paint, then Airscale decaling (1/48 Tamiya Spitfire).
Instrument decal (1/48 Tamiya P-47)...
Paint then kit decal (1/48 Hasegawa Fw 190 A-8
Paint then Airscale decals once again (1/48 Tamiya Corsair)..
Paint with Airscale decals (1/48 Mosquito)....see a pattern yet?
I figured I'd end with a few cockpits. Here are some examples of my typical results with the above process:
1/48 Tamiya Spitfire Mk I. Out of the box except for Airscale decals and Photoetch seat belts
1/48 Tamiya P-47D (Out of the box with an Photoetch seatbelts and decal instrument panel)...
1/32 Hasegawa Bf 109 G-6 (Out of the box with fabric seat belts)...
1/32 Tamiya P-51D completely out of the box except for seatbelts.
Well...that's about it. Its not a definitive method by any means but it works for me. Like I mentioned, I've been know to get one nearly finished in one evening at the bench. Of course, your mileage may vary...
Joe