Cockpit painting question

I think in many cases it will be both. I can't imagine its easy painting the finer details such as dials etc with an airbrush, especially the a smaller scale.. For myself, I spray the initial colour and then do the detailing and weathering with paint brush's.

Ditto on what Bish said.  Lay down the initial color, then to do the fine detailing, break out the brushes.  One trick I learned early on here was when doing the dials on the panels, use some white glue and a tooth pick and put a small drop on the dials.  It dries clear and a little shiny to make it look like the glass over the dials.  Simple yet effective.  All the knobs and switches can be done by hand too.  Some knobs have yellow or red.  Sometimes using the toothpick method works well with that also.  There are some very fine tipped brushes out there, but they can get pricey.  You can always shave or whittle the tip of a toothpick down to a very fine point and use that.  Just some basic tips I got from here.  Hope this helps.

Eagle90

Hi Spitfire,

To add my 2 cents worth, for the flat black details ie switch boxes etc. I use an Fine Acrylic Painters marker I got from Wall Mart for 2 bucks.  You can gently sand down the tip just like a tooth pick and it's rather fool proof when it comes to painting fine details .  I found it in the craft section and am going back for more colors.

Also I get realistic looking red and green warning lights by first drybrushing chrome silver ,then dotting with the toothpick clear red/green paint over the silver. The clear red/green paint comes in either acrylic or enamel.  I happen to have Model Master acrylic, wich I got at Hobby Lobby.

Some of each.  I often do individual panels, like floor, cockpit sides, etc.  by airbrushing while still on sprue trees.  However, detail within panels is then done by small brush or toothpick tip.

All of the above is great advice. The only thing that I would add is to also try some washes and dry brushing to make details really pop.

While I do have an airbrush, I dont have a compresser yet, I use the compressed air cans. That being said, with the price that stuff goes, I have to pick and choose when and how I use it. Needless to say. I do alk my cockpit painting by brush.

American cockpits for example, I paint one 2 to 3 LIGHT coats of interior green. Then I'll paint all the boxes and what not flat black. I then dry brush aluminum all over (to desired effect of course,) then I break out the the detail brush/tooth picks to paint all the little switches and dails and what not.

Now I have never actually used a wash in a cockpit, but I will probably try it soon. I am big on chalk pastels. What I do is mix brown with black and brush some in for dirt and grime. I then get pure black and brush it on ONLY in the direction towards where any light would be coming, depositing the powder on the back side of the raised detail. That creates some shadows and gives alittle depth.

For myself, I can't justify the time it takes me to set up, paint, and clean up my airbrush stuff when I can just brush paint something that won't be seen very much. I like the results enough to be happy with them...but then again pretty much all of my models are with the canopies closed, a pilot in them, and hanging from my ceiling.

Yes, I think that airbrushing is one of my biggest speed bumps overall in model building. but then again today tried my (rusty) hand at brush painting a large area... That was a bit time consuming as well. Not to mention that it took a second coat to get really good coverage...

I will lay down the basic interior color either with the airbrush, rattle can, or by hand-brushing, and then detail by hand.  There is no airbrush technique that I know of, that can paint the detail of instrument dials, for example, or paint the colors on throttle quadrant lever knobs in 1/48.

Regarding the instrument panels, I don't use white glue, but Future, to recreate the glass covers.  I'll paint the panel the base color, usually black, and then drybrush to pick out raised detail, the add a drop of Future on each dial.  If the panel is a decal, I do the same thing, a drop of Future over face of each dial.

cs.finescale.com/.../156030.aspx

this is an amazing tutorial on how to paint cockpits. Everyone above has great tips too and I plan on using the future to create glass over the instrument panels

I'm getting better at cockpits, and I don't know what I'd do without my air brush.  But, like many others, I'll lay down my base coat first, then go back with an ultra-fine tipped brush or tooth pick for the dials.  I use Tester's Window Glue for the I.P.  Also, sense I like war weary birds, I'll dry bush in aluminum in various areas to show wear and tear...  Then again, I tend to show my birds open cockpit...  Interesting discussion.  Picked up a few ideas....  Raymond

Raymond's mention of dials reminds me of a trick I use on smaller scale instrument panels.  Usually at 1:72 or smaller, there are no panel decals. I paint the panel itself flat black, and then use a toothpick to do the instruments themselves in GLOSS black.  This makes them look like they have a glass covering.

Aside from the one Squatch posted (thanks, I couldn't find that one), here's a step-by-step tutorial on how I do my cockpits.  Unfortunately an airbrush is helpful, if not necessary for this particular process.  Sometimes I use 5 minute epoxy on my dials to simulate glass. 

   http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/2/t/160714.aspx

Good luck,

Joe