Problems with painting

hi a very easy way to replicate mud is to dip an old toothbrush in any shade of brown acrylic paint and from about 4 inches away from the model, flick the toothbrush with your thumb , try to aim at the lower edges , as always try out on scrap or old model , you can use several diff colours . it gives that very light speckled effect as mud is thrown up from tracks , cheers ian

I like to use Pastel chalks for fading my paint job. You can use either white or a yellow. I build german armor with desert sand or german yellow for a base coat, so I use the yellow pastels alot. Also if your vehicle is white washed for winter, then white pastels will work there. Just mosey on down to the local arts and crafts store and get you a set of artists pastels. Make sure it not the oil based pastels. Those do not work good at all. I just drag my brush I'm using for weathering on the top of the piece of pastel I want to use. Most modelers will tell you to shave off some of the chalk and then dip your brush in it. They both work well. This will fade your nice paint job and make it look like it's been out in the field a little bit. I also like to give it a good over spray of the base coat after, that helps alot too. Just hold your airbrush a little farther away than you would painting the camouflage colors. All you need is a lite dusting. Then seal the whole paint job with flat clear coat. If it still looks new then, just repeat the pastel process. You will have to wear thin gloves, because you will leave finger prints in the pastel if your not carefull. You can find those at the arts and crafts shop also. They are thin cotton white glove. Hope this helps a little. Chris.

Weathering your models would help that. A quick dusting of an earthy color will dull the paint job, but best to look at actual photos for where and how much. (Too much and it will look fake). Something else to try is painting a thin coat of say, gunmetal to select areas where your damage is going to be, then spraying your top color. When dry, carefully sand, flake, (whatever) off the top coat and you will have the metal showing through. Don't overdue it! Another idea would depend on how long the damage has been there. If it is a bent fender that does not hinder performance, it may be a while before it gets repaired. A little dusting of a rust colored artists chalk on the bends and breaks would represent the start of some rust eating at the bare metal. Really don't overdue this effect, for a lot of rust on a new or modern piece just wouldn't look right. I still have an old Badger airbrush and it works great for me. Early on I replaced the vinyl hose with a good braided one, and chucked the propellants in favour of a compressor. I picked mine up at a surplus automotive/electronics store for about 20 bucks. That was over 10 years now, and both are still going strong. I even built a portable spray booth with a squirrel-cage motor for spraying in the winter. A dryer hose vented to a basement window provides me with fume protection. Hope this helps you!