Need help on painting/weathering techniques

Mike, Email me at jbgroby@charter.net  send me your phone number or call me Friday

Steve,

Thank you so much for the very specific tutorial! That's the kind of useful information that registers in my old brain.

Your reference to the Electric Light Orchestra was a flashback to my twenties!! 

I don't want to be too paranoid about the Easy Lift Off but are a respirator and gloves required? Would I need to do this in a bathroom or kitchen sink? Would ELO eat away the enamel of my bathroom sinks or mar the stainless steel of my kitchen sinks? Just curious.

In any case, thanks again for the most useful info. It's filed away.

I don't believe there's any detail left on the decks of my Cutty Sark so I'll not bother to strip the paint I have on her now.

I have now in my stash Revell's Wasa and Charles W. Morgan as well as Heller's Le Glorieux and Preussen. Before I consider attempting any of those I'll do what you suggest and what I know I should have done from John Tilley's advise and buy a couple of small models - whether or not I ever display them is of no consequence - to use as test mules for the techniques of which we speak. I suppose the Viking Ship would be good to start. The Revell Hanse Kogge is not listed on Revell's site so I suppose it's no longer manufactured but I'll look for one on eBay.

Thanks again Steve,

Mike

Mike,

You might what to think about using ELO (Easy Lift Off), not the band, on your Cutty Sark, and start again. starting over is not as Hard as you think.  it gives you a chance to work on your technique again since you do not having mules by the sound of it. also, think about picking up some inexpensive models of a smaller scale or small ships of a large scale.  for instance, the Revell Viking ship or the Revell Hanse Kogge.  Both have excellent grain and are fairly simple but involves all the components you will end up Using on your Cutty Sark.  

I too got back into modeling a couple of years ago after a 40 year hiatus and I have the 1/96 Cutty Sark, Thermopylae, USS Constitution, 1/100 HMS Victory and Soliel Royal, and La Reale as well as other expensive large scale models that I was sorely tempted to jump right in on but I took Jtilley's advice and started small and inexpensive so that I could practice my chops on building, painting, weathering and rigging before I started in on those big kits.  I am glad I did.

Anyway, ELO Is manufactured by Testor but formally by PolyScale.  Read the directions thoroughly because it is nasty stuff but it works.  I had to let my hulls soak longest for the Floquil.  I used an old toothbrush to get all the paint off.  DO NOT let the smaller parts soak very long as they will end up either soften or melted.  Wear old clothes you do not mind ruining and be careful while scrubbing as it can get everywhere.  I have used it on a couple of my models that I was not happy with the paint jobs/colors.

After you get the paint off, let the parts soak in warm water with dish soap for about 30 minutes.  Then Let air dry and then use Testor's Plastic prep and wipe the whole model down with it.  After that let dry for about 5 days then use a good primer lie Tamiya's fine primer.

I also wanted to let you know that when I do decks, If I am doing the weathering effect you were asking about, I use a scrubbing pad like the one below.  Use it lightly and it won't mar your decks, otherwise use 0000 steel wool with dish soap wet. Again, very lightly.  It is easier to take plastic away when sanding, scraping, etc... And very hard to replace it.

Hope some of this helps, and please feel free to ask if anything is not clear.

Steve

Denstore,

Nope, no primer. No airbrush, No darned technique .... yet

Like I said, this information, most of which is new to me, will be stored for my next build. I may have to buy another Cutty Sark some day just to see if I can implement some of the methods you and others have suggested above on that ship.

Basically I've just been painting on the colors without washing or priming the plastic first. I don't own a compressor or an airbrush. Since I live in a small condo/townhouse I don't want the noise although I've read that there are quiet compressors made specifically for modeling.

With careful washing and priming of the plastic before I attempt final painting I suppose I'd have better luck. I also will follow the suggestions above with regard to the kind of sandpaper to use.

Thanks for chiming in.

Mike

Did you use primer? In my experience, it is always better to start with a primed surface, especially if you want to do lots of weathering effects.

Reid,

Thanks for the input. I'm learning that, if I want to do any of the techniques that I've thought looked so good on these plastic models, I need to follow some of the advise you and Greg have mentioned. As to paint "mules" .... none yet, but goodness knows at the rate I'm going I'll sure have some soon :)

Mike

Mike,

It's been more than 40 years since I last did the Revel Constitution, but.....  It looks to me like you are not using an airbrush for some of this?  Many of these techniques work best when used in tandem with thin layers of overcoats and VERY FINE ABRASIVES.  I'd use nothing higher than 4ought (0000) steel wool and nothing more aggressive than 600 wet sandpaper for removing overcoats.  Usually the most wear is in the highest traffic patterns on decks, so getting into tight corners is not all that critical.

In the case of solvents, it's best if you follow the "hottest" first rule.  Use a lacquer for the base coat, then enamel, then acrylics.  As was mentioned, it's a good idea to wash & dry to remove any stray grease/oil, then wipe down with a tack rag, then spray a primer, then the base color in lacquer.  This will provide the toughest paint surface to do additional weathering over.  next would be to use enamels / mineral spirits thinner (or turpentine), then acrylics with water/alcohol thinners.  In many cases, washes are thin enough to be wiped off with a clean rag, streaked with brushes and allowed to dry.  Sometimes, it's a good idea to clear coat with pledge (& dry 48 to 72 hours) before adding layers of weathering.

Keep experimenting.  It's a good idea to have a paint mule or three laying around to practice on too.

HTH,

Reid

Thanks Greg, I appreciate the information which I'll keep for the next build.

Mike

Just a question, Mike--did you wash the parts thoroughly before you started painting? If acrylics manged to take off well-dried enamels, it sounds like maybe the mold-release agents from the manufacturing process were keeping your paints from getting a good "bite" on the hull. A good primer coat helps with that as well.

As for your other difficulties, I've had better luck with washes and drybrushing than with paint removal techniques like sanding through the topcoat. I generally use a home-made acrylic "sludge wash" (with a heavy dish-soap component) over either enamels or well-sealed (with Future) Tamiya acrylics. It's easy to rub off with q-tips leaving recessed detail accented, and if you just don't like how it's working out, you can wash it off and start over.

As for what you should try or not try, don't be afraid to try anything. It sounds like a platitude, but the experience of trying stuff is what it's all about. All the desctriptions or instructional videos in the world can't substitute for hands-on experience. When things go bad, just take a deep breath, and come back for another try. It'll fall into place eventually.

Good luck.