rust, rust, rust your swift patrol boat, gently down the Mekong river~

You know ... a little WD40 will get that off for you ......

lol! wait.. are you being serious?

Remember, the Swift boat was aluminum hulled IIRC.

does aluminum not rust?

Aluminimum corrodes, steel/iron rusts. Having ridden in PBR's, ASPB's and LCM's (but not swift boats) I can tell you that the US Navy didn't let the rust get quite that bad. (you can always dry brush with lightened grey to tone down the rust). RVN boats were a bit more rusty but not a whole bunch. Figure out which sections are steel & which are aluminum and weather accordingly. Corrosion is a whiteish powdery (except when wet) substance. I have a real tendancy to "overweather" all my models (armor, ships, etc) and have to tone it down. It does look nice, but bosun' mates would be all over your ass, not to mention a chief or two if it got that bad. go for it.
G.L.

One technique I've found useful in adding a weathered/rusty appearance to non-steel boats is to drybrush
very light streaks of rust colour downwards from fittings, rivets, windows etc. and anything else that might
be made of steel on the hull and superstructure, the streaks getting fainter and narrower as they get further away
from the rusting part.

I used this method on my Vosper MTB (wooden hull) and Asheville-class gunboat (aluminium hull AFAIK).

Another useful method is to lightly dry-brush the edges and raised areas of the boat with a slightly lighter or darker shade of the base colour. This highlights the details and gives a less "flat" appearance without actually representing weathering as such.

On an aluminium boat, a small amount of metallic scuffing/chipping on edges and corners might also work well.

What u use for rusting? Brown poster color dry brushing technique? Watch out yr stroke! U can do it better.

I too would not show as much rust, for one, the boats were not very old, were not all steel, and the Navy is very picky about rust and corrosion. Since there was a lot of down time, the crews would be cleaning and painting the boats. One thing that does show is wear. So the paint would be dull or bare, shiny metal would be shown where hands and feet scuff. Since the paint did fade fast, I would show hand marks on your door where oily hands were placed. And worn and chipped paint around the window opening if the window is left down. Use differnet shades of dull vs glossy paint to show a difference between old and new paint.

I use pastels a lot with drybrushing as a base. Also, an oil paint called "Rub - n - Buff" is also a neat material to use to show corrosion and worn metal and blends your drybrush well. It comes in silver and rust colors. I thin mine with thinner, bush it on, then rub into a deisred finish.

Overall, you have a very nice looking build. Keep up the good work.

Scott

While not wishing to hurt your feelings, you did ask for a critique, so here it is: your construction is good. Your rusting is absolutely terrible. This is where research is necessary. Swift Boats (and there are several web sites with good pictures on the net - do a google search) were NEVER rusted. Dirty, yes; griny, yes; cluttered, absolutely. Rusted - not a chance. First of all, they were aluminum. Aluminum does not rust. It corrodes and oxidizes and can develop a whitish haze. But that would not and did not happen on Swift Boats. As Naval warships, they were kept in very good condition - even under wartime allowances - the Navy is fanatical about that.

So, keep building but do your research before you start the weathering. These are ships, not tanks.

thanks guys. without the rust, my model looks a little bland. what should I do?

A wash in the recesses, some drybrushing of a lightened base color, especially along corners and angles. You may want to spray a lighter shade of the paint into the larger open areas to artifically create tonal variances in the paint. Although aluminum didn't rust, you can go with some slightly bare metal, worn paint, or areas where there's heavy traffic.

Jeff

I agree. Your construction techniques are excellent, but your weathering and detail painting need a little work. For example, you probably want to togihten up the lines on your life saver ring.

ok gotcha!