Dry brush or paint details?

Generally on WW2 era a/c (in a large-enough scale to be practical), I'll pick out individual knobs and switches. In jet a/c -- with more and smaller controls, and things like fuse panels -- dry-brushing often seems to be a practical alternative.

In either case, I'll usually do a very, very light drybrush o/a with white or light grey first...to define panel edges, add a slight texture and simulate general wear...then go back and add silver or color where necessary, either with drybrushing or the tip of a 5/0 detail brush or sharpened toothpick.

Even with mostly drybrush situations, a spot or two of appropriate color helps add 'busy-ness' to panels, and helps 'sell' the illusion to the examining eye. 

It is difficult to paint those small knobs and switches with a brush. I have rock steady hands, yet I find using a brush difficult. I use Sharpie pens in various colors. I also use Molotow chrome pens and colored art pencils.

I do pretty much the same thing Greg does, but sometimes I do the sequence he mentioned in reverse...just depends on the subject, but I mostly build post WWII aircraft.

For painting the individual knobs and switches, I went searching through my old e-mails and found the brushes I got from Tamiya a couple of years ago, but their order confirmation e-mail wasn't very descriptive as to which brush was which.  So, when I googled the model numbers, I ended up finding out that the model number of their Ultra Fine brush is 87172.  The first hit that came up was to Amazon, and WOW what a bargain they have there!  $14.99 for that brush, when I paid $20.00 for it.  Definitely worth the money.  The brush is red sable and its like painting with a needle...but a needle that can actually pick up, hold, and deposit paint.  I can't imagine modeling without it now.

Here's the link, in case you wanted to check it out.

https://www.amazon.com/TAM87172-Tamiya-Modeling-Brush-Pointed/dp/B00VTDYF8K

I do have that brush Eagle and it is terrific.  Lately I've been using the Quinta or the Barracuda beauties on cockpits but that's not available for this kit.  
I think a light grey dry brush will look nice.  I may call out some switches with red.  I have used pens before and they yield nice results.  

'Happy Modeling

Paul

Paul, you might also consider Tamiya's German Grey for dry-brushing.  Its what I tried for dry-brushing my F-14A panels and it looked just about right.  Also used it, along with their X-11 Chrome Silver to "scuff up" the canopy sills.

Yeah that looks sharp.  Is that the Tamiya kit?  I have the D variant.  I'm glad you sent that picture.  It reminds me to tackle pilots on an upcoming build.  After some challenging projects maybe I'll do the Tamiya F14 next.  I hear it's a dream to put together.  

I paint switches and stuff (see below), dry brush general panel area.

My solution to paint very small protrusions is to use sharp toothpick rather than a brush.  I shake the bottle, remove cap and set it down on bench.  This leaves a thin layer of paint in cap.  I dip the end of the toothpick in that layer and apply to switches, etc.

wpwar11

Yeah that looks sharp.  Is that the Tamiya kit?  I have the D variant.  I'm glad you sent that picture.  It reminds me to tackle pilots on an upcoming build.  After some challenging projects maybe I'll do the Tamiya F14 next.  I hear it's a dream to put together.  

 

Yup, that was the Tamiya F-14A when it first came out.  Definitely a dream to build, as is the F-4B they came out with recently.  Almost done giving that one its legs, then I'm going to hang a bunch of ground-pounding ordnance on it.

Heh...speaking of the Tomcat...here's kind of a funny one with one cat giving the family face rub to the other.

I find doing both works for me. I will pick out details with a tiny brush or toothpick and then lightly dry brush with a light grey to highlight edges and such. I find this give the pit more a realistic look overall.

BK

Yup!

 In all the years I have built everything from Cars to Subs and everything in between, that's the Method I use!

[quote user="Eaglecash867"]

wpwar11

Yeah that looks sharp.  Is that the Tamiya kit?  I have the D variant.  I'm glad you sent that picture.  It reminds me to tackle pilots on an upcoming build.  After some challenging projects maybe I'll do the Tamiya F14 next.  I hear it's a dream to put together.  

 

 

Yup, that was the Tamiya F-14A when it first came out.  Definitely a dream to build, as is the F-4B they came out with recently.  Almost done giving that one its legs, then I'm going to hang a bunch of ground-pounding ordnance on it.

Heh...speaking of the Tomcat...here's kind of a funny one with one cat giving the family face rub to the other.

When I got married 6 years ago I inherited a cat.  I was always a dog person.  First time living with a cat.  I was super worried about ours destroying models and model assemblies.  I'm happy to report he's been great.  
Thanks everyone for the help.  

wpwar11

When I got married 6 years ago I inherited a cat.  I was always a dog person.  First time living with a cat.  I was super worried about ours destroying models and model assemblies.  I'm happy to report he's been great.   Thanks everyone for the help.  

Yup...about the worst thing mine does is to lie down on the instruction manual so I can't see it.  Other than that?  No issues.

I'm sure you'll be able to pull of some excellent results with your cockpit detailing.  One thing I forgot to mention for that is the little Testors square bottle paints.  If you paint the main areas of the cockpit with lacquers like MRP, you can use the Testors square bottle paints to paint your knobs and switches.  If you mess up a little bit here and there, if the MRP has been on the part for a couple of days, you can clean up the detailing errors with a Q-tip or something smaller dampened with paint thinner.  As long as you just lightly wipe, you'll remove the errors made with the Testors without doing any damage to the MRP underneath.

You may remember from previous discussions Eagle that I'm a MRP fan.  I do indeed have Testors paints in the small square bottles.  I have used Testors for painting details.  My cockpit game has recently  been remove all details and slap on the Quinta sets.  For this build that wasn't an option and I kinda wanted to visit some techniques I used when I started building.  I like that the hobby is evolving and new materials are available.  I also think it will be interesting to compare this build with the same techniques and materials used on my early builds.  Stay tuned for pictures.

Have a great weekend.  
P

I've been using the Quinta sets a lot too, but I do have some planes in my stash where that's not going to be an option as well.  I'm planning on using the properties of MRP and Testors to deal with those...hopefully the plan works.  

Looking forward to seeing WIP pics of your build!

You have a great weekend also.  I'm headed out the door in a few minutes to finally go see Berlin in concert!!