Weathering and wash ?'s

there are two type of washes: an overall wash and a pin wash. The overall wash is just that, using the wash to coat the entire surface chosen. A pin wash is used to get the wash in a specific area- panel line, two adjoining surfaces, around a rasied detail, etc.

A good idea is to perhaps practice your techniques on an old model before you try it on a more prized build in progress.

First, make sure your base paint job has had lots of time to dry and CURE. Usually several days.

For the overall wash, a wide flat brush is best used. For the pin wash, a small pointed brush of size 0 or smaller. On the pin wash, a pre wash of clean thinner overall immediately before the pin wash will allow the pin wash to flow better and reduce the "pooling" marks that can occur.

After applying the wash and giving it a short time to dry, use a brush lightly moistened with clean thinner to remove excess wash.

I prefer doing my washes with enamels, but you can do the same with acrylics. just beware that some acrylic thinners (gunze in particular) will remove the paint below in addition to any excess wash.

A good idea is to use a clear coat beneath the wash opposite of the type of wash being used- enamel or lacquer below acrylic, and vice versa.

Burnt Umber works great in most circumstances for washes. On sand color subjects another choice is Burnt Sienna. those are good choices for pin washes. On overall washes to tone down and give a dusty/faded look Raw Umber and Raw Sienna are good starting points. Black is too stark in most cases, but does have its uses as well. Mainly for engine areas and such where grime, soot, and oil are most likely to be prevelant. Testors Model Master makes all these colors in both their acrylic and enamel lines.

Experiment and see what you like.

Thank you very much i'm gonna grab one of my old junk test kits and kive it a shot and see what happens.

Jason