Salt blues

I have never used the salt technique, but I'm giving your thread a 'bump', and hopng some of our folks with experience using salt chime in to help you soon!

Chris

What kind of salt are you using...hopefully not table salt. You need to use pickling or sea salt...large grain. You also want as little moisture when applying it so you don't get it started to desolve before you apply paint. Someone told me they use alcohol, as it allows you to set the salt and it evaps fast!

Certainly appreciate it. The potential is obvious for simulating paint chips found on any WWII aircraft that was in service. But invaluable for Pacific War junkies like myself. The climate and terrain in places like the Solomons and New Guinea pounded aircraft finishes. Units like the famous "Jolly Rodgers" flew off rolled coral fields at Munda Point. You can imagine what that did to the finish. The Japanese units were no better off - I've seen photos of IJN units on Bougainville or New Britain that looked like half their paint had been stripped away. IJA Oscars and Tonys on New Guinea were often exactly the same or even worse. This problem was less prominent in the later periods as the war moved out of the South Pacific oven, but to get the look and feel of the furious air war of 1942-late 43 I'd really like to master this technique. It wouldn't be subtle - make the plane look nearly vandalized.

Eric

Hi Eric,

I've had exactly the same problem with my attempts at salt chipping.  I just put mine on with water and let is dry for a day or two before spraying over.

I did use normal table salt...which probably explains the discolouration which occurred for me - what is it that actually does this?  I think i read somewhere to use non-iodised salt???  Is this true?

Gerald, at the risk of appearing naive...where can you buy sea salt?  Is that just like rock salt from the supermarket (or is anything from the supermarket a no-go for this?)

Thanks in advance - it's definitely a technique i'll use in the future, but would prefer to get the right type of salt next time so i don't have the same issues again.

Chris.

Sea Salt is generally found in the organic sections of a grocery store. We use it exclusively in our kitchen and at our table as the salt still has the other minerals your body needs. Usually the purer the white, the more processed the salt is and it also dissolves faster when exposed to moisture. Organic sea salt is generally grayish or a mix of colors.