How to airbrush camoflage

There are literally hundreds of various articles and posts out there.

What type of camoflage and aircraft, specifically? That would help narrow it down.

I think two magazines ago there was an article on camoflage. July 2010 has the title of Camoflage Special, airplane on front. It all depends on what you want to do really.

I am interested in doing an A-1 Skyraider for the US airforce.

http://store.spruebrothers.com/148-tamiya-a-1j-skyraider-us-air-force-61073-p2238.aspx

Is there any articles out there that can help me with the basics of this type of camoflage.

Thank you,

Scott

Looks like you are going for hard edged camo... I would use silly putty depending on how big your kit is.  I used it on my 1/35 armor kit and it came out great.  I bought 3 of those at Hobby Lobby for like $1.50 each and you can use it often.   Start with the base color... then go for second darker paint then finally go for the darkest paint at the end.  You apply silly putty after each paint job but please make sure to allow the paint dry for more than 24 hours. 

Arespontus

I am interested in doing an A-1 Skyraider for the US airforce.

http://store.spruebrothers.com/148-tamiya-a-1j-skyraider-us-air-force-61073-p2238.aspx

Is there any articles out there that can help me with the basics of this type of camoflage.

Thank you,

Scott

This FSM article on on weathering, not camo. But it used the Skyraider as example.

deafpanzer

Looks like you are going for hard edged camo... I would use silly putty depending on how big your kit is.  I used it on my 1/35 armor kit and it came out great.  I bought 3 of those at Hobby Lobby for like $1.50 each and you can use it often.   Start with the base color... then go for second darker paint then finally go for the darkest paint at the end.  You apply silly putty after each paint job but please make sure to allow the paint dry for more than 24 hours. 

FSM has an online article on using silly putty for masking too. It is pretty useful.

The USAF did not use a hard edge camo on Skyraiders on any other Vietnam era aircraft. If they are camoed in SEA colors, the color demarcation lines are feathered.

Well, the artwork on the box provided to us looked like hard edge camo... either the artwork is incorrect or it wasn't big enough for us to have a better look at it.  If stikpusher is correct,  I would still use silly putty method then take all of the putty off and airbrush the camo edges again at very close distance freehanded.  There is a better method but you will have to cut masking papers and use putty to give little space between the plane and masking papers to come up with soft edge camo but I am afraid it is a time consuming method for me.

Hard edge patterns are done at the factory using rubber masks. When camo is applied at an airfield or air depot is it done with only necessary area masked off such as engine intakes, and canopies. Seeing as how all Skyraiders were originally Navy birds built well before the Vietnam war, factory camo with a mask is ruled out. Look at those line photos of the Skyraiders which I posted and you can see it has feathered edge. It can be tight or soft, but is certainly not masking hard edged. Box artwork is great for reference for patterns and such but often the artist overlooks details. Historical photos, which can easily be found all over the web, are the best reference. 

Check out this website- Skyraider.org Some fantastic pics from the guys who flew them in South East Asia. Lots of great armament views. Check out some of the close ups and you will see what I mean about the camo, some are very tight edged others are more feathered.

http://www.skyraider.org/skyassn/imcol.htm

You can always draw the pattern on with a pencil and freehand it.

Tony

Wingman_kz

You can always draw the pattern on with a pencil and freehand it.

Tony

For the less artistic inclined like me, it is still easier to mask.

To achieve the soft edge effect, cut the camo masking using regular paper. Position the mask with a small amount of silly putty under it to get the paper edge slightly off the model surface. It will give you the soft edge effect when airbrushing. It needs practice to get it right, but much easier than free hand.

It is a technique that was published in FSM. Anyone remember the author and time of publication. It does not seem to be online.

SEA camo is soft edged.

You have an airbrush. Take some scrap plastic or a junked model and pratice getting the lines nice and tight. Keep the pressure low, the paint thin and the nozzle up close to the surface.

Learning to properly use your airbrush, even one as basic an entry level Paasche H, is a really important skill in this hobby.

technical difficulties...

keilau, if I were artistic I'd be making money with an airbrush. Not to say modeling isn't or can't be an art, only that I'm just coloring inside the lines. Well, on the lines too. Since I don't want them to show. But the cool thing is, if you go over the line a little it's a lot easier to fix with an airbrush than it is with a crayon...

Anyways, it was just  a suggestion. Most any method of doing multicolor camo is time consuming. I got a few boos and hisses for doing it, and talking about it I suppose, but I picked up a pad of cheap watercolor paper and practiced with the airbrush. Drawing lines and filling in, learning to control the air and keep overspray to a minimum. It really helped. And if folks aren't open minded enough to understand that then shame on them.

Here's three pictures. My first, second and third freehand camo's.

None of them are perfect but it worked. Each got a little easier and I got more control of the overspray. Last two are still in progress.

Tony

Hello!

I happened to write a SBS on silly putty masking and you can read all about it here.

Funny thing is, I also built a skyraider, you can read about it here, or here. And also a teaser foto for everybody:

Hope it helps, have a nice day

Pawel