Aircraft Pre-Shading questions, specifically for 1/32 F-15E Gunship Gray

Thanks for that info Nathan and plasticjunkie.......very helpful.

WR

Regarding your AB, since the 200 is single action and has a medium tip which are great for general work, then I suggest getting a second AB for detail work such as the Badger gravity fed Renegade with X-fine tip. You can go online and find them at excellent prices. I got mine as a Christmas present some time ago.

If your budget is tight then get a fine tip and needle for the 200. Just swap the tip and needle as you need them for a job. The air supply is a problem and I highly recommend to go with a compressor and a moisture trap. You can get good pancake style compressors and moisture traps at Harbor Freight when on sale for under $50 or less. This way you can control your psi for some really delicate work and keep moisture from ruining your work.

Post and pre shading are great methods for breaking up solid colors and adding texture and a bit of weathering. Pre shading works best on lighter colors. I find I get more control with the pre shade method but others feel more comfortable with the post method. You will be the judge to that once you try both and decide on the application.

The trick to pre shading is not to cover up completely the darker color underneath but to leave a subtle hint. I usually spray the center panel and work to the outside fading it as I go. With post shading is either adding a lighter base color to the panel centers as you go or even going with a darker color along the panel lines. Some modelers use Tamiya Smoke for that effect.  

I'd say so. There's alot of variation going on there that can't be done with just pre shading.

Guys this is a model I saw online. is this post shading?  The website was in Spanish.

Thanks for the additional tips Fly-n-hi. Nice neat build there.

Yes I do know that in order to pre-shade Gunship Gray the model would have to be primed white or very light gray, then black line pre-shade. There is an example on the web of this.

I think whichever way I go that practice sessions would be the key, before hitting an expensive and big model with paint.

stikpusher

If you can afford a 1/32 Tamiya Strike Eagle, you can afford a basic compressor.

Checkmate!

Nathan and Chris are mostly right here.  Pre-shading Gunship Grey is sort of a waste and the results with post shading are so much better...in my opinion.  If you do get the urge to pre shade the F-15E then I'd use a white primer and black paint for the preshade.  Anything else and it won't really show up.  And if you do this remember to use Gunship Grey paint that has been heavily thinned and apply it in light coats.

I'd recommend a solid coat of Gunship Grey that is faded a bit...like 4 parts Gunship Grey and 1 part White.  Then you can shade the panel lines with regular Gunship Grey and vary the fading in the panels with 3:1 and 2:1 mixtures of GG and White.  Then you can add oil washes and effects after that.

Here's a 1/48 Revell F-15E I did last year using the techniques I described above:

You'd be amazed what you can do with post shading. Just practice on an old model first. You can even use post it notes to get straight lines if you want to post shade a panel line here and there. The preshading would stand out much more on a Tomcat, because of the lighter grays.

Thanks for the responses I've always weathered jets with artist oil  paint washes, but felt the look could go deeper if I pre-shaded.  I'm not familiar with post shading via airbrush but will look into it.  The pre-shading I have seen particularly on F14's looks fantastic, and I don't know if I can achieve that by post shade airbrushing. Yes stikpusher I should buy a compressor. I'm going to post a separate thread for questions on that. Thanks for your insights.

If anyone else has more thoughts on pre-shading an F-15E please chime in.

IME, post-shading is the way to go.  I use oil paints for post-shading.

I wouldn't bother preshading. Post shading is the way to go. I'd start by spraying the gunship gray, then fading it with a lighter color, then darkening it with a bit of black mixed in along panel lines and other shadow areas, corners.

I have only minimal experience with pre shading, so here is my 2 cents...

Yes, it will work with the36118 gray. That color is not too dark for that technique and the black base should work just fine...

Get a different air source for your airbrush!!!! Those cans are horridly unreliable, and a big drain of money. A compressor or a refillable compressed air tank or bottle is a far better and more reliable option. If you can afford a 1/32 Tamiya Strike Eagle, you can afford a basic compressor.

Your Badge 200 should do the job just fine with a new air source beyond those propellant cans. If you look online, you can probably find a cup that will fit a siphon feed airbrush if you want to try that  sort of paint reservoir...

Have fun and good luck!