How do I create a sun faded finish?

I've used pastel chalks, but the tricky part is that if you want to seal them, the seal coat knocks the color back, and you may have to adjust to account for it, either by applying the colors in a way that looks perhaps too bright to your eye, but will get muted by the sealer, or, by doing several applications.  I opted just to apply the chalks and not seal them, knowing that I wouldn't handle the model much.  It was an F6F in three-color scheme, and I used a mixture of white and very pale yellow, to fade the blue.

plasticjunkie

Shoot flat acrylic clear and let it dry and cure overnight. Get some artist yellow ochre oil paint and make a very thin wash with turpentine. Use a wide soft brush to apply the wash. When it dryes it will resemble a sun bleached effect on the paint. Go easy with the yellow ochre cause it will overpower the effect.

I went a little heavy here but I wanted the Stuka to show the effects of the hot North African sun.

 

Wow, this is pretty nice! Good work, especially considering you did not even use an airbrush!

Chris

Shoot flat acrylic clear and let it dry and cure overnight. Get some artist yellow ochre oil paint and make a very thin wash with turpentine. Use a wide soft brush to apply the wash. When it dryes it will resemble a sun bleached effect on the paint. Go easy with the yellow ochre cause it will overpower the effect.

I went a little heavy here but I wanted the Stuka to show the effects of the hot North African sun.

Airbrushing is the best way to achieve that shaded look. As the others mentioned, no can do with a rattle can and hard using pastels. Drybrushing even challenging to achieve.

I agree you cannot do it with a rattle can.  The only alternative is dry brushing, but dry brushing the chalking effect is one of the hardest dry brushing exercises.  I think maybe powders like chalk would work okay but I have not tried it.

I chalk up an airplane by doing top of wing and stab, top of fuselage.  One trick that can make it easier to airbrush, and may make dry brushing easier, is to add white- only a tiny bit- to the color you are covering.  You can take your time a little bit longer than if you actually chalk with white.

The trouble with dry brushing is that the blending must be so good. It takes an experienced dry brusher to blend well enough.

 

Without an airbrush that's a little tough. One thing you can try is using pastels. If you can find one that is a lighter OD then the paint that would work. Try to"fade" the top and dirty the bottom. Also don't forget exhaust staining and leaks on a worn aircraft. Hope this helps John