Special Luftwaffe Mottle - Bodenplatte Fw190

I should also have suggested drybrushing.  This technique allows you to use a small brush to put on semi-transparent layers of paint. It is a technique that can be used like an airbrush to build up small regions of a color. It is definitely a technique that requires practice.  I use old credit cards (and those card offers I get in the mail all the time) as pallets.

I dip the brush into the paint and squish it out on the pallet.  Flat paint drys quite fast. I pick up paint with the brush and apply it to the model. It is surprising how small of an amount you can brush on this way.  A skill you acquire is refreshing the squish as it dries, to keep it just the right consistance.  That acquisition is why the practice.

Thanks for the information everybody. Much appreciated. 

I have been air brushing since the mid 1970s so this is not new to me. I have tried to use Vallejo Air thinned with their thinner and their flow enhancer and cannot get the tight thin lines I get with enamel or lacquer paints. Depending on what your set up is and paint used, you need to experiment with different thinning ratios and psi settings.

With enamels I thin like 70% thinner to paint and dial down the psi to about 5 to 8 pounds using my Renegade .2 tip ab. On the other hand, I cannot do this with Vallejo Air having  to increase the psi to at least 15 and still get splatters and tip dry even when thinned. On the other hand, another acrylic like Mission Model Paints sprays very well with less thinning so experimentation is the best method to see what works for you.

I find on a majority of my builds that there is some process that is tedious and takes patience.  That is a part of advanced model building.   That includes airbrush techniques that require a very low flow rate.  The ability to carefully adjust flow is one of the things that makes airbrushes so nice.  Building patience prepares you for rigging a full ship.

I bough these Iwata templates a while back to try but havnt done so yet.

https://www.iwata-airbrush.com/texture-fx-mini-series.html

Pawel

How about making a mask out of, say, paper, punching some irregular holes in it, and then spraying through while keeping the mask a little above the surface to be painted (a mm or two)? I have never tried it - just an idea that came to me spontaneously...

I have tried it, and it works a treat. In fact, it was my standard method when I started airbrushing back in the '70s, with a single-action AB.

Note cards work better than paper, just as flexible but with that slight extra stiffness to stand up to the airstream. I still have a file of various shapes and sizes of mottle patterns...not needed too much on larger scales these days, but very handy for tough angles on those 1/72 projects.

Cheers

Hello!

How about making a mask out of, say, paper, punching some irregular holes in it, and then spraying through while keeping the mask a little above the surface to be painted (a mm or two)?

I have never tried it - just an idea that came to me spontaneously...

Hope it helps, have a nice day

Paweł

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I have a Sparmax 2.0mm SP-20x. Using Vallejo Model Air.

I will keep working on it.

Darren

gregbale

As Bish indicated, the (probably very frustrating) truth is that it's almost entirely a matter of practicing with whatever combination of equipment and paint you're using. There really aren't any 'magic' answers.

That having been said...if you give a few details of the AB rig and paints you're using, then those with experience in the same tools might be able to give some specific hints or tips. Every airbrush has its own strengths and shortcomings...as well as 'just the right touch' needed to get the best out of it...so the advice I could give you for my brush and compressor setup might be useless with what you're using.

In general, learning to thin your paint to the proper consistency, and how much pressure is just enough (to avoid 'dusting' of paint drying before it hits your surface, without causing spatter at the other extreme) are the keys to a good mottle. You're already onto the 'final' secret -- a thin overspray to even everything out, afterwards.

The only other 'secret' I'll throw in is one I've picked up over the years for Luftwaffe a/c in particular: even if your mottle is technically just a single color...use a few different shades of that color, slightly lightened and darkened, while spraying. Maybe it's down to too many decades of looking at those b&w original photos, but it seems to really add to the 'in-the-field' look of those mottled camouflage schemes.

Good luck.

 

I have used from time to time a small piece of sponge. I would dip it in the color of choice and lighlty blot the paint with a gradual build up of color.

As Bish indicated, the (probably very frustrating) truth is that it's almost entirely a matter of practicing with whatever combination of equipment and paint you're using. There really aren't any 'magic' answers.

That having been said...if you give a few details of the AB rig and paints you're using, then those with experience in the same tools might be able to give some specific hints or tips. Every airbrush has its own strengths and shortcomings...as well as 'just the right touch' needed to get the best out of it...so the advice I could give you for my brush and compressor setup might be useless with what you're using.

In general, learning to thin your paint to the proper consistency, and how much pressure is just enough (to avoid 'dusting' of paint drying before it hits your surface, without causing spatter at the other extreme) are the keys to a good mottle. You're already onto the 'final' secret -- a thin overspray to even everything out, afterwards.

The only other 'secret' I'll throw in is one I've picked up over the years for Luftwaffe a/c in particular: even if your mottle is technically just a single color...use a few different shades of that color, slightly lightened and darkened, while spraying. Maybe it's down to too many decades of looking at those b&w original photos, but it seems to really add to the 'in-the-field' look of those mottled camouflage schemes.

Good luck.

The only thing i can suggest is a fine airbrush, right mix of paint/thinner and a steady hand. I just tried it one day and have been working on it since. One thing i have found handy is once the darker mottling is done to then over over it with a very thin base coat.

No one? 
 Could really use some advice.