A few weathering questions-

i belive I can actually answer this question, but someone can correct me if im wrong. After you paint your model, if your going to use a wash you need to gloss coat it, either with like Testors gloss coat or what I use is future floor polish. Then do your wash over that, its smooth so it will flow into all the right places(hopefully). Sometimes you may need to put a couple good coats on.

Be sure your wash is either acrylic over enamel, or if your base paint on your model is enamel, you can use enamel b ut  use Mineral spirits to thin it down. As for airbrushing a wash, ive never heard of it done, now you can 'dust' the model with like a dirt color, but you need to thin it down alot before airb rushing it and use light mist coats . YOu can also use Pastels as  a wash too and airbrush it. Thin the pastels with denatured alcohol and mix well and shoot through the airbrush.

hope ive gotten it right.

good luck

Why would I use a gloss coat, before I wash it?

For the gloss coat, you can apply Future floor finish with your airbrush no problem.  And you can clean your airbrush with Windex (the amonia is the stuff that get rid of the acrylic)

You will need a gloss coat prior to weathering for two reasons:

1. Decals will not stick to flat finish and you must install them before doing the weathering cause those are supposed to be painted on.

2. If you plan to weather a plane, the wash technique is usefull to make these recessed panel lines to be darker and the wash must get into these crevases but must be wipped of the surrounding large areas.  The wash would have a tendency to stay on the flat finish but will be easier to get rid of on a gloss coat.

If you want to build an armor, the wash technique can be done for several reasons ... and it all depends of what results you want.

 

Yann Solo wrote:

The wash would have a tendency to stay on the flat finish but will be easier to get rid of on a gloss coat.

Heed the words of Mr. Solo.

I hadn't built a kit in years, and got back into recently. First one I did was a P-40. When it came time to do the wash for the panel lines, I said "Ah, how much difference can giving it a glosscoat make?"

Not a whole lot, if you don't mind your model looking like vandals with mops spread black paint all over the outer surfaces. :-)

Now- I add a coat of Future, and then use an acrylic wash- 5 parts water, 2 parts dish soap, 1 part acrylic paint(s). Works like a charm.

And I found that if I test a section and the wash is difficult rubbing off- add more soap.

So-

 

After applying the gloss coat, I then do the wash and weathering, and *then* apply a dull coat as final?

 

Just want to make sure I've got this order right.

CarnivourousDonut wrote:

So-   After applying the gloss coat, I then do the wash and weathering, and *then* apply a dull coat as final?   Just want to make sure I've got this order right.

Bullseye!