Weathering GB - 2/1/2011 - 1/31/2012

Want to share my system of weathering exhausts .

Here's step by step pics of the process. 

Start with a chrome silver base coat , then follow with washes of blue . next add red to the blue wash for the purple tones. Finally add yellow and maybe some brown for the straw and darker tones of heated steel. Finish off with dry brushes of rust, and various shades of tan or brown followed by a wash of black , then a light dry brushing of burnt steel and/or steel to pick out the highlights. 

A scrap piece of sprue makes a great "tube" to practice this on and each stage can be varied to show less or more extensive weathering . 

 It is a bit involved ,but easy to do and really captures the various tones of burnt metal  complete with the deep metallic shine of the original metal. Can't wait to try this adding pastels and pigments to the final "rusting". 

Heaps going on in here

Doogs, The Sherman looks awesome, very well done mateYour 109 is coming along beautifully...

jbrady, Your Hellcat is looking sweet, fading came out great

Daddy1, Nice work on the wheel wells....Your Lib looks very cool

WIP pics.......

Sorry to add more to a heavy page but here is where i'm at with the 190....I'll keep it to one pic

jbrady - GREAT to hear that the Eduard decals went on well! The ones included with their Yak-3 weekend edition were trash, but I think they date back to the Gavia days. Everything I've ever read about the Profi-pack/Royal/Dual-Combo kits takes pains to call out the excellent decals. The ones for my 109 certainly look top notch!

As for 109s...I'd seriously check out the Dragon E-4 before this one. Better detail AND cheaper.

daddy1 - the Lib is looking fantastic! Love the exhausts!

Julez - the 190 is looking good! Can't believe you painted the markings! How'd you manage that thing white border?

The 109 got its RLM 79 last night. I ran out of my Tamiya 18mm tape, so the masking took FOREVER! I was surprised to find that some paint lifted in a few spots but none of them are major and it should be a simple matter of spitting a bit of RLM 78 over them.

I did the same three-layer blending process with the 79 that I did with the 78, and I'm pretty happy with how it came out. The Gunze RLM 79 does seem a touch too dark, but I don't really mind, since I'm planning on hitting the whole plane with some fading coats (probably highly thinned Tamiya Buff) once the decals are on.

It's ridiculous outside today...20 or so with 40 mph winds...so I'll probably stick to the tires and gear struts and whatnot, rather than attempt the mottling.

daddy1: Thanks for that tutorial... the Wildcat and the next Hellcat will benefit greatly.

daddy1, great tutorial! My Pfalz has a very prominant exhaust stack that would benefit nicely from that technique. Might have to give it a go. Beautiful B-24 too - one of my faves!

Jules, the butcher bird is really coming along nicely. Can't wait to see 'er weathered!

Doogs, the Emil is looking better with each post. Excellent progress!

I've decided to change schemes once again on the Pfalz. Still a colorful one, but the main color is that silver-grey which I love and am aching to try again, this time with a different technique - mixing some Alclad II with a MM grey (not sure which grey - I'll have to experiment a bit). I used to mix Tamiya flat aluminum with one of their greys, but it always looked too grainy.

DoogsATX, The Sherman looks great. Same for the 109. All the work that has been posted in this build looks very well done. I don't know were you guys find the time to build and then to post all this work.

Doogs can I get a ruling on this incomplete build. Its a Tamiya 1/12  Honda RC211V, I started it about 4 years ago and had a yellow paint problem.

After the paint disaster it was shelved. This is the stage of build right now.

I plan on repainting it completing the build and then beating it up some to show a used and abused race bike.

Let me know what you think.

Bob

ruddratt

I've decided to change schemes once again on the Pfalz. Still a colorful one, but the main color is that silver-grey which I love and am aching to try, and there's a technique I want to attempt to simulate it - mixing some Alclad II with a MM grey (not sure which grey - I'll have to experiment a bit). I used to mix Tamiya flat aluminum with one of their greys, but it always looked too grainy.

Be careful mixing the Alclad and MM...lacquer and enamel may not play well together.

Have you considered possibly trying Gunze? I'd imagine Mr. Color and Mr. Metal Cote would probably play much better together (or SnJ enamel and MM...but I'm personally not a big SnJ fan).

I've considered that, doogs. In the past I've had some success thinning MM enamels with lacquer thinner - just hoping my luck holds out. You've given me some viable alternatives to consider in case it doesn't though. Thanks!

Bob - yeah that certainly qualifies, especially as you're repainting it! Also, that frame looks fantastic! Is it metal, or is that some kind of metalizer on it?

Doogs: is that Dragon kit 1/48?

jbrady

Doogs: is that Dragon kit 1/48?

1/32, same as the Eduard (but keep in mind that a 1/32 Bf 109 isn't really all that much bigger than a 1/48 P-47).

In 1/48, I'm a big fan of Tamiya's E-4/7. Built one growing up and remember it being a fantastic and pretty quick build. The only 1/48 109 I've got now is Zvezda's F-2, which looks positively epic, but very complicated. Something like 200 pieces in a plane maybe 2/3 the size of a Jug...

I am now at the Don't let me screw this up now stage...

Weathering starts for real tonight.

jbrady - WOW that Hellcat is looking SWEET! I think you may be convincing me to pull the Hellcat Mk II out of the stash sooner than I'd intended!

Doogs: It really is a great kit... a little fiddly in places but overall a nice kit. I think with the next one I may do some more... I want to open up the cowl flaps and add the gun fairings you see on some F6F 3s. Just a little bit of scratch building can make this kit a show stopper.

Here's a weathering challenge.

Well I only got a quick update. 

I started on different parts of the vehicle,

The life preservers started, red is one of my hated colours.

The winch.

Some shading started on the hull

A close up of part of the roof inside, I calling this done.

Closer.

Thanks every body for the responses they are all appreciated.

Terry.

Right had my read through,

Doogs the Me109 has made some progress in the last few days, looking cool man, now that sherman is just super cool. Didn't see it over in armour, its really beautifully finished.

J.Brady the cat is really coming along, I like the way you were restrained with the shading before you put down decals but it definitely seems the wise way to go. Looking at the way she is now presenting is awesome, bringing the colours down to the present state shows a real talent and you got it.

Daddy1, where in gods mname did you come from, I trawled back a bit and don't remember seeing your work, but I can tell you that I am now glad I've seen your work, sweet. Brilliant.

Julez, cool 190, I like your airbrushing, speechless, I only ever met one other person who painted their markings.

Doog's thanks again for a great GB.

Terry.

Terry35: Thanks for the good words. I'm still new to this and have a lot to learn... some of my results are more accident than skill. Luckily I seem to replicate what I do from one build to the next.

Doogs: Make a note of this. When you do the Hellcat make sure that the landing gear bay/well is welded to the bottom wing. I just had the joint come apart. I was lucky though I think I got it glued back in place. It is something that could ruin a build at this stage.

terry35

Doog's thanks again for a great GB.

Don't thank me - thank yourselves - you're the ones making it as awesome as it is!

For my own humble contribution, I braved the cold tonight and did the mottling work. 

Not too much longer before it's decal time...then the real fun begins!

Great work Doogs, I've never actually attempted mottling camo before. I'll possibly be picking a similar scheme fro my Eduard Bf109 in a few months.

Small airbrush tip with a low PSI?

Cheers

Terry, lovin the look of the interior, thats outstanding work

Doogs, the mottling looks spot on, very nice AB workBTW i masked the white with 6mm tamiya tape

Doogs: The mottling is right on. I don't know if I could do that with my single action airbrush. I ordered a Hasegawa E4 and an Aero Master decal sheet that has a couple of schemes without mottling from September '40.

I posted yesterday that I was at the don't let me screw this up now stage. Well... the screw up actually came a while back. I didn't secure the wheel well good enough and now I'm trying to figure out how to fish it out of the wing without destroying all of the detailing and paint. I think I've got a handle on it but I'm going back to the F4F for a while.

Thanks gents! I was pretty nervous about the mottling, but the Grex and the 0.2mm tip pulled it off better than I'd expected. 

Still have to go back and spray some RLM 02 in the exposed areas of the flaps and slats, but then it's on to decal work after that.

Honestly, I'm already thinking ahead to the weathering, and how I want to fade everything out. Right now I'm leaning toward heavily thinned Tamiya Buff. Seems about the right color to give both a faded and dusted look. But I'm also pondering filter washes, or maybe both in concert. The filter would have to be a light shade, though. Maybe yellow ocre?

DoogsATX

 The filter would have to be a light shade, though. Maybe yellow ocre?

Can  you start with a lighter shade... say a cream white and if that doesn't give the effect gradually darken the filter?

Here's were I'm at on the bike rebuild. I repainted the yellow, 5 coats each one just a mist of paint at about 15 psi. Why is yellow so difficult to lay down.

The picture not that sharp but they came out ok. good enough to beat up.

Also worked on the tires and rims.

I hope to get some bench time in tommorrow.

DoogsATX about the frame, that is the way it came in the kit. I have built about 6 different Tamiya 1/12 scale motorcycles each one has been outstanding. Great fit, lots of detail. I find them very enjoyable projects to build.

Bob

jbrady- That would actually make for a very interesting build. Do I see diorama possibilities? Any scenes of an old warbird being recovered would be awsome. One that crossed my mind when I started this P-38 was to recreate the picture of Glacier Girl when she was still down in the ice, they had gotten her all uncovered ,but had yet to dismantle and bring her to the surface .  Building that would bring some serious challenges, but would be very cool(no pun intended)  to see done. 

Terry- I've been around, just had a crazy January that didn't leave much in the way of spare time . What little I got went to bench time. Although I did keep track through the e-mail notifications and a quick browse of the web site now and then. Things seem to have settled  down so, expect to see more from me.

 The way I weather exhaust first came from noticing on a Collings visit of the B-17 Nine-O-Nine some years back, and evolved through some advice I got while building the Lib. Cast iron exhaust manifolds won't usually have much shine even when new and tend to build up a heavy coating of rust. But the pipes on the 17 , though rust toned , were still very smooth and shiny . The deep varying colors and tones as well as the shine came right through a very light surface rust on the Forts exhaust and turbos, with the turbos being a touch more rusty.

 I've got the booms on my Lightning , need to spruce up the nose gear well some , sand smooth a few freshly puttied seams, and soon I'll be ready to paint . I've got some ideas how to do the look of the panel lines on the South Pacific P-38s but still want to experiment before using any on the kit.

Here's a Couple pics of where I'm at. 

Howard

Looking good, fellas!

jbrady, man, that 'cat looks freakin' amazing!! I'm hoping you don't give up on 'er and get that wheel well issue taken care of.

Terry, I am simply blown away by your work. That rust effect just looks so dang real - not just the colors, but there's depth and dimension to it as well. My hat's off to you, sir!

Doogs, that is one of my favorite schemes of what is easily my favorite variant of the 109 - excellent work my friend! I'm really looking forward to seeing it with the markings!

Robert, fine looking bike! Yellow has always given me fits too. I usually start with a flat white base coat and then mist on multiple coats of the yellow.

Howard, your P-38 is definitely lookin' sweet! Can't wait to see how you tackle the paint and weathering on that one!

I am happy to report that the Pfalz has finally got some paint on 'er. Doogs, the Alclad/MM combo was a bust, so I decided to stick with scheme #2 (the red & white one). The red is on, and so is the white on all the major components. The weathering will be done by post-shading with tamiya smoke, but first all the ribs on the upper wing surfaces need to be masked so they remain a few shades lighter - same for the ribs on the rudder and the tailplane. For the lower wing surfaces, I was tossing around a few ideas on how to weather the lozenge camo - came up with the idea of applying the lozenge, post-shading the ribs, and then applying all the rib tapes. The idea is to have them show up lighter than the surrounding lozenge fabric. I think it's got a chance. Hope to have some pics up very soon.

Some fantastic work going on here lads! I will be having a update today i hope as I have had a busy busy week. Hope you all are doing well!

ruddratt: Not giving up on the Hellcat. I got the gear back on last night. From what I've seen of Eduard kits and from this build it gets very fiddly if you go off the instruction sequence. I think the gear would have been fine if I had assemble it on the bird and then masked. As it is now, the gear is on but it is very delicate.

Looking forward to pics of your Pfalz.

jbrady - I'd thought about starting with white, but I'm thinking a yellow or tan may work better, since I want to both fade everything, and dirty up the white on the crosses and the fuselage band. I actually found an oil yesterday - Naples Yellow or something along those lines, that's a very light tan, pretty close to Tamiya Buff. 

Bob - the bike's looking great! Are all Tamiya's bikes sport bikes? I don't really care for Harleys (I don't get the loud exhaust thing), but a Triumph Bonneville or something would be interesting.

Howard - looking forward to seeing paint on the Lightning! I see you have to use a small amount of putty on yours as well (I was almost to paint with mine when my yellow lab destroyed it). 

ruddratt - the red and white will still be an eye-catcher! So, you're going to mask the ribs? Interesting. I'll be curious to see how you weather this one, and then will be stealing your tricks for my Sopwith Pup...

The 109 progresses. I got a late start last night, and spent most of my bench time spraying Future, so decals should be going on tonight. If Eduard's decals are as great as everyone says, it should be a fun time!

I also started weathering the wheels. The pic I posed upthread shows very light, dusty tires but dark wheels, so I started off by drybrushing the tires with dunkelgrau. They've got a ways to go, but it's a start!