- I Paint the basic
colors, light ghost grey and dark ghost grey in this case .
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- On areas which leak
engine oil, etc, I apply more dust, and wipe the dust with a damp
brush in the flight direction to simulate this effect.
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- The builder should be
careful when handling the model, because pastel dust easily gets
fingerprints. I prefer holding the model with paper towels, but cotton
gloves will work, too.
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- Most of the pastel job
is completed here. It's useful to have some reference pictures at the
desk, to accurately replicate dirt patterns on the aircraft. Do not
try to put pastel dust everywhere, some areas on the aircraft are
werathered more than other areas. And 99% the dirt streaks are in the
flight direction.
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- Now comes the fun part,
take your airbrush, fill it with the basic color (or one shade
lighter) and begin to touch up small spots on the model. Just like
it's done on the real one. Do not try to finish that in a small
timeframe, it really pays to keep attention. Again having some
reference photos is handy.
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- Do not forget the
underside. At this point I touch up almost every area on the model.
I'll concentrate later on the more visible touchups. This is a job
done primarily to break the monotone appearance of the model.
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- After I'm finished with
touchups, I apply the basic colors (very thinned) on the model again
to blend everything together. Thin your paint more than usual to have
control over the process.
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- After the blending is
done, I concentrate on the more visible touchups, the one you see
immediately when you look at the aircraft. I first paint these areas
using some lightened black.
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- And fill in these black
spots using the original greys. (I sometimes paint the areas on the
light grey side with dark grey and vice versa, just like it's done in
the real world.). Do not try to cover all the black, some of it should
be visible. Did I say that having reference pictures at your desk is
handy:) ?
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- Now the visible touchups
are done, I apply some oil wash to key areas to simulate leakages.
(Again, the ones you did are blended now with the grey paint.). Flap
and slat actuators, landing gear doors, and engine areas are good
candidates for this kind of work.
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- Applying washes to the
underside. Note the dirt streaks on the wingfold joints and pylons.
You can use a watercolor wash here, too. I prefer oil washes, but
basically any wash should do the trick.
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- Time to put a glosscoat
on the model to make it ready for decal application.
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- After the decals are
applied, I use my airbrush again to simulate wear on the decalled
areas, and blend everything some more. Most of the markings on the
military aircraft are gloss, and they do not weather much like the
airframe. The walkway areas particularly need a good post-shade with
thinned grey, they weather completely to the point of vanishing
sometimes. I occasionaly paint over the markings with grey paint, but
try to keep that at a minimum.
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At the last
stage comes a matte coat, and our weathering is finished !
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