Soviet Winter Camo weathering

[Smudge]

Making some slow progress on my Yak-7B project.

This is my first attempt at weathering using the 'hairspray method'. It was fairly successful as much as the process worked, but I'm not sure if this is really the look I want.

Obviously there is more work to do, exhaust staining and generally dirtying it up etc, but I cant help feeling the demarcation between the white and underlying camo is too harsh.

I may just clean it off and go for a more worn our faded look using some airbrush feathering.

What do people think?

Constructive comments welcome!

[phildagreek]

First of all, it's your model, so what finish are you after?

For me, the White is too solid, I like how it is peeling away to reveal the cameo underneath, it's the rest of the White that (I think) is not working.

But that's just me.

[Learstang]

From the photographs I've seen of the Soviet winter camouflage, the white paint wore off more gradually, leaving more of a residue in places where it had mostly worn off of. In fact, sometimes it adhered a little too well to the paint underneath, and was difficult to remove when the time came.

Regards,

Jason

[Smudge]

Cheers guys. I think I agree with both those assessments.

I think I need a more gradual fading. The peeling would look ok with a more restrained use.

[Troy Smith]

see here

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234998914-yak-7b-soviet-winter-camo-finish/

as learstang says, it wore off, but patchily.

[Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy]

So far, so good!

I don't know if this is what you'd prefer, but here's my 1/72 La-5. After the regular camouflage, I gave it several coats of clear as a "buffer zone." Then on went acrylic white, and then after a few days' curing time I went over it carefully with Extra-fine steel wool. The clear coats helped protect the camouflage underneath.

[Smudge]

Hi Troy,

Thanks for your input and help.

I think you guys have helped me face what I already knew. It's just not quite right.

Oh well, it should clean off ok. No harm done.

[Smudge]

Andrew D,

cheers for posting that pic of your La-5, very nice, that is another technique to consider.

Thanks.

[Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy]

Thanks! Think I got the idea from perusing some of the armor guys' work; they seem to know a thing or two about it.

Looking forward to seeing how yours comes out; looks good so far!

[modelldoc]

All is possible,

look at my P-40:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/21603181@N08/15232659940/in/dateposted/

or my Jak-6:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/21603181@N08/19688906085/in/dateposted/

modelldoc

[JackG]

What if you go back with an airbrush, and spray an off white (possibly a mix created with the aircraft's colour). This would take care of the hard edges from the hairspray technique, as well as introduce some worn white wash look on the solid surfaces.

regards,

Jack

[PFlint]

So far, so good!

I don't know if this is what you'd prefer, but here's my 1/72 La-5. After the regular camouflage, I gave it several coats of clear as a "buffer zone." Then on went acrylic white, and then after a few days' curing time I went over it carefully with Extra-fine steel wool. The clear coats helped protect the camouflage underneath.

sounds like a complicated and difficult method , but the results certainly are top-notch !

[Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy]

You're kind to say, thank you....but actually it wasn't that hard. Coat of clear, then wait. Apply the white, then wait more. Then rub with steel wool.

Simple

In my case the white was brushed on with a small flat brush, since the photo of the real thing showed it was likely applied by brush, by hand also. Nice thing about the steel wool is it smooths out all the brush strokes which otherwise would have made it look toylike.

[Doc72]

You're kind to say, thank you....but actually it wasn't that hard. Coat of clear, then wait. Apply the white, then wait more. Then rub with steel wool.

Simple

In my case the white was brushed on with a small flat brush, since the photo of the real thing showed it was likely applied by brush, by hand also. Nice thing about the steel wool is it smooths out all the brush strokes which otherwise would have made it look toylike.

That sounds like a good technique and it really looks convincing. Did you put on the decals first (under the clear and the white) or last (after the white and the steel wool)? I would hesitate to sand over declaw as they are so delicate but maybe the coats of clear are sufficient to protect them.

[Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy]

Yep, I did the whole airframe as if I was only doing it as a regular camouflage-job, decals and all. Then, instead of the usual coat of clear, I put several coats of clear as a thicker protective layer. The steel wool used was the absolute smallest, finest grade I could find, really only feels like slightly rough cloth to the fingers. The white is acrylic (all other paints were enamel or the lacquer clear) and was easily worn away by the gentle rubbing of the steel wool. No danger to the decals unless you're really scrubbing away hard on top of them.

Edited June 26, 2016 by Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy

[Plasto]

The Yak build looks good as is.. If you wanted to try something different you could use the new Mig washable white paint.

Spray on allow to dry and then wet in area you want to remove and scrubs it off. It's possible to get a realistic finish as its the same process as real world winter distemper.

Works well.

I used it on a JU-87 build I work on now and again..

HTH

Plasto

[Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy]

Oh, I DEFINITELY like that! If it's for an aircraft that was sprayed white distemper, that's definitely the way to go, I think.

Mine wasn't supposed to have been sprayed on the real thing, hand painted around the markings etc on the real thing, so that's the difference for that.

But MAN, I like what you've got with that Mig spray!!

[Smudge]

That Stuka looks great, that is definitely the look I'm after.

Cheers for the info on the Mig paint.

[Smudge]

Thanks for all the help, input and suggestions. Here's a link to some pictures of how I got on.

 

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234998914-yak-7b-soviet-winter-camo-finish/

 

Much better I think.

 

Cheers, guys.

Edited February 7, 2017 by Smudge
link

[cossack52]

i have used a slightly different method;prime with white acrylic spray,acoat of finished colour,(it doesn't need to be all that thick or opaque)then ru down with scotchbrite

[Smudge]

Ok that's a method that could work. 

 

I'm never happy if I paint an undercoat over a top coat, like primer or natural metals, supposedly showing through. Maybe because I know I just painted it on top, that's just what it looks like. Maybe if I was looking at someone else's work I wouldn't notice 

[Massimo Tessitori]

Hi all, 

maybe some photos of real planes with winter finish could be a good starting point. 

Here is a page on the Sovietwarplanes site in its current location:

http://massimotessitori.altervista.org/sovietwarplanes/pages/colors/winter/winter.html

It depends much on what effect you wants. I would leave the 'peeling' technique that gives too sharp results.

Regards

Massimo

 

[bruce bay]

A little late I know - as it looks like you have completed a lovely Yak already. But for future ref, this might be of use. 

 

I recently finished a He111 which I wanted to do in worn down winter camo, as a test run for my current build which is an SU-2. 

 

I had good (I think) results with 2 thick coats of hairspray over the camo which I left to dry for an hour. On top of that I sponged on artist's masking fluid in areas I thought would be very well worn - eg around walkways, fuel caps and leading edges, and over the markings. 

 

Then I sprayed the whole kit very lightly with a rattle can of white primer - specifically The Army Painter white primer. This primer dries very quickly, and very matte, which I feel (though I could be wrong) helps when it comes to the chipping away. 

 

Once that top coat of white was dry I just rubbed with a stiff brush and got the below results. With the primer - even in the areas where I didn't rub away the white there's a slight bit of show-through to what's below. Which I quite like. 

 

Best,