Painting Technique.....any offers?

[mackem01]

I have a couple of biplanes coming to the top of my build pile, at least one will be in unpainted fabric. I only use hairy sticks, and I was wondering is there a way to

show the "shadows" of the underlying framework that can sometimes be seen? A plain coat of colour doesn't look quite right.

[Beardie]

Difficult only using brushes unless you have a very steady hand and an artistic eye. Your best bet would possibly be giving the areas an overall clear doped linnen colour, mask off the areas you want darkened and then use a transparent oil colour neat from the tube spread very thinly over the are you want darkened. you can rub off excess and, as long as you use it very sparingly and gently it shouldn't get into the masked areas. If you are unhappy with the effect you have plenty of time to wipe it off and start again.

[thorfinn]

An enthusiastic second for the technique Beardie described. I love artists oils for such applications: they're easy to mix and can be applied quite precisely since they don't 'run.' With practice you can brush them out to a nearly transparent film of color, and they can be wiped away very cleanly if something goes amiss.

I would also recommend dry-brushing your base color with a slightly lightened tint of the same overall, before any shading or rib detail, to lend tonal variation to it. Our eyes are used to seeing subtle variations in even monotone colors, and the dry-brushing really helps to 'sell' the illusion.

Good luck.

[berman]

There is a good video tutorial available on brush painting with artist's oils. Excellent smooth finish that allows blending. Go to YouTube and  search for 

"Painting plastic models with brushes - oil paints"

[bristol boy]

I've been pondering the same thing and came up with the idea of using a permanent brown marker pen to draw the framing onto the plastic and then overspray with linen, depending on how many coats you put on and how thick the paint the frame lines will show to varying degrees. In my view this only works from underneath when you get light coming through the linen, the upper surface needs lighter lines on the ribs which can only really be achieved with masking and air brushing.

[krow113]

Drybrushing with pigments is a neat way to recreate subtle tonal variations , I would put the work described here in that category . Sealing each application with flat clears will also create some depth.

Perhaps a combination of watercolor pencils for the rib delineation  and the pigments for the shading...

[Killingholme]

You can get an airbrush and compressor on internet auction sites for about £70. Go on, why not??? You'll never look back!

[Work In Progress]

I have had good success with this sort of thing using artists' pastel pencils to highlight or lowlight flat-painted surfaces. It can be quite a subtle effect. You need to mist on a spray clearcoat over the top to fix it once you're happy, but that can be aerosol rather than airbrush.

[krow113]

For a 1/72 scale Hansa I used W&N watercolor pencils, a medium brown:

The oversprayed that|:

 

The pencils are made to be worked with a brush and water after , so you could pencil in the line and make the faded look that way.

A set of the pencils is cheaper than an airbrush.

You don't state what scale the kits are . I would suggest that methods and materials can change as the scale does.

Edited December 1, 2017 by krow113