Antony Robertson Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 (edited) Hi all As the title says, what is the best way to achieve realistic exhaust staining on the Lancaster? Also, is the staining only on the top of the wings or underneath as well? Any tips or simple well illustrated step by step guides welcome! Antony Edited February 18, 2011 by Antony Robertson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcn Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Hi allAs the title says, what is the best way to achieve realistic exhaust staining on the Lancaster? Also, is the staining only on the top of the wings or underneath as well? Any tips or simple step by step guides welcome! Antony I would suggest you create a buff sandwich. Make a thick line with an appropriate oil colour say a 50/50 mix of xf1 and xf10 highly thinned and then fill the middle in with a buff colour again highly thinned moving the AB further away from the wing as you spray along it (applicable for both your oil mix and the buff) Also the outer engine only stains on the inner exhaust whereas the inner is both exhausts. underside, yes i believe so but check some photos first Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galgos Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 (edited) Here's a couple of photos Antony to illustrate typical exhaust staining from wartime Lancs, as you can see the staining is both above and below the wings and alongside the engine nacelles. Before I bought my airbrush, I did my staining using pastels - if you do this it's important to buy the soft pastels and NOT the oil pastels - the latter will just make a horrid smeary mess. Crush a small section of the pastel into a powder and gradually apply with a dry brush, building up the layers. Once done, the pastels will need fixing with a lacquer or similar. With an airbrush it's just a question of thinning your paint (I always use Vallejo ModelAir - they're brilliant) and spraying with a very light trigger action, again building up the layers. Along the upper wings the colour distribution seems to be a slightly off white as the main, on the outer edges a little buff colour fading into a dark grey. Hope this helps Regards Max Edited February 18, 2011 by galgos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowmk9 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 (edited) First of all, Don't do what I did! But seriously, what has been said so far is good advice. Basically whatever paints you end up using, make sure they are thinned very very well. It takes patience because at first it looks like nothing is happening, but its very easy to overdo it so just be careful. I used lifecolour tensocrom White Oxide on mine, but to be honest any thinned down white or 'off white' paint will do. I also used Tamiya XF-55 Deck Tan, which is a sorta buff colour. Here's a few piccys of wartime Lancasters, showing just how dirty and stained they got. VN(O)N from two angles and S-Sugar. Note the faded Roundel on the fuselage side, not sure if you want to try weathering that too - brave if you do! As you can see, the exhaust stains on my model are actually quite conservative. almost makes me want to try increasing them come to think of it... hmmm. maybe if I'm feeling dangerous! Edit: Also note how the inner engines have ALOT more staining than the outers, and as Galgos rightly pointed out during my build, the outer exhaust on the outside Merlins produce nearly no staining on the upper wing. Edited February 18, 2011 by rowmk9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 I've not plucked up the courage to spray the marks on yet I use dry pastel, but find it easier to have a piece of sandpaper that I rub the pastel on then use a brush to collect the residue from the sandpaper and apply it. Downside of pastel is that if you varnish spray it afterwards, the lighter colours dissapear. Guess I need to have a bash at airbrushing ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antony Robertson Posted February 19, 2011 Author Share Posted February 19, 2011 Thanks for all the tips guys, guess its going to be a case of be brave and build up in layers! Antony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roland Pulfrew Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Help required then team. If I risk all and consider spray painting the exhaust marks onto my REAF Lancaster, any suggestions about colours and the order of spray? I have seen superb kits that appear to have a pale grey outer with a brown-black core. I understand that the grey staining was due to the lead in the fuel being deposited as part of the exhaust. Slightly nervous of the next step if I am honest. I'm not convinced that I can get a fine enough spray from my Badger. Any suggestions as to thinning ratios and spray pressure? Any suggestions gratefully accepted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smeds Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 (edited) If you are worried about the thickness of the staining, try masking. When I say masking, I mean hold some card or stiff paper with a slot about 10 mil or so above the wing and spray through the slot. I would use a low pressure and quite thin paint, that way you can build up the effect. Edited February 25, 2011 by smeds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowmk9 Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 What Smeds said! below 15psi and very heavily thinned. I don't do ratios, but the paint is more so thin it is like water. My adage is that more can always be added but its hard to take away what's already there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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