The Chief Smeg Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 Hi everyone, I have been lurking on here for a while now looking for tips and pointers; so I finally decided to register and ask questions. I am about to return to modelling after a major 35 year hiatus, but having said that, I am really more of a newbie. I used to build airfix kits and add the water slide transfers and that was pretty much it, any painting was done with a cheap brush and humbrol enamels (and not often at that) I more enjoyed the building. Anyway, looking on here has inspired me (especially the work of Andy Moore; I mean WOW). What I do need is advice. I have been bought the bandai 1/12 scale R2 and BB8 kit and I'm wondering where to start with weathering. The kit is still on its sprues so I have yet to make any kind of start, as for materials I have some Sprue cutters, craft knife and diamond files from some of my day job tools (I'm an engineer - mainly in the aircraft and submarines industries; 3 colour smoke pod in the red arrows hawk is some of my work). So, where do I start - I want to build the kits and start to introduce some grime to each droid, bit of dust for bb8 and some oily type grime for R2. Help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Station Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 All I really used for my bb-8 was the weathering color from tamiya, applied with a brush, and a dark wash to bring out the panel lines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeoman1942 Posted July 8, 2016 Share Posted July 8, 2016 I'd get some acrylic wash , bandai kits don't like enamel thinners, to bring out the panel lines and some ultimate modelling wash light dirt for R2 and maybe some sandy pigment to make BB8 dusty. It's weathering it's normally a case of less is more. Welcome back to the hobby, it's changed a lot in the last 30 years, definitely for the better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chief Smeg Posted July 8, 2016 Author Share Posted July 8, 2016 I'd get some acrylic wash , bandai kits don't like enamel thinners, to bring out the panel lines and some ultimate modelling wash light dirt for R2 and maybe some sandy pigment to make BB8 dusty. It's weathering it's normally a case of less is more. Welcome back to the hobby, it's changed a lot in the last 30 years, definitely for the better You are not kidding when you say it has changed! Thanks all for your advice, I'll place my order and see him w much of a mess I can make. One final question, I'll be attempting to apply the wash with a fe brush, do I need to add anything underneath it first or do I just g straight onto the model? I'm guessing I'll need something to fix the pigment I add to BB8... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeoman1942 Posted July 8, 2016 Share Posted July 8, 2016 I have used he wash directly on bandai plastic before. I brush some water along e panel line first and then apply the wash with a different brush. The wash tends to sink into the panel line and gives you a nice clean edge. Any over wash can be cleaned up with water. You can go over the whole kit with a satin or gloss varnish first, but you then have the job of applying a coat of Matt or satin varnish after the wash to tone every thing down again. I don't bother with fixing pigment unless I am doing mud. My logic is its a dusty product and you want a dusty finish. You can make pigment from the ultimate wash by sticking about tea spoons worth in the microwave for a bout 30 seconds to drive off the water. Have a look at my centurion to see what it looks like on a kit I practice on an old hulk kit to see what works before moving on to the more prized kits. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chief Smeg Posted July 8, 2016 Author Share Posted July 8, 2016 I see what you mean about the dust you added to the spare track pieces mounted on the front. I have been looking on YouTube a lot and have watched a number of videos of tanks being weathered by hand using Vallejo acrylics that have been thinned with water first, I may try my hand at that because the technique of wetting the area first looks like it's makes things very controllable. I have no spare kits to practice on, but R2 does come with open and closed panels, so I'll play on the closed one because I would like to pose him with his tools on show. Nice build on that Centurian btw. The airbrush work you mentioned is something I plan for the future - I can at least spray with a real gun so hopefully adapting my technique to an airbrush will not be so difficult (well, that's the plan anyway) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeoman1942 Posted July 8, 2016 Share Posted July 8, 2016 Getting a air brush and compressor is the best £70 of modelling kit I have bought since the hobby. You tube is a good resource for the use of weathering products. Have a look at UMP for some tips on how to use there products. Once you get an air brush their thinners and cleaner are the business Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chief Smeg Posted July 8, 2016 Author Share Posted July 8, 2016 Many thanks for all your help Yeoman, much appreciated. I'll add ump to my list of resources! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orangesherbert Posted July 8, 2016 Share Posted July 8, 2016 You sound just like me not a month ago! Ive just recently become a member after watching the forum from a far for about 10 months or so. Andy Moore has inspired many of my builds as well. He's got some skills! There are some really talented builders on here though, as you've probably discovered. Definitely get an airbrush and compressor, and not one of those electric ones, as i got one of those and it was poop. Some nice clay washes as well. If you let them dry out they turn into pigment (just like Yeoman said. Must try the microwave trick). Which is handy for dustyness. And yes, youtube is essential. Thats kinda what got me back into building again after 30 years. There seems to be a lot of us about! Looking forward to seeing your build. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chief Smeg Posted July 8, 2016 Author Share Posted July 8, 2016 Thanks for your words of encouragement and the tip about the clay washes - hadn't spotted those. Don't expect great shakes from my first build, I reckon my last kit was either a Polaris submarine or an X-Wing around the time ESB was out at the cinema and I very rarely painted anything, then it was just all about the build, now however... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomMajor Posted July 8, 2016 Share Posted July 8, 2016 I use artists pastels for weathering. Rub them on some sand paper and apply the powder using a round tip paint paint brush. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chief Smeg Posted July 8, 2016 Author Share Posted July 8, 2016 Phantom major I have just seen that very technique on a Japanese modelling video on YouTube it looked to give good results Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Moore Posted July 8, 2016 Share Posted July 8, 2016 I have been looking on YouTube a lot and have watched a number of videos of tanks being weathered by hand using Vallejo acrylics that have been thinned with water first, I may try my hand at that because the technique of wetting the area first looks like it's makes things very controllable. Acrylics can be great for weathering, and I use them all the time for that purpose, but if you're going to try it, pick up some flow retarder. Vallejo do it, as do Winsor & Newton and others. Add a drop to the paint on you're palette and it stops it drying too quickly. You can then use the paint more like oils and blend and feather them on the kit. The clay washes that other have mentioned are also very good for replicating dusty finishes. I used UMP light dirt on U9-C4 to get a dusty look. On BB-8 I did all the weathering with enamel washes which you can use on Bandai plastic as long as you don't swamp the surface with them. I use them neat from the jar, quite sparingly, then blend them on the surface. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chief Smeg Posted July 9, 2016 Author Share Posted July 9, 2016 Thanks Andy, I'll add some flow retarder to my list (it's getting longer all the time). I was a little concerned at encountering the problem of tide marks that a lot of people have been mentioning on here, I had figured that if I went slowly enough then I should be able to keep that to a minimum, then I find there is a magic potion that will also help! Thanks Andy, very much appreciated. I know there are only supposed to be two( a Master and the Apprentice), but this forum seems to be a full Jedi academy and a very friendly and helpful place. Thank you all so much. One final thing (and sort of off topic) but if any of you have a bit of spare time, check out http://www.badobsessionmotorsport.co.uk/category/projects/project-binky/these guys are chucking the engine and running gear from a Toyota Celica GT4 into a mini, the amount of fabrication work going on there makes it more like a 1:1 model! Thank you all Smeggy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chief Smeg Posted July 10, 2016 Author Share Posted July 10, 2016 Acrylics can be great for weathering, and I use them all the time for that purpose, but if you're going to try it, pick up some flow retarder. Vallejo do it, as do Winsor & Newton and others. Add a drop to the paint on you're palette and it stops it drying too quickly. You can then use the paint more like oils and blend and feather them on the kit. The clay washes that other have mentioned are also very good for replicating dusty finishes. I used UMP light dirt on U9-C4 to get a dusty look. On BB-8 I did all the weathering with enamel washes which you can use on Bandai plastic as long as you don't swamp the surface with them. I use them neat from the jar, quite sparingly, then blend them on the surface. Andy I'm going to steer clear of enamels, I saw the problems you had on the AT-ST, the rest though is on order, along with some Gauzy which (I have on good authority: Ie. this forum) is the dogs dangly's. Thanks to all those who have posted responses and to the rest of you people on this forum who have inspired me to return to modelling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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