Sturmgeschutz Ausf.G 7.5cm without zimmerit

[Retired Bob]

Todays update, the rain and wind finally stopped so I improved the green camouflage a bit and then sprayed on a coat of future ready to apply some MiG dark wash to all the recesses and raised detail.

However my hypertension had kicked in for some reason, I checked my blood pressure......woa, 159/99 that's just about to go off the chart so tablet taken and a long walk was needed, no sitting still and painting, hopefully it will be back down tomorrow. 

[PlaStix]

Hi Bob. How are you doing today? I hope you are feeling somewhat better and you have been able to do some more work on your project. It was looking excellent last time seen.

Kind regards,

Stix

[Retired Bob]

2 hours ago, PlaStix said:

Hi Bob. How are you doing today? I hope you are feeling somewhat better and you have been able to do some more work on your project. It was looking excellent last time seen.

Thanks Stix, I'm not sure what sets my hypertension off but I have been better today so a dark wash has been applied to both the StuG's with and without zimmerit, hairspray and whitewash for this non-zimmerited StuG tomorrow, I will use Tamiya white as that sprays better than other makes.  Not sure how long to leave the white before scrubbing some off, I will have a look at Ray's build to see if he mentions how long he left the paint to harden.

[Ned]

Hope you're OK Bob. I've never tried hairspray chipping, but 20 minutes is generally enough time for most things to do what they're supposed to do. Except for soft boiled eggs.

[Retired Bob]

13 minutes ago, Ned said:

Hope you're OK Bob. I've never tried hairspray chipping, but 20 minutes is generally enough time for most things to do what they're supposed to do. Except for soft boiled eggs.

Having read Ray's thread he doesn't mention which paint he used for the winter camouflage or how long it was left for, the yellow base was a lacquer based paint, I have put a coat of future over my yellow acrylic paint so that should take any rough scrubbing, it will be my first attempt at the hairspray technique so it will be interesting. 

[Ray_W]

6 hours ago, Retired Bob said:

Having read Ray's thread he doesn't mention which paint he used for the winter camouflage

 

Hi Bob,

 

Sorry, I did not go into the detail on my thread. If I can give some pointers:

 

1. I will apply a flat clear coat before the hairspray if I am concerned about possible damage to the colour coat. In this build I dispensed with the clear coat as I was using a robust Tamiya lacquer as the colour coat. I like applying the hairspray over a flat coat. 

 

2. Hairspray was applied after completing the weathering, such as chipping of surfaces, wear marks and pin wash. In other words, get the model looking like what it would look like before the white wash was applied. 

 

3. In this build I used TRESemme Fine Spray Extra Hold because it was what I could buy. I would of preferred a finer spray as this went on a little heavier than I wanted (heavy coats can lead to a more heavily/larger chipped appearance). I sprayed the model at a very long arms length to try and overcome this. Two light coats while ensuring good coverage with a quick hit with a hairdryer between coats and after to speed the drying process. We are talking a few minutes. Dries very quickly anyway. 

 

4. I then put the model aside and mixed up some Tamiya XF-2 Flat White using water as a thinner. How thin? About this or that, let's say thinner than normal but did not pool when sprayed. Sprayed the model immediately so total drying time between first coat of hair spray and first coat of white was lucky to be 10 minutes. Random coats of white to your taste.

 

5. Let the XF-2 dry - 10 minutes - and then it is time for the magic. Go to work with some water and a well used paint brush (I prefer an old softer Tamiya 3 mm and 6 mm flat).  Just work a small area at a time. It might be a panel or edge. Get the feel for what is going to happen. Apply more water in the area if needed and continue to work the selected area. I use the same brush to apply the water. One of those things where you wonder if anything will happen and then it starts. You can use different implements and experiment - stiffer brushes, tooth brush, toothpick. You can spray your white and leave the model for a considerable time, possibly days, and still come back and get the effect. Just that I do all in one sitting.

 

6. If unhappy, and after cleaning the surface (I use a 1/4" and 1/2" wide soft brush, chux wipe and Q-tip to remove any residual material) then a another light coat of hairspray and repeat as necessary.  

 

 Very simple process for great results. All done within 30 minutes.

 

Ray

[Retired Bob]

3 hours ago, Ray_W said:

 Very simple process for great results. All done within 30 minutes.

Thanks Ray for a very comprehensive description of your technique.  I will follow your example though I did wonder about decanting the hairspray into the airbrush to get a finer, more controllable coating onto the model, I suppose it depends how quickly any solvent in the hairspray vents off?

[Ray_W]

3 minutes ago, Retired Bob said:

I will follow your example though I did wonder about decanting the hairspray into the airbrush to get a finer, more controllable coating onto the model

 

I think this would be waste of time. The TRESemme I used, and they do have an extra fine that I could not find, went on thickish but self-levelled super thin. I have also tried AK fine chipping fluid although did not like its chips. Really I have just found hitting it with some cheap hairspray was all that was needed. 

 

There are a number of videos on the technique as you know. The one I like is this one by Michael Rinaldi. Worth watching as it clearly demonstrates the full technique real time. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCHVn47E6LA

 

Ray

[Retired Bob]

9 hours ago, Ray_W said:

There are a number of videos on the technique as you know. The one I like is this one by Michael Rinaldi. Worth watching as it clearly demonstrates the full technique real time. 

Thanks for the link Ray, I've seen some of their other videos but not this one.

Taking their advice I did some chipping before applying the hairspray.

They recommend having a practice on an old kit, don't they know how little time is remaining on this STGB!!

The wife's TRESemme ultra fine hairspray has been appropriated (while she is at work) cup of tea has been drunk so lets get spraying.

A chipped StuG and a new bottle of Tamiya XF-2 white and some filtered water, nothing can stop me now.

A good coating of hairspray and then a coat of water thinned Tamiya white.

Well mine didn't turn out exactly as planned, perhaps I did not apply enough hairspray because there are places where the white paint does not want to come off and giving the barrel a good scrub to show the scratches that I had applied resulted in ALL the paint, including the Mr Surfacer primer coming off, so I have a bare metal barrel again.

I have knocked a few bits of p/e and one of the engine covers has been taken by the carpet monster, I'm sure he will spit it back out after tasting the hairspray.

I'll call it a work in progress.  Any comments or suggestions gratefully accepted.

[Ozzy]

The trick I found doing the hairspray method, doing it in sections as the white paint needs to still be a little wet. Otherwise it’s a struggle to get off. Having the white still a bit wet, when you scrub you get a nice grimy look.

 

[THEscaleSHOW]

11 hours ago, Retired Bob said:

Thanks for the link Ray, I've seen some of their other videos but not this one.

Taking their advice I did some chipping before applying the hairspray.

They recommend having a practice on an old kit, don't they know how little time is remaining on this STGB!!

The wife's TRESemme ultra fine hairspray has been appropriated (while she is at work) cup of tea has been drunk so lets get spraying.

A chipped StuG and a new bottle of Tamiya XF-2 white and some filtered water, nothing can stop me now.

A good coating of hairspray and then a coat of water thinned Tamiya white.

Well mine didn't turn out exactly as planned, perhaps I did not apply enough hairspray because there are places where the white paint does not want to come off and giving the barrel a good scrub to show the scratches that I had applied resulted in ALL the paint, including the Mr Surfacer primer coming off, so I have a bare metal barrel again.

I have knocked a few bits of p/e and one of the engine covers has been taken by the carpet monster, I'm sure he will spit it back out after tasting the hairspray.

I'll call it a work in progress.  Any comments or suggestions gratefully accepted.

 

Good morning Bob!

 

Here is my experience:

Whether you use HS or Chipping Fluid, it doesn't really matter in principle.
The advantage of HS is that you can work on it longer (if you use a medium strength 3) than e.g. Worn effects from AK.
The application depends only on how you want to create the effect (large or fine chips).
The HS should be applied in 2-3 thin coats (let each coat dry first) and finally leave a slightly shiny sheen on the model, similar to a clear coat.
You can then immediately apply the water-diluted white non-opaque and remove this again with a brush etc. after drying.

I have made the following experiences:
1. little HS and long drying time of the white can be removed worse, but finer chips.
2. much HS and short drying time can be removed quickly and creates large chips

 

Your problem with the PE or aluminum parts you can simply solve with Metal Primer.

Just sand the parts with steel wool before, degrease with acetone and then prime.

 

PS: if you want to be sure with the chipping, apply a silk matt Laquer clearcoat before (let it dry for 2 days) to protect the basecoat.
Then you can scrape off the white paint more firmly without destroying anything.

 

MD

[Ray_W]

Hi Bob,

 

Looks like you were able to grab a can of the hairspray I like. Maybe you were a little tentative with the hairspray. Still not bad for a first go. I also expect if you wet some areas and focus on this you will remove a little more. A bit of post weathering and it will look very good. I still pick weld lines and bolts with Brown Tamiya Panel Line accent colour after the whitewash is complete. Usually I use a fine brush rather than the Tamiya bottle brush for a little more control. 

4 hours ago, THEscaleSHOW said:

slightly shiny sheen on the model

 

MD's advice is good. One thing I should of mentioned was the hairspray sheen on the model. 

 

Ray

[Retired Bob]

1 hour ago, Ray_W said:

Maybe you were a little tentative with the hairspray. Still not bad for a first go. I also expect if you wet some areas and focus on this you will remove a little more.

I thought that every thing was going so well, even the sun had come out while I was spraying, I went front to back and side to side until I had a good sheen on the model.  The sprockets weathered back just like the video so I was almost there, I shall apply some more washes and see how it looks after that.  I shall have a practice on an old tank hull and put into try out some of tips that I've been given, thanks all, every modelling day is a learning experience. 

[PlaStix]

Hi Bob. I hope you are keeping well. That was a very good first attempt and I'm sure with some additional weathering it will look fine.

Kind regards,

Stix

[THEscaleSHOW]

On 12/05/2021 at 15:47, Retired Bob said:

I thought that every thing was going so well, even the sun had come out while I was spraying, I went front to back and side to side until I had a good sheen on the model.  The sprockets weathered back just like the video so I was almost there, I shall apply some more washes and see how it looks after that.  I shall have a practice on an old tank hull and put into try out some of tips that I've been given, thanks all, every modelling day is a learning experience. 

... every modelling day is a learning experience.

 

Absolut! 👍

This hobby can never be boring 🙂

 

MD

[Retired Bob]

I thought that I had better update this thread, I have been experimenting with snow effects, I bought some AK snow sprinkles but I was not happy with the effect, after applying some to my StuG it dried into a clear patch of bubbles, I then applied some matt white paint but it still didn't look like snow.  Having been doing some work around the house I found that lightweight filler looks just like snow so that's what I applied to the tracks and wheels.  Any comments or questions are welcome.

 

[Retired Bob]

I missed the deadline to enter the gallery and even after another day of trying to finish it off this is as far as I've got, still to sort out the stowage and figures, then there are some tools that need painting.

At least I have a small base for it, the snow effect is the lightweight filler.

It's been fun to take part in this GB, I've learnt a lot about the StuG and I have a few less kits in the stash now. 

[Ozzy]

Thanks for taking part Bob, she looks fantastic.