Dusty Quad tyres

[Black Knight]

I'm just finishing an Airfix 1/48 Quad (four-wheel ATC)

I've painted the tyres 'Rubber Black' but that doesn't look just right.   Much too 'just fitted by Kwik-fit' look

 

Any suggestions on how to give them a more 'dusty' look? 

[other than blowing real house dust on them! - or would that work? ]

 

I'm out of my usual build genre on this

 

TIA

Fred

 

 

[Pedagogue54]

https://www.scaledracula.com/how-to-paint-and-weather-rubber-wheels/

[Ade H]

What's the theatre? Are you an oil or water guy? I can probably give you a step-by-step, but I'd need to know what look you want and what materials you like to use.

 

P.S. Is this a Morris C8 or a modern vehicle with the same nickname? Only somewhat relevant.

Edited January 17, 2022 by Ade H

[Tojo72]

If I want dusty tires,I will dust them with pigments,any will do,I have an assortment of Mig Pigments.Colors don't matter unless you really want to depict the vehicle in a specific setting.

[Black Knight]

A half-baked question by me

The Quad is a modern British Army All-Terrain Cycle or Vehicle aka ATC or ATV

I'm attempting to do it as per the kit, ie in Afghanistan

 

I use almost any type of paint or whatever to get to the end. I do not use artists oil paints, but will use artists acrylics or chalks et cetera

But I can't get some of the 'specialist' pigments or paints so I need to try and use commonly available products

[bentwaters81tfw]

Having been in the next 'stan up, the roads tend to be unpaved and an off-white colour. My effort for a UAZ 452 minibus entailed a coating of dust, with more on the tyres

To create the effect, I slopped a coat of Klear over the subject and literally gave it dusting of wholemeal flour*. The tyres I ran through a layer of it on a sheet of paper, then cleaned up the tread face afterwards.  

 

*I poured some flour into a bowl and let the fine dust settle on the subject. This is my -so far- only attempt at weathering in this fashion.

[Ade H]

35 minutes ago, Black Knight said:

But I can't get some of the 'specialist' pigments or paints so I need to try and use commonly available products

Ah, I see. I wouldn't be too confident about describing my methods and expecting it to be transferable to chalks. Almost all of my weathering is done with oils and pigments and, as some of it entails mixing the two media, a proper ready-ground pigment is essential. I checked a few publications today, e.g. The Weathering: Wheels and Tracks and an AK equivalent, but there isn't really anything which would easily be reworked to suit your media.

 

That said, one thing which I've lately started doing is airbrushing pigments in acrylic thinner (I use Vallejo for its binder content, but Tamiya X-20a may also work). That may sound mad but it really works.

 

But without pigments, you can still get fairly close to the same effect, albeit more two-dimensional, with paint and a matting agent of some kind, be that ultra-matte varnish or a matte base, or just dead flat paint dusted on. Some very good AFV modellers, such as Lester Plaskett and David Parker, use Tamiya matte paints for light dust. It's old school but it works.

 

Mask the wheel hubs and you can easily freehand it, or make some card templates. Make a few different shapes (use photos of dusty wheels for inspiration) and hold them a little way off the tyres.