Panel staining technique suggestions wanted

[lesthegringo]

All, after following the advice given on this forum for producing a faded look (which I am happy is working but maybe I have not done quite enough yet) I am still letf with a model that is a bit too clean. Faded a little, but clean. Now exhausts and oil / hydraulic fluid stains I can do with oil paints, however there is a a sort of slightly drimy look to panels that I see on many photos that I want to reproduce. We are not talking about the mottling, blotchy effect that can be reproduced by preshading using stencils or freehand airbrush with a darker or lighter paint, I'm talking about the panel to panel grubby look. 

 

If anyone can suggest ways to do this I would love to see them, weathering techniques pop up plenty online but not this

 

Cheers

 

Les 

[Ray_W]

Hi Les,

 

Oils are your friends. The technique Oil Paint Rendering (OPR) and one of its key proponents for scale modelling being Mike Rinaldi are worth looking up. You can do as much panel to panel variation as you want. For example, my current build.

 

 

I did mask and pre-spray some panels with variation such as the main panels on the fuselage and wings. I then started using the OPR technique on individual panels to get variation in grime and colour. For example that section on the top of the fin is done completely with oils. You can also see the more subtle variation in the fuselage panels that are more grime related, Still, work in progress but getting there.

 

I apply the chosen colours within the boundaries of the panel with a fine tip brush (prefer No. 2 or a No.1) and then work (blend) the colour across the panel with a more chisel point.

 

 

I use the following brushes for blending. I really like the round chisel point at the top.

 

 

Keep working it to what you want. Easy to remove along an edge if you go outside your panel with brush or cotton bud. The applied paint quantity is very small. I usually accelerate drying with a hair dryer so I can work more colour into it or work along an edge outside the panel just done.

 

One trick is you are always balancing the quantities of thinners you need dependent on the surface you're working on. The glossier the surface the less thinner. If it is a flat coat, I would apply a very thin coat of thinner to the surface before and have a slightly runnier mix. For the MiG-21 I am applying no thinner to the surface. The thinner in the brush (very little to start) is sufficient to get the effect I want. Seems like all painting, the most important factor is the amount of thinner used.

 

Here's a another recent example. The grey panels at the front and on the LEXR were done with oil paints over the basic Light Ghost Grey colour. Of course the usual grime around the rear and the other wear and tear is all oil paints.

 

 

I am using an Artist' brand White Spirit and Abteilung oils paints. 

 

A little bit of experimentation needed, but a very useful technique. 

 

Ray

 

 

 

 

[lesthegringo]

Thanks Ray; a bit of experimentation is in order then. One thing about the oils is that as I almost exclusively use Mr Color Lacquers now, I can always remove it back to the paint if I screw up, although I will never say that I like to do it. One thing I jhave been meaning to do is to get some of the artists odourless thinners, I've been told it is less aggressive that the turpentine I get locally

 

Cheers

 

Les

[Ray_W]

2 minutes ago, lesthegringo said:

I jhave been meaning to do is to get some of the artists odourless thinners, I've been told it is less aggressive that the turpentine I get locally

 

With Mr Color you have a fantastic and robust base to work on. The Mig-21 is AK Xtreme and I have not enjoyed the experience as much. I placed a light coat of GX-100 over it (no compatibility issues having left the Xtreme for 48 hours) and yet it still is not as robust. A few areas needed a touch up. I'll go back to Gunze Mr Color Super Metallics on my next metallic finish. Strangely I bought the AK Xtreme two years ago and was happy with the experience. I wonder about its shelf life.  

 

I use white spirit and also naphtha (lighter fluid). I like the latter for quick removal, quick drying and not very aggressive. Naphtha is excellent for effortless removal of Tamiya Panel Line Accent Color and not leaving that wet turps/odourless thinners/ white spirit slow drying residual. 

 

11 minutes ago, lesthegringo said:

I can always remove it back to the paint if I screw up

 

This is an enormous benefit of the technique. Easy removal with a gloss/semi-gloss base. A matt surface tends to leave some residual colour when trying to clean it off, although this effect is usually not a problem anyway.

 

Ray