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New vs Old panels


robw_uk

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quick help needed guys.... on my Hellcat I have done pre-shading which, under the white, looks ok (not too OTT)... when I do the mid blue I am expecting some variation but not so much with the dark blue. For this I wanted to mark some oe thf panels to show replacements (assume therefore no (little) fading in the sun).. .... so should I

1) paint the dark blue with a drop of white to fade the upper surfaces then paint the "new" panels in the original dark blue

2) paint the upper surfaces in the original dark blue then the new panels in dark blue + a bit of blak (to darken)....

or some combination of 1, 2 and mystical option 3...

thanks for the help guys

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or some combination of 1, 2 and mystical option 3...

I've had bad experiences with mixing my own paint, as I always tend to run out before I finish and then I can never get exactly the same match. Therefore I prefer mystical option 3 which would be to experiment with paint from different manufacturers, as they all tend to differ slightly. Use whichever is lighter for the main colour and whichever is darker for the new panels. Maybe Lifecolor as the main colour with Tamiya as the darker "new" paint.

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I've had bad experiences with mixing my own paint, as I always tend to run out before I finish and then I can never get exactly the same match. Therefore I prefer mystical option 3 which would be to experiment with paint from different manufacturers, as they all tend to differ slightly. Use whichever is lighter for the main colour and whichever is darker for the new panels. Maybe Lifecolor as the main colour with Tamiya as the darker "new" paint.

now that is a good thought - which was why I was going for out of the tin for the base coat then only 2/3 panels darkened (maybe 1 drop of black in 5 drops of blue type ratio).....

Edited by robw_uk
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Personally I would not darken the original dark blue.. that colour is already dark enough and adding black would make it too dark IMHO.

The advice of using different brands is good as will allow you to avoid mixing. An alternative is to paint everything the original colour, then prepare a lighter mix and spray this very thinly only inside the "old" panels, leaving the area around the panel lines in the original colour. In this way the "new" panels would be left in the original colour too.

Another alternative, if you haven't spraied the dark blue already, is to paint a base light colour, then select some panels and paint them darker. Finally you can pass very light coats of dark blue paint, to allow the difference in the underlying panels colour to show through.

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Personally I would not darken the original dark blue.. that colour is already dark enough and adding black would make it too dark IMHO.

The advice of using different brands is good as will allow you to avoid mixing. An alternative is to paint everything the original colour, then prepare a lighter mix and spray this very thinly only inside the "old" panels, leaving the area around the panel lines in the original colour. In this way the "new" panels would be left in the original colour too.

Another alternative, if you haven't spraied the dark blue already, is to paint a base light colour, then select some panels and paint them darker. Finally you can pass very light coats of dark blue paint, to allow the difference in the underlying panels colour to show through.

thanks for the tips... have done the white & intermediate blue.... dark blue later this week.... think my skill with an AB would not allow me to spray inside panles - they are quite small @ 1.72 and I have only just statred using the AB - might go for the "spary lighter then paint darker" option.... the way I paint the light colour will look uneven anyway (and thus faded) ;-).... for the "pass very light coats of dark blue paint," - do you mean mist ove trhe light in dark blue so it is very very palely accented?

should this be done as part of weathering (ie once future & decal work is done) or as part of general painting?

thanks again

EDIT

thought on this - would I get random enough if I blu-tacked the panel lines and misted in the middle lighter? I have done that for the demarkation between white & mid-blue and got fuzzy edges - but I guess to hard for weathering and would just end up patchwork....

then again, have scouted thorugh WIP and finished models and none of the hellcats have my "new panel" idea in them so cant see how it would work... experimentation time - god bless the widgeon and all who paint her!!!!!!!!

Edited by robw_uk
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I find that using clear varnish in varying amounts of 'Shinyness' (or indeed mattiness) gives a nice subtle effect, it changes the colour with out really changing it at all, tinting the varnish on lighter colours helps as well.

As with any technique practice on someting first

Richard McC

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then again, have scouted thorugh WIP and finished models and none of the hellcats have my "new panel" idea in them so cant see how it would work...

US Navy aircraft which were in the three-colour scheme used an early formulation of Gloss Sea Blue which did fade. Aircraft in the overall Gloss Sea Blue scheme used a different formulation which was very hard wearing and was intended to prevent fading and chipping.

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US Navy aircraft which were in the three-colour scheme used an early formulation of Gloss Sea Blue which did fade. Aircraft in the overall Gloss Sea Blue scheme used a different formulation which was very hard wearing and was intended to prevent fading and chipping.

well mine is the tri-colour scheeme => it will need to be faded...... more chance to learn....

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Yes, I mean mist the dark blue. In the end it's the same concept of preshading, just applied to whole panels rather than panel lines only. Of course being sea blue a very dark colour care is rquired to gradullay build up the cover so that it allows some of the underlying variations to show through

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Yes, I mean mist the dark blue. In the end it's the same concept of preshading, just applied to whole panels rather than panel lines only. Of course being sea blue a very dark colour care is rquired to gradullay build up the cover so that it allows some of the underlying variations to show through

thanks all.....[ I have gone for "scaled" blue - picked up from cybermodeller I think so maybe not quite as dark as it should be... anyway , once i have it painted I will put it in my WIP thread

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well, went for paler base coat - 5:1 Hum 77:white..... will pick out a couple of darker panels to be "as new" before clear coat then add panel lines (black or neat dark blue?)... my one question, I know horizontal surfaces tend to fade quicker than vertical from the sun, but should I have gone 5:1 blue:white on the pale blue as well?

Image showing the tri-colour as it stands:

4724525885_9176dbbe57_b.jpg

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ok... so I have the base coat on.... for the upper surface I want to do some paint variation for fading..... I have seen a number of techniques (salt wash for example) but want to do some light misting in varying hues of the blue to try to mimic the weathering... soooooo.... before or after gloss coat & decals? (am not talking panel lines or oil stains - even I know they have to go on after everything......)

thanks guys.....

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I'd do it after the decals - after all, the markings fade too. As I don't own an airbrush, my technique involves light use of pale pastels (light grey, for instance), and that's definitely asfter everything else.

One thought: a lot of people fade only the centres of panels. I don't know why. There's no reason to think the paint near the edges is any less vulnerable to the sun. I expect there's an argument for edges to be stained darker because they're around the panel lines, but that's often overdone, and you get a curious gradation from dark at the edge, to normal colour near the edge, to faded in the middle. If it were me, I'd fade everything first and then add panel line treatments over the top.

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I'd do it after the decals - after all, the markings fade too. As I don't own an airbrush, my technique involves light use of pale pastels (light grey, for instance), and that's definitely asfter everything else.

One thought: a lot of people fade only the centres of panels. I don't know why. There's no reason to think the paint near the edges is any less vulnerable to the sun. I expect there's an argument for edges to be stained darker because they're around the panel lines, but that's often overdone, and you get a curious gradation from dark at the edge, to normal colour near the edge, to faded in the middle. If it were me, I'd fade everything first and then add panel line treatments over the top.

pigsty - thanks for that - I was leaning to after decals & gloss coat as well to protect my expertly painted plane (hahahaha)... just watched a couple of uselesstube clips from promodeller and may invest in some of their washes as well - that way I can fade the blue then wash in panel lines and dirt etc afterwards.......

this also means that I wont be far off finishing the Hellcat (at least the basic part) - just ened to panit the bombs and assemble the additional parts and maybe a little touch up on the white undersurface which has got a little battered when I painted the rest.....

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I'd do the general weathering o the paint before the coat and decals, and then do the panel lines wash and some dusting after decals and coat. This to weather the decals too.

Mind that any effect you have before the various gloss and matt coats will be flattened by the clear coats and show less. Not too bad a thing, in most cases these effect are better if subtle.

As to why may modellers tend to lighten only he centre of the panel, the reason is to make the model more 3-dimensional. Sure exagerating would end with a nice "quilted" model, something that can sometimes be seen in magazines and at model shows... An even better 3-dimensional effect is achieved by lightnening and darkening different areas to recreate the kind of shadows seen on an actual 1/1 plane. Now some modellers don't like these artistic effects, some love them... it's a matter of taste.

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