F
Fenlander
Guest
Thanks again for the great comments guys. appreciated.
Scott The final coat of Klear, over the decals, was left overnight, finished spraying about 10:00 and applied the wash at 8:30 the next morning before I went to work. The wash I used first was Promodellers Dark Dirt but I later picked out a few details on the upper surface where the dark colours were hiding the effect with Black. This was heavily painted all over, bubbles and all. As I was mainly looking at emphasising the panel lines I could have just gone over them but it would have been such a faf on a model this small. On the 24th, I may have just done the lines. Anyway, what you have to remember with the Promodeller wash is that it is a clay suspension. When it dries out t can all be removed with a wet cloth, and I mean all. Even the stuff settled in the panel lines will come out again if it gets too wet or you are a bit over enthusiastic.
So, the trick is to remove as much as you need by gently rubbing, in the direction of the airflow with a barely damp cloth or strong kitchen towel. Have to say that I used a square cut out of an ASDA dishcloth which is like a plain JCloth, a woven soft material. Kitchen towel sounds so scratchy, it goes through me lol. Anyway, by gently repeating this and resisting the temptation to make it faster by wetting the cloth more, you get a great effect.
The reason I say to wipe in the direction of the airflow is simply that any wash that remains on the surface, and it looks like very light weathering, looks more natural if it 'flows' front to back rather than wingtip to wingtip.
If you really want a dirty look, as I did on the Mustang, I didn't use much of a damp cloth, it was mostly dry. This takes much longer but leaves a subtle film of dirt on the surface as well as the build up in the panel lines. Also, by doing it mostly dry, which I did underneath the Spitfire, it also leaves a subtle build up around the base of raised details like the bomb mounts which you can just see on the picture. I am not suggesting that there would be a build up of dirt there, I just don't know. However, it acted like a shadow effect for raised detail which I quite liked. Had I not done so, I could have cleaned it off with a damp QTip or cotton bud.
The great thing is that there is no way this wash will ever dry to the point where it could not be removed with water so don't feel intimidated by it, just try it out and if it is too much, keep washing. For the same reason, it is no good trying to remove excess while it is still wet as it will pull out of the panel lines straight away as that is where it will be the wettest. Leave it to really dry then away you go.
If you over do the cleaning, just slap some more on again and repeat. I would recommend these washes to anyone. They come in a range of colours and are mixable to make other shades. I currently have the Dark Dirt, Black, Rust and Sand but I will be getting the white and the mud brown very soon. The white is good for lightening the other washes as well as in its own right. I also believe there is a thicker winter wash that will become available which comes in a pump action spray bottle as it is a little thicker and cannot be airbrushed, but could be used to simulate faded winter white on tanks etc. All the others can be airbrushed without thinning but I have yet to try it. Not sure what the advantages would be apart from getting a fine thin even coat that would be left as it is and not rubbed off.
P.S. Resist the temptation to use it directly over matt paint. As all matt or flat paints create a textured, slightly rough surface, the wash will get engrained into this and would need too wet a cloth to remove it from the surface and you will end up removing it from the panel lines to. By using it over Klear or a gloss varnish of some kind, the much smother surface allows you more control.
Scott The final coat of Klear, over the decals, was left overnight, finished spraying about 10:00 and applied the wash at 8:30 the next morning before I went to work. The wash I used first was Promodellers Dark Dirt but I later picked out a few details on the upper surface where the dark colours were hiding the effect with Black. This was heavily painted all over, bubbles and all. As I was mainly looking at emphasising the panel lines I could have just gone over them but it would have been such a faf on a model this small. On the 24th, I may have just done the lines. Anyway, what you have to remember with the Promodeller wash is that it is a clay suspension. When it dries out t can all be removed with a wet cloth, and I mean all. Even the stuff settled in the panel lines will come out again if it gets too wet or you are a bit over enthusiastic.
So, the trick is to remove as much as you need by gently rubbing, in the direction of the airflow with a barely damp cloth or strong kitchen towel. Have to say that I used a square cut out of an ASDA dishcloth which is like a plain JCloth, a woven soft material. Kitchen towel sounds so scratchy, it goes through me lol. Anyway, by gently repeating this and resisting the temptation to make it faster by wetting the cloth more, you get a great effect.
The reason I say to wipe in the direction of the airflow is simply that any wash that remains on the surface, and it looks like very light weathering, looks more natural if it 'flows' front to back rather than wingtip to wingtip.
If you really want a dirty look, as I did on the Mustang, I didn't use much of a damp cloth, it was mostly dry. This takes much longer but leaves a subtle film of dirt on the surface as well as the build up in the panel lines. Also, by doing it mostly dry, which I did underneath the Spitfire, it also leaves a subtle build up around the base of raised details like the bomb mounts which you can just see on the picture. I am not suggesting that there would be a build up of dirt there, I just don't know. However, it acted like a shadow effect for raised detail which I quite liked. Had I not done so, I could have cleaned it off with a damp QTip or cotton bud.
The great thing is that there is no way this wash will ever dry to the point where it could not be removed with water so don't feel intimidated by it, just try it out and if it is too much, keep washing. For the same reason, it is no good trying to remove excess while it is still wet as it will pull out of the panel lines straight away as that is where it will be the wettest. Leave it to really dry then away you go.
If you over do the cleaning, just slap some more on again and repeat. I would recommend these washes to anyone. They come in a range of colours and are mixable to make other shades. I currently have the Dark Dirt, Black, Rust and Sand but I will be getting the white and the mud brown very soon. The white is good for lightening the other washes as well as in its own right. I also believe there is a thicker winter wash that will become available which comes in a pump action spray bottle as it is a little thicker and cannot be airbrushed, but could be used to simulate faded winter white on tanks etc. All the others can be airbrushed without thinning but I have yet to try it. Not sure what the advantages would be apart from getting a fine thin even coat that would be left as it is and not rubbed off.
P.S. Resist the temptation to use it directly over matt paint. As all matt or flat paints create a textured, slightly rough surface, the wash will get engrained into this and would need too wet a cloth to remove it from the surface and you will end up removing it from the panel lines to. By using it over Klear or a gloss varnish of some kind, the much smother surface allows you more control.
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