Me-262 Afrika begins!

[Gekko_1]

........and here's how I do it.

Firstly, and MOST importantly, apply some form of gloss varnish. On the test pieces I airbrushed Tamiya gloss coat thinned 50% with X-20A. It went on alright, but not brilliantly. Next time I think I'll go back to Future, possibly brushed on?, I'll keep you posted.

Point is the underlying paint must be protected from the rigours of the weathering process by a gloss coat.

What I use:

Various artists acrylic paints. The reason why is simple, their cheap and most importantly there is absolutely no smell!



I squeezed out some Burnt Umber acrylic paint onto a mixing pallet, added some tap water (you can also ad a tiny bit of dish washing liquid too; I know most of you wouldn't know what that mysterious liquid is, so ask the wife, or your Mum / Mom and they'll point you in the right direction!)  



Next with a suitably thinned mix apply it to the model only in SMALL SECTIONS at a time!





Let the paint air dry. As soon as its air dry begin removing it with a suitably dampened (with water) cloth / T-shirt / T towel etc.



You work in only small sections at a time to maintain the control you need. Last thing you want is the paint to really set hard. You should still be able to wipe if off but it will make extra work for you that you don't need.





Some of the "staining" residue effect that can be achieved during the removal process can be useful to the final effect. As shown here with the red arrows. If I were using this part, the particular staining effect accidentally created here would be useful and interesting. If I'd kept rubbing I could have removed it entirely just leaving the filled panel lines.



If you only want a lightly coloured panel line simply apply a thinner mix, you could always put on another coat if it's too light. Also you can remove the lot with a dishwashing liquid / water combination and start again. Be careful with regards to the thinned wash running into cockpits, intakes etc, you really don't want that to happen, so, do little sections at a time.

The good thing about applying a panel line wash this way is that there are no horrible smells or fumes, you could even do it in the lounge room in front of the Tele (TV). B)

Oh, and this process may dull your chipping effect. Don't let that worry you, some of it will return as soon as you apply a flat coat. Plus the initial chipping effect described previously is exactly that, you will be doing some more chipping using some of the other greys and silvers later on.

Now, that'll do for the practise, now its onto the model!  



Richard.

[BlackOps]

Richard, I am really enjoying your step by step instructions. The colored pencil is brilliant!  I just happen to have some prismacolors here and I gave it a try on an inconspicuous spot on one of my models and it works like a charm!  


When you use Future how do you apply the it before a wash? do you thin it and airbrush it or apply it another way?

[Gekko_1]

Richard, I am really enjoying your step by step instructions. The colored pencil is brilliant!  I just happen to have some prismacolors here and I gave it a try on an inconspicuous spot on one of my models and it works like a charm! 


When you use Future how do you apply the it before a wash? do you thin it and airbrush it or apply it another way?

Excellent Jeff, so glad to hear somebody is getting something out of this!

As for Future, I've tried brush painting it in the past and have had a go at airbrushing it straight out of the bottle too. When I airbrushed it, it tended to pool a fair bit which I didn't like, so prefer to brush paint.

I have heard that it can be thinned with Tamiya thinner, but haven't tried it myself yet.



Richard.

[cthulhu77]

Most cool.  Impressive in-depth work.

[wolfik]

oh my gooooooooooooooooooooooooood!
yes! you are meant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
its the best painting school ever....

many many thanks!!!!

Peter

[wolfik]

by the way....IM VERY INTERESTED IN SUCH DECALS IN 1/48 scale.....
would be this sheet available?
please pretty pretty please!!!!!

Peter

[Gekko_1]

by the way....IM VERY INTERESTED IN SUCH DECALS IN 1/48 scale.....
would be this sheet available?
please pretty pretty please!!!!!

Peter

Hi Wolfik,

thanks, glad your enjoying the build.

As for decals, I may release a generic sheet later-on with these markings on it, but that's not a definite, and won't be done any time soon.



Richard.

[Gekko_1]

Check out this 262 in a 'What if' deseret scheme on Ebay! B)

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Me-262-Luft-46-1-48...1QQcmdZViewItem



Richard.

[John Howling Mouse]

Wow, Ft. Worth, Texas, eh?  Anyone happen to know who this "ButcherBird" fellow might be?

[rallymodeller]

Thanks for the "How To", Gekko! I might try that on my He-177. Gonna try my new Tamiya Weathering Pastels on my CF-104F first, though.

[Daryl J.]

Three cheers for the tutorial my good fellow!

Thank-you muchly
Daryl J.

[Gekko_1]

OK guys back again,

today I have to report the slow progress I'm making with the chipping. Things will start to look at bit more interesting once this preliminary chipping is complete and I get the first wash into place, that will add some depth to the model and bring out the panel lines. It will also have the effect of dulling down the silver a little. This works to our advantage, as you'll see later on.





This is the sort of thing you don't want to rush. I'd never try and do a model of this size all in one day. So I've spaced it out over several days and only added to it when I felt enthusiastic to do so.





By sticking to a sort of 'logic' with the paint chipping some interesting 'patterns' can develop. I never "plan" any of this, I just let the mood take me and things simply develop along the way. B)

Oh and make sure you avoid a 'mirror' effect! I've seen this done many a time where the modeller has inadvertently copied the weathering effect from one wing over to the other, producing a near perfect mirror copy. Make sure not to do this as is will lessen the effect your after and make it all look far less convincing.

Another experiment I've been toying with is the inclusion of water colour pencils to the weathering tools set. What I wanted to try and achieve was the streaking effect seen on aircraft like this:



So, with the aid of some water colour pencils I began some experiments.







I began by placing a small "dot" with the black water colour pencil, then with a flat brush, slightly dampened with water, streaked the dot backwards in the direction of the airflow. Experiments with this technique will continue, but so far I'm quite happy with the results.



Richard.

[Scooterman]

go Richard GO!!!

[John Howling Mouse]

Cool, I have a similar technique for flaps, etc. where I tape off the leading edge and sprinkle a bit of dry pastel dust (from rubbing it on sandpaper) and blending it rearwards with a Q-tip and/or Kleenex.

I like your watercolor pencil idea better as I'm sure it offers more control over the application of the streaks (mine is sometimes a bit too random).

[Gekko_1]

OK guys, things looking a little more interesting now.


I tried airbrushing Future thinned with Tamiya thinner and I must report that I was very impressed with the result. It gave me a nice glossy surface with little or no pooling. (not shown in photos) I will be using this mix from now on. 75% Future 25% Tamiya thinner X-20A.






(Yes I've spotted the hair too )

I'm quite happy with how things are turning out. With exactly two weeks to go until the local comp I'm pretty sure I'll make it this year!







As you can see that addition of the wash makes a big difference to the model. The paint chipping is now a little more subdued than it was. I will be reapplying it to a few places later.







The matt varnish I use is Testors Acrylic Flat Clear 1396. I love this stuff, I thin it with water about 50/50 and spray away! For me its worked perfect every time. This model will have additional Future and matt coats applied to various areas before it is finished.

Still a few areas to touch-up, and of course there's the decals to create and apply.

More to come.....



Richard.