How does one achieve the effect of uneven and progressive paint wear in high-use areas? For example, grab handles, foot rests and other areas where crew members frequently step, grab hold, etc. Most of my personal experience has been with tractors, farm machinery and construction equipment. On these vehicles, I’ve noticed that there usually isn’t an abrupt shift from paint to bare metal, but rather, a gradual transition. I’m assuming the same is true for armor.
I know about the so-called “salt method” for getting a chipped paint effect, but based on what I’ve read, the results are unpredictable unless one has a lot of experience with it. At any rate, this technique doesn’t sound like it would work very well for a progressive-wear effect.
.please note how i used a no.2 lead pencil to color areas where the wear would probably be significant,and then using a fingertip or cotton swab,i blended the lead outward to show less wear.as you can see there is alot of wear near the hatch entrance.
Generally, pencil lead works better and is more controllable. You can buff it to a high sheen on really heavily-trafficked areas, just as in real life. Also, if you mess up, or don’t like what you’ve done, you can rub it off with a putty rubber, and start over.
fatomfixer: What you need to do is what we call “reverse weathering”, the process is not difficult, but it is time consuming.
After you paint the model it’s final color you’ll progressively add wear down to exposed metal. Just think how the real thing was painted…steel/primer/color coat, now just work “in reverse”. I like to drybrush oils for this process (USE OILS SPARINGLY, test this technique on an old kit first if you can). First I make a slightly lighter shade of the final color and apply it to a larger area where you want to show wear. You can further lighten this mix and add it if you want too. Then do the same thing using a primer color (my pic below does NOT have this step) Next, use a raw umber/black oil mix (75% to 25%) and swirl the first worn steel look…if you do this right you’ll see how fast it starts to look real. Remember, let each layer dry thoroughly before adding the next or you’ll have an oily mess! The next step is to use a 6B graphite pencil. I use it for the edges and then swirl it a bit on the surfaces and blend it with the surroundings with a Q-tip. This will look awesome but DON’T over-do it! Finally use a soft prismacolor silver pencil and add a few touches, ONLY at the areas that continue to wear and never start to rust/oxidize…make sense?
To further enhance this effect I come back with burnt umber and “rust-all” adding streaks of rust and fresh rust…it’s more advanced but looks really cool…start with part one and see how you do. Here’s what it looks like, hope this helps!
Looks like I need to get an inexpensive kit to practice these techniques on before I get started on my spendy 1/16 ones. It’ll give me something to do on those rainy autumn afternoons. Again, thanks!
.please note how i used a no.2 lead pencil to color areas where the wear would probably be significant,and then using a fingertip or cotton swab,i blended the lead outward to show less wear.as you can see there is alot of wear near the hatch entrance.
