Hey all - anybody ever applied armor techniques to aircraft when it comes to weathering? Specifically oil filters and streaks? Did it work?
My two Soviet WIPs were constructed mostly out of wood, so there’s not much in the way of panel line or rivet detail to play with to break up the paint and add depth. I’m thinking about using filters and maybe some streaking here and there to break up the flat surface and add some complexity to the colors.
All techniques in modeling are candidates for crossover…just have to keep in mind how the subject matter will affect the technique…eg: tanks are made of steel and most a/c are made of aluminum…aircraft spend most of their time moving through the air…wheeled and tracked vehicles spend most of their time moving on the ground…common sense, really…
Doogs,
On the Yak I used smoke thinned to add streaks and to do the exhaust staining. I think it worked ok.
Yeah, the wood is what’s throwing me. It’s hard to play the post-shading came or do a panel wash when there aren’t any panels to be had. I mean I could always do streaks like I did with the Dauntless, but I think I want something more subtle.
That’s why I’m thinking filters might be great. And considering these planes (especially the La-5) would have been ridden hard and parked on some random field out in the elements, I want them to look the part.
I hade the same delima as when I finished the Yak it looked bland so I tried the streaking thing to break things up it did add alittle subtle color shift, but in places you can see evidence of my heavy handedness on the airbrush button.
Filters work well for aircraft too, IMO. I’ve used the dot filter technique on several aircraft, both of which turned out nicely I thought. I don’t do it on aircraft as heavily as I would on a tank and I only use a handful of colors. Generally a lighter and darker version of the base coat, a white, maybe a brown and streak them in the direction of the air flow.
What Manny said.
An armor modeler taught me how to weather, I just use common sense a refs to apply it to a/c. I’m not very good at it either so go very lightly, sometimes prefering to leave them clean.
Not exactly, since most armor-weathering techniques are too heavy-handed for aircraft… Like Manny said, aircraft move through the air, AFVs move through (rather than on) the ground… Si there’s little effect from the ground itself, other than mud spatters or dust, and little from the air, other than the sun or rain (and also the staining from POL, exhaust or gunsmoke)… So that eliminates 80% or so of the armor weathering techniques…
However, you’re not weathering wood itself, nor the metal parts … You’re weathering paint, no? So that’s what you can concentrate on…
Aircraft paint generally does two things in the weather… Fade and chip… Chipping isn’t so prevailant on wood, so just the metal needs a little of that. Fading is accomplished a couple different ways for me… I either airbrush a heavily-thinned and lightened shade of the base-color, or use pastels… Either way, it’s the paint being changed… And even on wood, there will be wear from foot-traffic in certain ares, exposing what’s underneath. Keep in mind though the aircraft plywood will be varnished under the paint, so instead of showing bare wood, it’ll more likely be dirt & grime ground into the varnish.
At any rate, here’s a site that might help you with the locations and types of discoloration you might be interested in. Granted they’re B&W photos, but the patterns are still visible…
http://www.vvsregiaavions.com/VVSHTML/vla51.htm
Here’s a couple I found interesting. Note the wear pattern on the wingwalk and staining at the unfinised metal aft of the exhaust:
!(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v233/HansvonHammer/Aircraft Profiles/Soviet/La-5-7/La5-43.jpg?t=1288920270)
And at the metal cowl edges, as well has the brush-painted area aft of the canopy where it looks like some battle-damage may have been repaired, as well as the brush-painted slogan:
!(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v233/HansvonHammer/Aircraft Profiles/Soviet/La-5-7/La5-8s.jpg?t=1288920386)
Here’s another one that’s kinda interesting. Note the brush-painted/fading markings again, the underlying color trying to get through on the nose, discolored bare metal and exhaust, and the scuffed prop:
!(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v233/HansvonHammer/Aircraft Profiles/Soviet/La-5-7/La5-17.jpg?t=1288920773)
Note chipped prop at 7 o’clock blade
!(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v233/HansvonHammer/Aircraft Profiles/Soviet/La-5-7/La5-16.jpg?t=1288921533)
Obviously an outdoor museum exhibit, but a good color shot anyway:
!(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v233/HansvonHammer/Aircraft Profiles/Soviet/La-5-7/La-5_Moscow.jpg?t=1288921010)
Anyway, hope it helps ya out a little…
Thanks gents! Thanks Hans for the pics! I’ve got some others, including the La-5 I’m doing a rather poor job of finishing. Had the big left side decal with all the pretty cryllic script silver on me with the sealing coat of Future. Stupid me tried to knock it down with a thinned mist of the base coat. It’s worked before. Heck, worked on the underside. But when it hit the fuselage decal, it turned a much lighter shade of green that just made it more evident. Every build is a learning experience, but ugh.
Oh well. Got another in the stash, right? And heck, now I can play around with the weathering without worrying if I mess it up.
Sorry about your bad luck, I hate that… But that’s how we get “Hangar Queens” right? was guessing that it’s an La-5 you’re doing though, your post didn’t make it very clear as to what bird you were doing, but the information should go across the board anyway…
That site has quite a few pics that have come in handy for me, and they’re pics that I either haven’t seen or haven’t added to my collection…
Yeah Hans - I should’ve been more specific. I’m working on Zvezda’s La-5 and Eduard’s Yak-3. The Yak isn’t as much of an issue - I can do more with the lighter colors, and from the pics I’ve seen they weren’t anywhere near as abused as the La-5s. The benefits of being a late-war fighter I suppose.
Still going to finish the Lavochkin - just don’t think I’ll be holding it up as a paragon of my best work.
Ahh, gotcha… Dunno, they operated off dirt & grass mostly, so…
Yeah buddy i’ve used oils on A/C wings before to great effect…I have eduards BF110c on the bench at the moment for the BoB GB and plan to drag the oils out for that one…It needs to be applied over a gloss coat,and over the decals… pick the colours you think would best fit your camo colour, can’t go wrong with Black, white, brown and ochre, maybe some raw umber as well…Use your fine brush and randomly add light streaks between 1 to 3mm in length over the wing concentrating more on the leading edge…Next grab a flat brush about a half inch wide and slightly wet it with white spirits (not wet just damp) and blend the streaks in working from the leading edge to the trailing edge, keep the brush in a straight line travelling in the direction of the airflow and keep going until you like the effect…It takes a bit of experimenting but i reckon you’ll nail it quickly…You can also use watercolour pencils, the ones that kids use to colour in pictures and then go over with a wet paintbrush, break open the pencil and crush the pigment into powder add water and apply it the same way as oils…I used that on my 190D9 and i think it cleans up easier and is easier to remove if you stuff it up…