Hello to all!
I have a quick question one something I don’t see often; bomb texture. I had recently purchased an F/A-18C model kit and I am pretty fond of everything so far. BUT - Before I go building, I wanted to find out a technique or procedure to get the Mk. 83 bombs that rough and bumpy texture. Something like the picture below… Any tips?
Thanks!
try spraying from further away so paint semy dries first just an idea, don’t know if it will work
My process there is to chuck up a small ball burr (like those sold by Dremel for engraving) and allow it to bounce and skip over the surface of the plastic. After a quick run down with steel wool, I’ll come back at it with Testor’s liquid cement to coat the surface. Then, using a stiff brush, I’ll stipple the softened plastic to get a convincing “cast metal” effect. Then, prime and paint as usual.
That’s the way I do it so that’s "got to be " the best answer.
A side note on the textured bomb coating. That is for USN & USMC aircraft only. The coating is ablative and slows down “cook off” time in the event of a fire, giving crews more time to douse the flames before detonations can occur. It was developed in the wake of several carrier fires in the Vietnam War. Bombs on armed aircraft that caught fire and detonated killed many of the ships crew who were fighting the fires. Those coated bombs are also marked with two yellow stripes as opposed to the single stripe of the non coated type.
Try adding a little baking soda to the paint for the bombs. it gives a nice rough texture.
That sounds like a plan to me, I’ll try it out and see if it works! The best way I can describe it is like… Avocado skin almost. Would this method sort of warp the plastic for that effect?
I’ll try this as well. Im going to try a few different methods with some dummy bombs that I have… I’ve got like 10 or 15 spare mk 82’s and 83’s from around 1990 and 1985 so I’ll experiment. Does baby powder also work? I’ve seen people use that too, but I’m not sure what would be a more suitable substance.
Only one way to find out. Test it on your spare bombs. You won’t know until you try.
Here’s another one for ya!
I used a foam pad/sponge (the stuff used in some a/m resin packs). Dab the foam into some Tamiya putty (any filler putty should work), dab on some scrap to remove the excess, then dab onto the bomb. When I did this, I did just half the bomb, allowing the side to dry before doing the other side(I did a fair amount of them, and by the time I got to the last one, the first one was ready to finish off). Once it is dry, a light sanding will even things out.
I’ll post a pic of the results for ya later(likely tomorrow)
I have used talcum powder (same as baby powder) for brush painting, but don’t think it would work through an airbrush.
Back in the old days, balsa models and earliest plastic models, there were no flat paints available yet, and talcum was the normal way to get flat finishes.
Fermis’s idea sounds like the best way to do it without dealing with any additive like baking soda, talcum powder, flour or whatever.
As promised…
(These still need some weathering and final dull coat)
As is…I dabbed the putty on with a sponge…painted…then drybrushed a lighter shade over the textured area…gloss…decals…then set em aside. I’ll get back to em someday!
WOW Fermis, those bombs certainly look the part, gotta try this one [Y]
[t$t]
Had to do a little digging…the original pics were on P/B…had to take a pic of the screen and upload to Flickr…so quality is poor. This is how they looked before paint…
