I bought powdered pastel chalk a few years ago at a model show. I cant remember the name of the brand I bought but I was wondering how do I apply pastel chalk to a model. Do you use a brush if so what kind and where would be a good place to buy it at. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Currently I am trying to weather a 1/72 uboat and just want it to look realistic as possible.
Thank you
Basically, you scrape a little bit off the stick with the back side of a knife. You then apply the powder with a brush, cotton swab, or even sometimes a bit of cloth. For fine detail work, the artist’s blending sticks are nice, but you can do the same with a fine brush, often.
Work on a matte finish. If you don’t like the results, wipe off with a damp cloth and reapply. Seal with appropriate clear when done.
Other than that, just experiment.
Since you already have powdered stuff your half way there. Not sure what color or colors you have but you can pick up others at the artists supply store. I use gray and browns mostly. Get a small mortar and pestle at a kitchen gadget place, they/re cheap, to grind the chunk of the stick into powder. Mix colors for different affects. Ross has the applicators well covered. For post shading, try using a post-it to mask one side of a panel line in various places and blend the color out on one side. It can give a nice dimensional affect.
Mix some powder with some water, enough to make the consistency like real strong coffee and a few drops of liquid dish soap. Use this as a wash over the model. It is easy to completely remove if you’re not happy with results and there aren’t the fumes an oil wash has. Brush this over the surface of the gloss coated model, future or lacquer, whatever you prefer, and let it dry. Wipe off with a barely damp paper towel pad.
I bought some eye makeup applicators from my local chemist (drug store for the yanks) and the work brilliantly, I have also used microbrushes if a finer application was needed.
I second the use of the eye makeup/cosmetic applpicators. The ones I use have a type of foam tips roughly the shape of a Q-tip. The foam holds the pastel chalk really well and applies it to the model very nicely.