Greetings,
I am a plane guy but just finished my first Jeep, something different for a change. The jeep is a 1/35 Tamiya Willys. I have a gestion about weathering. Other than the wash and drybrush method, can anyone give me some tips on how to show some wear on this thing? I was wondering about paint chipping. What color would show if there was chipping? would the color be aluminum? Other than all the small parts which were a pain, I really enjoyed this diversion and will be doing more armor.
Thanks to all who respond,
Chuck B.
heya cbreeze,
I am working on a hasegawa willys and have been deciding the same thing. I am no expert by any means, but I dont think the jeeps were made out of aluminum. Things you could look into for wear and tear is a bent fender or front bumper from hitting things, or oil leaks and mud splatter.
I am adding detail to the engine and then I’ll be figuring out what to do later.
good luck.
Crash
[oX)] Being a long time builder of armor and aircraft, let me put my two cents in. [2c] Armor is primarily built out of steel alloys and is rigid. The metal is primed and even softskins (at least in WW II) did not flex very much. For these reasons there was not a real great tendency for paint to chip, at least not in the way you saw it come off in sheets from Japanese planes in New Guinea ! You’ll more often see small amounts of paint worn off through abrasion, particularly in high traffic areas like on the engine deck or areas where the crew would typically mount or dismount (one favorite example of mine is the Russian T-34 where the crews had a habit of running up the front and grabbing the gun barrel to maintain their balance). You can easily simulate this kind of wear by lightly dry brushing with a lighter shade of the basic vehicle color. This simulates the kind of scuffing you might normally see. For real heavy wear, like a the edges of hatcehs an so on, you might lightly drybrush with a dark metallic color (powdered graphite works well for this). Don’t overdo the metallic effect because it’s hard to get rid of it and please don’t use silver or aluminum (at least on the body of the vehicle)… it’s way too bright and light (it’s one of the quickest way to say “I’m new to building armor and I’m completely without a clue”[D)]. There were a very few armored vehicles made of aluminum alloys ( the Sheridan and the M-113 come to mind) but even here don’t overdo paint chipping. Your best guide is to go through books of period photos, especially close-ups. You’ll find that most vehicles in use were far too dirty for you to notice much paint wear. I hope this gives you a little to go with. Good luck and welcome to the Dark Side ! [}:)] Chuck[tup]
As mentioned above, drybrushing large flat areas with a lighter colour than the base will show wear and tear, maily due to paint fading, as it naturally does in the sun. Additionally, drybrushing very lightly with metalic colours in areas of high traffic is a good place to start. Then you can take a look at actually imparting some dirt/dust etc onto the model.
I have rarely seen chipping in any period photographs. Most models where this is applied wind up looking like derelict vehicles that have been sitting around for decades. Where you see alot of this is in photos ofvehicles that have been in storage at museums and not maintained. However, some of the capturesd equipment fromt he first Gulf war was pretty messed up.
Research is your best friend here!
Chuck,most of your weathering on a jeep is going to be at your radiator grill where bugs,rocks and drit have chiped or ate at the paint.Most of this is going to be mild due to there regular maitance program in which they washed them once a week.Now if it was on the front line it would have a little more ware on it.You can weather with a dry brush around the lugs on the wheels also around the foot pedals and under the dash near the end were legs would come in contact.A little ware on the back were cargo or people sat,also take a little white glue and brush it on the seat areas and sprinkle a little,very little flour on it before painting.This will show ware on the seats,also use the same techiniqic with a heavyer flouring around the end of the fenders for mud.Other weather would include things were nuts and bolts were taking off for maintance.After all your weathering is done,use a thinned out tan or sand solution to spray the whole thing or to brush.This will tone down all the weathering and bring more detail and realisum to your jeep.Digger
White glue and flour as a mud simulation? sounds good, have you tried it on wheels and in thick application to depict heavy mud, or just light doses?
I recently did a 1:48 Tiger which I was pretty proud of, and someone asked how I did it, so I posted a how to on it. Here’s the link to the thread; http://www.finescale.com/fsm/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=45010