You folks have been really kind about my latest completion that I decided to throw up some pics of my newest project. This one is well underway, but still in the early stages…i.e…I’ve been working on the interior bits for a couple of weeks now…I’ll save the backlog and just get you up to speed.
I scored the kit for less that $30…if you want one I can give you the link…and Sprue Brothers had the CMK interior marked at $15…not convinced it was an error…but score!
The first work I did was to assemble the interior as much as possible.
This is what Revell gives you for the gunners gondola…there is some significant detail missing…so some scratch work was needed
Let’s make some wood
Painting, and drying, and painting, and washing, and drying and dry-brushing, and waiting and here we are…still some touch-ups to do and need to add some stencils and other decals…then I can get the nasty gloss coat under control with some dullcoat and close this one up.
Nice pit Dflu. The drybrushing is well done. The 1/48 scale A-1 is a kit I’ve been yearning for to complete my Battle of Britain collection… Oh wait, they don’t make one… I look forward to your progress.
Do you care to share your wood painting technique? That is very convincing…
Bish, yes this is the same plastic as the Revell of Germany boxing. The big difference being markings…though the Promodeler version shares on scheme in common with the RoG boxing. Other difference is that you get the tail swastikas in this one…whereas you don’t in the RoG boxes (I’ll be using masking for most everything though).
Joe, I snapped a couple of in progress pics of the wood graining…I’m going to do ao in-depth tutorial for the blog, but until then:
(Note…I didn’t invent this…a lot of people do something similar…however…I did kind of figure it out on my own back before forums and all that :D)
First I spray a base color…you can vary this depending on what final effect you want…but I usually go a light tan, or buff…sometimes I’ll use Vallejo “natural wood.”
Let that dry and then I break out the artist oils. For the first step here I used burnt umber
I spread it across the surface in the direction I want the grain. I use a stiff fine tipped brush to “draw” the grain into the paint. Because oils are so workable you can play with it a while…you can als0 use a number of different things to impart the grain. On large surfaces a piece of foam packing (like Aires packs stuff in) is great…just pull it along in the direction of grain…for this small surface a fine tipped brush worked well…I’ll also use a wider brush in some instances.
The biggest thing is to let the oil dry completely…I let this first application dry 3 days…if you try to go over it, or put a clear coat on it will just wipe the effect away…oil takes a while to dry!
After significant drying time I decided to use another color (raw sienna) and repeat the process…just to vary the color a bit…it’s all up to discretion
The above pic is after a gloss coat…if you want to give a varnished look you can finish it with straight gloss or tinted gloss…some people use a clear orange or mix of orange and yellow…I’m going to source some to give it a try…but I don’t think these pieces need it…biplane struts and such I’d be more inclined to tint since they are usually highly varnished
dflu, I don’t know how you find the time!! Great looking start. =] and an excellent visual aid for wood painting. To piggyback on this…for any of those who are interested…I’ve also seen where after the darker wash/oils were put down, the rest of the wooden cooler was built up in progressively lighter colors until it suited your needs. This is especially helpful on a textured surface.
I haven’t heard or even given any thought to using something else to “paint” with for a wooden surface…makes you wonder about all kinds of things to use…!!! =D
Err…really, Stick? You don’t use oils for anything? Do you generally do your washes with thinner enamels? I’m thinking of moving that route for washes…oils tend to separate in thinner quicker than I’d like. Makes things more work. I do like them for shading. I shaded the seat cushions with them too.
You can get a decent set of small tubes at Hobby Lobby for not too much.
Yes, I have mostly used enamels for my washes and been quite happy with them. I tried acrylics a few times, but they dry too quick and don’t clean up as well. I only use acrylic washes on a very limited basis for those reasons. And I have used some pre mix water based washes as well that are really great. We just got Hobby Lobby here locally in the past year and half and I do not get over nearly as often as I should. I can count on one or maybe both hands the times that I have been there so far…
I generally like the Flory wash for overall but I go back between it and oils. But the problem with oil is that you mix it and by the time you’ve applied it say down a panel line a few inches when you go back to it it’s separated and basically useless until you re-stir it. For filters it’s killer though.
I’ve been considering enamel for pin washes…particularly on interiors. I use mostly enamels all around now though. What do you thin it with? The Model Master thinner or spirits? Either way a clear coat is going to be needed…no biggie there really.
I usually thin with generic paint thinner form the hardware store. I have a few gallons of the stuff thanks to a neighbor who was getting rid of his. I go one of two routes, clear acryic coat over an enamel base color to act as a barrier, or I use acrylics as the base coat and no need for the barrier coat. The enamels do seperate from the thinner as well. Mostly dpending upon how much thinner to paint ratio that I use.
Thank you sir. I’m going to give the enamel a try next time. I figure it will perform a bit better…even with the separation. I’m convinced the pre made washes you see these days are exactly that… Heavily thinned enamel. I’ve got a couple of AK bottles…
I’d really like to use something other than grey, black, or brown all the time…seems a dark green would be a nice choice on interior green…more to create a shadow effect than a grime effect.
Other than a Flory wash on the exterior panel lines, this is my go-to for all my washing needs. I mix the brown and black to come up with a dark burnt umber-like color. When I discovered this, I found no use for anything else. It’s water based so its very user friendly.
…and thanks for explaining your wood painting method Dflu. I may have to give it a whirl…
I’ve got some of that. Years old and I’ve not used it much. I just can’t figure it out. I like the results you get but how do you use it? You HAVE to be thinning it down right? Does it leave behind a streaking/staining effect like Flory does if you use it over a non-gloss surface?
Sheesh…It only took three weeks to get the cockpit polished and closed. Without a doubt the longest I’ve spent on an interior…and it’s not entirely finished. I need to add a couple of pieces that I don’t want exposed while I do body work.
The cockpit halves go together fairly easily, but I think there was a tad bit of warping near the tail. The top and bottom fuselage inserts went in o k a y, but not perfect. Just a bit of filler here and there to level everything out.
