After I finished weathering the springs and suspension on my ZIL-157 with pastels for a rusted effect which looked great, I sprayed it with flat to seal the effect and keep the pastels from getting rubbed off while I continue working on the kit, but now you can barely tell it was weathered at all.
Did they spraying actually blow the dust off the model or what?
How can I seal the pastels in place without losing the effect?
I’m weathering some areas as I go because they will be hard to get to later.
I have done the same thing in the past. The only thing I know to do is to
Weather heavier than necessary before spraying with flat
Very lightly spray the flat on
Weather again if necessary
It may take a few times to get the effect that you want, but I don’t know anything else. All I konw is that I cannot keep my fingers out of the stuff if I don’t do it this way, and nobody wants a huge fingerprint messing up their pastels. Hope this helps and good luck.
This is a difficult issue for all modeling not just armor. Here is what I do. I call it the “tacky technique”. Apply your pastels while the paint is still tacky or if the paint is long cured then apply a light coat of dulcote and apply pastels when the dulcote is tacky. I have had alot of success this way even when applying light colored pastels to a dark surface (this is the worst situation).
I airbrush dullcote on the model and wait until it is dry. I then brush on Tamiya thinner and before it dries I brush or sprinkle on the pigments that I am using. It has the appearance of dried mud. By using darker pigments and covering them with glosscote or Future, the mud will look wet. Sealing the pigments with with dullcote always diminished the pastels. Putting a few drops of Turpenoid on the vehicle and then mixing that with the pastels also helps to fix the pastels (pigments) in place.