Lot’s of great builders out here. But… why does everyone want to build airliners that look brand new? Anyone build them the way they really look? Let’s see some of your weathered, well traveled airliners! Don’t hesitate to talk about techniques used, etc. I need some inspiration to start working on my closet full of sealed kits!
Thank you!
Used to be, you very seldom saw weathered airliners. Line boys were cheap, planes were kept spotless. 006 is correct, one sees a lot more crud on airliners today, though few really bad. I do like to model ramp queens, but see few airliners still in service that count. A few derelicts around, though.
They remind me of city buses nowadays.
It’s been a while since I used commercial aviation (thanks TSA), but most of the weathering I saw seemed like the result of using less-expensive surface coatings, or of not renewing those coatings as often. Decidedly not the immaculate finishes of old.
However, rendering such things at airliner scale could be a bit tough. Getting, say, an Aeroflot in Lake Victoria service to not look like a person was a bad modeler would be an exercise in skill.
I’ve tried to weather a couple of my 1/144 airline builds, decided I need to do them showroom fresh because I sucked at it. If I built 1/72 airlines, I’d probably try again.
Older, piston engined airliners can at least take some exhaust stains. Almost all of the piston airliners were powered by radials, and those engines threw a lot of oil as well as the actual “exhaust” carbon. So even airlines wanting to keep their planes as clean as possible had to suffer the exhaust stains. Exhaust stains on smaller scale, like 1:144 can be a challenge, though. Requires skill with an airbrush or drybrushing.
Doesn’t anyone have any pics of weathered airliners that they built… or from a contest? I went through this forum and found none.
So, how about some ideas for weathering? I’m thinking of a single prop aircraft that was in the air for some 36 hours. What one see in weathering there? I’d like to build a Spirit of St. Louis as it would appear following the flight to Paris.
It would probably have some mud from that takeoff, and maybe some exhaust stains, but the flight wasn’t that long in terms of weathering. I think of weathering as more sitting out in strong UV day in and day out.
It would be interesting to work up a diorama of a retired craft in a boneyard or an airport’s “corrosion corner”. Go crazy with the weathering, oil stains, scrap parts, ladders, etc.
This is from the ARC forums: Link
Wow - that’s nice work!
There is a derelict Beech 18 at my local airport. It was not an airliner, but I believe some 18s were used in commercial service. I have thought sometimes of modeling that plane. It is parked on the other side of the ramp, though, so I cannot get close to it and it might be hard to take photos. They are getting a bit funny about folks wondering into the operating areas these days 
One place that has a fairly accessible “holding area” is Opa Locka in South Florida. Easy to take pics, and they have everything from DC-3s to 747s.
Kind of interesting. I’d really be impressed to see some airline kits built to look the way most actually do - with visible ware. I look online and at contests and everyone seems to like making them look like desk top or book shelf decoration displays. Some specifically want that and I guess it’s personal taste. But there’s something to be said for realism and I admit it’s not easy to do. There’s no shortage of weathering in military and aircraft - it would be great to see the technique spread to airline kits.
I even find this with military aircraft, which generally are more grungy than airliners. Weathering has not seemed to have caught on that well in aircraft modeling. I believe the model railroad folks started it. Armor guys picked it up pretty soon, but car and aircraft people seem to be reluctant to use it.
Car builders are all over it. Check out the SAM forum and search under beaters. You’ll be blown away by what you see.
Yes, I see weathering in “beater” cars, and in rally cars. Much less common on factory stocks, rods, and racing cars. A little on dirt trackers, less so on pavement track race cars.
Here’s my favorite example of weathering on commercial aircraft. I took this on a flight from Anchorage, AK to Deadhorse, AK.
