Ok, guys…I’ve now attempted one aircraft using pre shading. It turned out ok, but halfway into it, I ran into a small delimma and I don’t want it to happen again.
The next aircraft in question will be a multi colored camo: grey bottom with tan, brown green, etc on the top. Now, first I shoot my pre shading and let it dry. Next is the underside grey. I’m not sure about you guys, but I’ve always painted this grey over the entire aircraft then, after dry, went back and painted my top colors. I think you can see the problem. By the time I go to spray my top colors, the pre shading is mostly covered by the grey. I could go back and reshoot it on top but I’d be afraid that I’d miss covering it all up. Or worse, simply go too low.
Are you guys following me on this? What’s the best way to attack this situation?
Thanks.
Ahhh , a good question Dana. I would suggest first of all that you not paint the undersurface color all over the model unless you are going to pre-shade the top again before doing the uppersurface camo. I usually end up having to do a little post shading on a two or more color top scheme. Use a very diluted mix of black and rust or raw umber and hit the panel lines where the pre-shading has been eliminated. This will take a little practice and remember to be very subtle and have the mix very diluted. If you get it a little heavy just touch up with more camo color.
I use this technique with success in 1/72 scale using only a Paashe airbrush…you can check out my pics below…just click on them for a larger image.
Hope that helps!
Joe Youngerman
Dana,
From the photo above, looks like Joe had the technique down pat! Use his advice and you won’t go wrong - just don’t do like I did when I was practicing for the first time - the panel line shading looked like someone had drawn a 1/4" wide black stripe down my panel lines! Like Joe says, be gentle - less is more.
I always spray the underside separately - more often than not, it’s the last major surface area that I paint, as it’s usually the least seen. Purists may be howling for my blood at this stage, but it works for me.
I use a Badger 400 with a fine tip, very low pressure, and very thin paint - I do the pre-shading touch up if necessary before I spray on the Future (as a barrier for the wash) - do all the things they tell you to do in FSM - slightly different color panel edges and centres and the like - I often use thinned gloss black or gloss grey - the gloss paints seem to have smaller pigment particles and they stay suspended in the thinner better than the matt colors.
But the ONE THING you MUST do - is practice! Practice on a scrap kit, a glass jar, a tin can…anything that will stay still long enough for you to throw a coat of paint on. You’ll master this in no time.