I never had any luck with preshading so i tried something a bit different. I painted the model the normal OD then painted the inside of the panels a lighter shade and then went over the panel lines with very thinned out black and built the color up. I found this did not give a uniform color to the paint and in my opinion it looks closer to faded paint as on a real aircraft the paint doesn’t fade evenly and ends up looking spoltchy. I also faded the top parts of the aircraft more than the sides since the sides would not get as much sun in real life. Let me know what you think.
Overall I think its a stunning T-Bolt. Your technique is a tried and true one.
One thing you may consider (and there’s still time, even on the finished build) is to go back over the black panel line areas with the thinned and lightened OD formula a few more light coates. Again, this is just personal preference, but if you toned down the starkness of the bold black panel line areas, it wouldn’t draw the eyes towards those areas so much. In my humble opinion regarding panel lines, I think there is a fine line bewteen being “noticeable” and “sticking out”. The thinned OD would lessen the contrast of the dark panel lines areas vs the light panels, thereby letting the eyes move about to admire some of the other beautiful work you’ve done there.
Eagle that’s a nice looking Jug. And the best part of it is that you wanted a particular result and you tried something new. Charles makes a good point but I think the panel interiors are a tad light. Instaed of toning down the lines, i would go for a slight darkening of the panels. And keep it a bit on the uneven side. A slighly darker shade and fill the panel like you were scribbing with a pattern more or less from front to back.
Very nice work on the Jug. I am curious as to why you have the demarcation between fixed and moveable surfaces on the tail as black, but on the wing as a light color?
Very nice work there. The T-bolt razor is my fav. You did a great job on the fade effect. I agree with you on the preshade route, a very effective technique but requires experience. I usually do like you did with the lighter center panels.
A very nice presentation of artistic modeling. Realistic is another issue, as I have looked at thousands of pics of real aircraft & could never find evidence of panels fading more in the center & getting darker along the panel lines. But it’s a modeling fad these days that one member on this Forum (Sorry, I don’t recall who) coined as “Modelistic”. But I have to admit many of the techniques used to finish models are also not realistic. Viewing a 1/48 model at a rather close 2’ distance is equivalent to viewing the real aircraft at 96’. At that distance, panel lines are very hard to discern, yet we all accent them to give the model more life & character. For that matter, the smooth surfaced kits with nice engraved panel lines that we have all come to love are unrealistic from the getgo, as those engraved panel lines would be gapeing trenches if scaled up full size & the smooth surfaces ignores the thousands of rivets visible on close inspection of real aircraft. Many of the aircraft of this era had panels that actually slightly overlapped, so in many ways the old & mostly discarded kits of the past with raised panel lines & tons of rivets were more accurate than todays beauties. Sorry, didn’t meen to get so far OT [soapbox].
Bottom line is I really think you did a great job on the presentation & it shows a high level of skill. Thanks for Sharing.
I also like that you had the courage to try a technique that is different for you. To my eye, there may be a bit too much contrast there, and the pattern looks planned as opposed to random, but it’s a technique that’s proven, and given what I see of your first attempt, you are indeed on your way. Very nice build! [tup]
Also, I may have missed it somewhere in this thread, but what kit/scale is that?
I totally agree with this statement. However, I feel it is almost impossible to create a totally “realistic” model given the kits as they are. With that in mind, there a kajillion ways to represent the subjects we choose. We all can be called “artists” if you will, because we find inventive ways to simulate, not replicate. Replication is not possible. Yes, the trend and tendancy is to emphasize details. As Rick said, it adds character and demension to the model. This is true. I am a big advocate of weathering, as many of you have seen. With that said, I feel those who do emphasize details and weathering are only adding to their skills and creativity. For those who are not fans of exagerated features and weathering, we do realize our weathering/effects are, in most cases, not accurate. But, we sure do like doing it! I love my pastels![(-D]. Thanks for the ear all…
You did a real nice job. I like the fact you included the marking in your weathering process I use the same method to an extent myself. I am still trying to achive the look I want. Weathering is a difficult skill to master and like the others have said your jug looks like your well on your way. When you have mastered the lights and darks you can then go to a hole variety of shades to get the look you want.
On this 152 there are 6 different shades of paint work. From slightly lighter and darker base tones to browns/rust, light blacks, darkers blacks, and even a dusting of light grays. try to also vary your panel lines in both contrast and color. Do some in dark black near exhaust and guns and to show moveable parts. Well used haches a lighter black and others in different browns as such to give it more broken up look. If you notice some of the panel lines are dark while others are almost unseen in the brown camo and upper fuselage. maybe this will give you some new ideas to work with. You already have the talent.
Go slow and keep trying new things. Don’t let setback discourage you. I myself have found many ways not to weather a model. this is the only way to find what you like and what works best for you. hope this helps you out. If you have questions ask them there are alot of great modelers here. Who knows your next one I maybe asking you what you did.
I think the camera is giving “us” a different perspective than “you” in natural lighting and normal viewing conditions. I would just like to say that “weathering” is a matter of preference and really can’t be judged on a technical level, IMHO. The meat and potatoes in this day and age is the “wow” factor of a particular presentation. Accuracy is more often than not, BORING, especially when it comes to model aircraft at any scale.
Twenty years ago, these techniques were rarely seen, now ,due to saturation from the internet, it is harder and harder to create work that is not considered mundane.
Bottom line, you’ve built a model that is well constructed, and well painted. I personally don’t care for the effect(s) that you have decided to experiment with. This, of course, means nothing. The fact is, you’ve built a great model, and you are proud to display it. Congratulations.
Thanks for the comments guys. Some things I forgot to mention. This is the old Hasegawa 1/72nd kit and it is an old build, about 12 years old.
Rick
I totally agree with you on weathering. At the time i painted this I was building solely to impress the judges and this is what they were after. I over did it almost to the point of nausea, but thats what they wanted to see. I spent 6 years working on AF F-4E’s in the very bright sun of North Carolina and never saw paint fade that bad. I think some weathering is necessary to keep a model from looking toyish, but not to this point. Subsequent builds have been more in line with what I like a model to look like and not just to please judges. I hope to post more as time allows.
