how do i make paint look really really faded? like its been sitting in the desert sun for years. And also the decals, how would I achieve that look for them?
You could add few drops of a light color to you flat coat.
The color that you use depends on the color of the model.
Antoher option is dusting the model with pastels. Again, the color of the pastel depends on the color of the model. Downside of pastels is that you can get fingerprints when handeling the model.
diluted Tamiya Buff will also work, so make sure its diluted enough and you test the reults first. This is assuming you are using an Airbrush.
There are a couple keys to getting a good faded paint look. I primarily do armor, but I think this can apply in a lot of circumstances:
- Spray a very dark primer. I spray all my armor pieces a solid flat black.
- Spray on the top coat, but allow the black to show through–slightly. I do this by “dotting-in” the color–kind of like spraying overlapping polka dots. It takes time to do this right, but when done, your paint already has a mottled and faded look to it.
- Put a little white in your base coat, mix thoroughly, and start over with the overlapping dots, except this time concentrate your efforts on side panels and other horizontal surfaces that would receive continued exposure to sun, wind, rain, etc. I try to focus on the centers of panels; leave the edges darker–don’t spray your lightened base coat there.
- Do a dark wash around all raised detail after putting down a gloss coat. This will keep the wash from “bleeding” into surrounding paint–unless that’s the effect you want.
- Start drybrushing using an even lighter shade of your basecoat (add more white), and then end up with an even lighter color. I like colors like radome tan, and armor sand.
Try it, and watch the detail “come alive”! Hope this helps you some…
Gip Winecoff
If you spray the top of the model with plain old denatured alcohol, it will prematurely fade and flatten at the same time. You may also use a fine powder (pastel chalks work well but I have used regular foot powder on this) Please keep in mind that this is a 1/87 scale model so my details pale in comparison to many you see here.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/stryper50/detail?.dir=4cc7&.dnm=390a.jpg&.src=ph