I know this mught be better in the “techniques” forum, but since I build almost entirely aircraft, I decided to put it here.
In reading FSM, and articles by (IIRC) Brett Green and others, it mentions post shading panel lines with a very thin mixture of red-brown and black. Does anybody know how this is done? Are the panel lines masked off to prevent over spray? Freehand? Is this done in conjuction with pre-shading, or in place of it? Any ideas on the ratios of thinner to paint? On the pics of models that state that the post-shading has been used, it is very subtle, and hard to see - just what I’m looking for.
Typically I post shade just by using pastel chalks but I have done a couple of post-shaded planes using an airbrush. I believe the most common way to do this (and the way I did it) is to adjust your airbrush set for a narrow stream and then free-hand it. Remember, when you apply the post shade, it’s normally almost imperceptable so there is no need for masking.
When it comes to ratios, it’s kind of like people’s opinions of air brush manufacturers: it’s whatever works best for you. I know some people will have their mixture as being practically all thinner with just a hint of a color darker than the base coat. Personally I use the same color as the base coat with maybe a couple of drops of black (or some other darker color) mixed in. To this I’ll just add my customary amount of thinner to make it suitable for air brushing.
Personally I use either pre-shading or I’ll use post-shading but never really one with the other. There’s no need to double-up your work.
Above all else, when it comes to shading, remember that less is more!!!
I post-shade with washes made from oils or acrylics thinned with alcohol, about a 10-1 ratio of thinner to paint… I dip the brush, touch it to the line, then let capillary action take the wash into the recess… ( “Pin-wash”, for “pin-point wash”)
For further shading and for shading raised lines, I use powdered charcoal and a brush…
i use only post shading as i use brushes, normally after finished main paint use a dark color on panel lines drybrushed, or just black drybrush on heavy weathering
I always post shade- I have more control than using pre-shade techniques. After the base coat, I use lighter shades of the base colour( perhaps two to three shades, each slightly lighter than the previous shade- just add a few more drops of white or light colour for each shade) to accentuate edges of surfaces or up to panel lines, which gives the impression of shading. If needed, darken the base coat slightly and lightly go over the areas desired to be shaded. Being subtle is the key and don’t be heavy handed.
When I post-shade, I use Tamiya Smoke + Brown/Black at about a 10:1 thinner to paint ratio. I use lacquer thinner, since Tamiya reduces very well with it and doesn’t separate the way some other paints and thinners can.
Typically, though, I prefer what I call the three-layer blend approach:
Step 1: Paint base color
Step 2: Add white/light gray/tan to base color, and spray in panel centers plus some random streaking in the direction of airflow, etc. Keep in mind that the most intense fading will take place on the upper surfaces, so you’ll probably want to go a bit lighter there.
Step 3: Base color, highly thinned (75% thinner). Overcoat until the lighter coat starts to fade back and look natural.
You can do the same thing with NMF finishes by using one of the Alclad high-shine finishes as a base, and Aluminum/Duraluminum/etc at the light coats. Since the high-shines are semi-transparent, the black undercoating makes them darker, so viola…
This process generally involves a bit more work, but I find it far more controllable than either pre- or post-shading. Your mileage may vary, but this works pretty well for me…
Thanks man! It’s my first full-NMF build - pretty happy with the results, even if it took a ton of prep work (stupid heat and dusting paint…).
The Alclad is a little bit different…as you say the stuff’s very thin. The article that gave me the idea (need to find that link!) recommended overspraying with the high-shine finish used for the base coat (Airframe Aluminum in this case), but I found it basically invisible over the other shades, so I misted the whole thing with Duraluminum (since so much of the aircraft is done in straight aluminum, it provided some depth and complexity).
Another option is to use a very light hand when applying the Alclad in the first place so that dark areas show through. Though IMO this works much better on wings than on the fuselage.
