Hello,
I have built model airplanes for a lot of years, but up until recently never really ventured into some of the “advanced” techniques that really make a model airplane look good, so I am needing a little advice here. The technique that I am wanting to try is pre-shading and a buddy of mine told me that if I shade all the panel lines with black, then (once dry) thin my main camo colors 30% paint to 70% thinner and airbrush that over the pre-shaded lines, that will do the trick.
I did a quick Forum search on pre-shading, but didn’t find what I was looking for–what is the best way to pre-shade a Southeast Asia Camo paint scheme?? Specifically, the white/light gray belly? Should I use black or dark gray; does it matter? Also, if I am airbrushing Model Master Acryl paints for my main camo colors, should I pre-shade with enamel or can I use Acryl colors for the pre-shading?
I am building an old Monogram 1/48 F-104C Starfighter as a gift for a friend and wanted to do the S.E.A. scheme and obviously, want this model to turn out very well so my gift doesn’t look like junk. Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated!
Can’t really help ya with pre-shading, since I don’t do it (it’s not possible to undo easily, lol) so I post-shade with pastels…
Here’s what it looks like on my B-17 WIP… I used black on the OD and dark grey on the grey undersides…
You can kind see the grey areas here:
Should work the same with the SEA camo, although I’d probably use the dark grey mixed with some dark yellow on the tan areas rather than the black… The black might be too intense there…
The procedure described is the one I use to pre-shade. The only thing open to interpitation is what colors to use for the shading itself.
Again it is up to you what colors you want to “bleed thru” and be seen. Seeing as you are using a white/ Light Gray bottom I would tend to go with a darker gray. Black shading under white can look to stark to me and you under up having to go over 2-3 times to get the shade you may want.
A dark gray or black will also work over the Sea Scheme as well. Seeing as I am lazy I would tend to use just one color to shade instead of 2 different colors. So I would probaly go with the Dark Gray vs Black.
If you had a test piece you could play around with it and see what color and effect you like. Cardboard or an extra plastic piece would do.
One last thing also is some people would take a lead pencil and run the lead the panel lines to darken them before spraying the coor as well. They say it can add depth to the lines and shading.
The only true measure of shading was told to me long ago by someone on another forum.
“If it looks like one more pass will cover the shade. You are done”
Hope this helped
Paul
My method when I use it is to shade as I go. That is I start with the color, then as I get towards the end of the coverage I add a couple drops of this or that to go back along the edges or fill more in the centers to create a tonal effect I want. Sometimes is means adding the right color to lighten the color I am applying or darken it. However, many modelers love to create the look of distinguished panel lines, yet many of the subjects modeled never appeared that way in real life. It is the artistic license we as modelers take.
I do a similar thing myself. After ive painted the top coat, with whats left in the cup i lighten the colour very slightly (Go too far and youve blown the subtlety) Then starting in the centre of the panel you want to lighten, spray. Mist it in, dont spray heavily. If it looks to stark you can blend it in to the surrounding colours with the original top colour. Heres an Aichi Val i did a while back,
…Guy
I also finally decided to try my hand at shading after building a Re 2000 with a solid green upper camo color and not likeing the two dimentional loook it had. I glue together a wing section from a Haswgawa kit that I parted out an gave it a try. I first primered the wing white to get maximum contrast then I went airbrushed over all of the panel lines with some black. I had read that being a little sloppy was agood thing with the lines to get a realistic uneven finish. I then when over it with British Sky Type “S” the correct color for a Hurricane. I sprayed very light coats going back over the wing many times until it looked good to me. Then I gave it a clear coar and a panel line wash. I think it came out pretty good and it really gives the monotone underwing color much more depth and it looks more realistic in my eyes. It was alot easier than I thought it would be and it really adds to the overall look of the model I think.
Soulcrusher[oX)]