Need some direction on making a white Ford Focus (late 90s Repsol WRC) show a little wear after a race…dirt, mud, etc. Also, would masking the windshield in the shape of a wiper pattern be a bit too much overkill. I usually do armor/planes, so keeping something nice, shiny and new isn’t something that I’m used to.
hello matt, when i ‘mucky’ front window up i use a satin light brown colour on glass, i stipple it on lightly with a large cut down brush, then i get a piece of plasti card which is the same width as wiper blade and go in a arc, do this quickly before paint starts to dry !! ,don’t worry if there are any small arc’s you missed, you never see a completely clear windscreen on a rally car, as for the back lightly ‘airbrush’ sides getting darker to the back of car and ‘airbrushing’ all of the back just til’ it’s covering all lights and number plate, then the most important thing is use some enamel thinners to wipe away ‘dirt’ from lights, plates etc,etc as they would be done so ‘marshals’ can read the car !!, don’t forget to do your wheels [ if you want to make the extra large mudflaps you see on rally cars ‘pvc’ tape is ideal you can stick it on cut to your shape]…hope this helps a bit…ian.
Ian,
Thanks a ton for the info…as I’m not “WRC-savvy” any info is always GREATLY appreciated.
I forgot to mask off the wiper tracks on mine - some long-lost tale about planning going pheeew out the window… Use airbrush on the spray-type mud and a toothbrush to create the splatter-effects. Keep in mind I am not used to “buggering up” good paintjobs, so this was a first attempt! [;)] So don’t laught… There are some errors I’ll rectify next time such as the wheel arches [:I]
BTW, I was planning on doing my wiper tracks with broad masking tape (after clear on window) cut into shape with a - sorry, can’t get to the english word for this - the thing you use with a sharp point and a pencil on the other side to draw circles… (compass? - anyways, we call it something else, but you’ll know what it is from the description, I think) You van measure the length of track needed from the wiper itself, so it should be fairly easy…
Went from this - just to show I wasn’t trying to “hide” the paintjob!:
To something like this:
Wow SeaBee…I see a lot of potential uses for this technique. Can you please expound…what is “spray type mud?”
SeeBee, that looks exactly like what I am trying to replicate, then I looked again at my car… it’s from the 1996 Swedish Rally…in Feb. 1996, so I have the idea for my next rally car. So now my question is… how big are the studs on studded rally car tires?
EWC2003: Sorry, I cannot help you there. Being from South Africa I have never seen studded rally tyres! [;)] Hardly seen any snow! From footage I’ve seen they do tend to vary. Also, it depends on whether it’s icey or snowey stages… But like I said, this is all very second-hand info, hopefully somebody else can help you out there!
PS: Way off topic - how do you get your GB logo’s to “flip” into each other?
Dan: What I did was to do the airbrushing first, some heavier areas and some jsut a mist - depending on how I thought the distribution would be. I then dipped the toothbrush in the paint I mixed and played aound on a piece of paper first -great fun! [:D] - to see what technique brings out which “splatter”. Played around with more/less paint as well as “shooting” the brissles from shallower or deeper - you know, pulling back your fingers over the tootbrush and letting it flick the brissles forwards - just doing it lightly or going deeper with your finger so it shoots forward quicker. (Sorry, yet again a lack of better descriptive word led me explaining it in a long sentence, rather than having a misunderstanding - before you think I insulted you by doing a long explanination!) That caused the effect I wanted to not have it look so artificially sprayed on (too even). You can see it clearly on the front corner, the (unmasked!) windshield and also on the side you’ll see the more “blotchy” type effect - very clear over the “RS” logo.
I will definately try this again. Often auto guys are being critisised for weathering, saying we’re trying to hide an iffy paintjob. I just enjoyed it so much. And as I said, this was my first attempt, there are things that can go better…
And that was me being long-winded!
The first thing you need to make a studded tire is some really narrow tires and I don’t know of any to buy.
The pictures give you an idea of what you are facing, it’s the Lappi tires.
Good luck!
Niclas
ewc2003: So you’re doing an Escort Cosworth then. The size of the studs vary depending on the spec of the tyre, ie. whether they are full ice, ice/snow or snow. Usually around 4.5mm I think - there is a regulation governing the actual length, so I’m not 100% on this. Renaissance do a set of snow rims/tyres avail from MediaMix. MRM Int’l also commissioned a resin set to be sold as a house brand.
Thanks Seabee. Did you use just a muddy brown paint in your airbrush?
Yep, just played around a bit till I got what felt like a good colour… Basically browns and yellows, maybe white to lighten it up at a stage.