Most of the planes I have built to date have been WW2 era aircraft - some bombers; and some fighters (specifically, for example, WW2 South Pacific aircraft that saw lots of weather damage from the sun, salt, coral runways, and sand). I don’t have any problems figuring out how I want to weather these aircraft.
I just finished building three Vietnam era craft - an F4 Phantom; an F-100 Super Sabre; and an F-105 Thunderchief. I just finished a Korean era jet - the F9F Panther. What I have noticed in doing online research of these jet aircraft is that not many really seem to show severe weathering (like many WW2 A/C). And, most of the photos I have seen are actual photos from the war. I like the way my VN aircraft look. And, after screwing up the paint on the F9F Panther (and using Easy Off) I was scared to take a chance on adding weathering (say, faded paint).
Just curious…with respect to weathering or not, how do you guys determine whether weathering is needed? It seems to me, for example, that lots of the carrier planes and land based planes from Vietnam were kept to good standards. For what it’s worth, I like to display my models in dioramas so that they “look” like they are real on the hardstand.
I’ve definitely seen photographs on jet aircraft from Korea/Vietnam showing forms of weathering. Maybe not to the level of a South Pacific Corsair or Japanese warbird, but oil streaks, burned metal, cordite staining around cannon muzzles, stuff like that.
Here is a F-100 Super Saber I did a few years ago. The weathering was fairly light but based on photographs I’d found at the time. But then I did an F-102 Delta Dagger that was a Texas ANG bird that was pristine, with only a bit of engine heat weathering right around the exhaust cone.
Kidding a little here… More seriously - look at the picture of the ace’s plane:
Phantoms were known for problems with paint chipping on the intakes.
And the undersides - they seldom show on the photos and are also hard to see on the ground, and hard to get to - so they tend to get absolutely filthy:
This above is a mild example. Navy aircraft were sometimes a lot worse (that white paint!). When in doubt you can always take the Skyraider:
In the end it’s your model and if you want to, you can model 'em “factory clean”.
The level of weathering depends on the subject. For instance, an aircraft from the Vietnam war would be heavily weathered. A modern day jet, say a Super Hornet, not so much. These aircraft are usually pretty well maintained. I use two techniques. The first is faded panels. Add a little white to what ever color your working with. I usually start in the middle of the panels and work my way to the outside edges. The second is good old Tamiya accent colors.
Black, Brown, Gray, and dark Brown. I don’t brush over the entire model. That’s just going to make a mess. I’ll take a fine tipped brush, go over just the raised and recessed detail. Let dry, then remove the excess with a cloth dampened with mineral spirits. I wipe it off in the direction of the airflow. (From the leading edge to the trailing edge.) I use only acrylic paints, so you won’t have a nasty reaction using the mineral spirits.
I try to use actual fotos from the period to give me the right idea. And I dont like to depict worn out dogs, with weathering so severe they look like a hazard to even fly.
At some point in their service life they DIDNT look like that, and I choose to depict practical service wear - but not broke down.
