I have my A-10 built, painted and decalled, I want to add some weathering, but have never weathered any model before, so am unsure what to do. I have a big flat brush and some Games Workshop black ink. Where do I go from here? any help would be greatly appreciated! thanks.
Generally speaking, a wash to highlight any surface details would help. Does this kit have raised or recessed panel lines? If they are raised, there isn’t a lot you can do to them besides possibly GENTLY sanding the lines to reveal a tiny bit of the plastic under the paint to add a bit of detail to them. If you have recessed lines, a wash can be flowed into them to distinguish them. I have found that dark colors (not black) makes a great highlighter for panel lines, perhaps a darker shade of the base color. Some drybrushing on raised details can really make them pop too.
I agree with Daywalker here…even a simple wash will really bring out some details.
To get a “quick and dirty” affect on my collection of Gundam HCM-Pro 1/144, I use a black or dark gray acrylic thinned in water, then liberally brush on the whole thing using a sopping wet brush that seems just a hair too big for the scale of model. At first it looks like you’re ruining it, as the initial effect looks like you’re painting it solid black or dark gray. Let it sit for a couple of minutes, and you’ll see the paint start pooling within the recesses and around raised areas, while being wicked away from most flat panels. I usually let it sit for about 5 mins or so…to just until it starts to feel tacky, then I wipe it down with a damp paper towel, old sock, or t-shirt. The paint stays in all the little cracks and around the smaller raised details, while getting streaked across some of the flatter areas…it gives it a nice “used” look. For aircraft, you’d want to wipe in the direction of airflow to get the right affect. If it’s too heavy, wipe it down again until you’re happy with the result; if too light, then just keep repeating the process. A plastic eraser (usually white and you can find them anywhere) is perfect to rub out areas where the paint set up too quickly without damaging the paint. Just this one thing should improve the overall look, and it doesn’t take very long.
If you want to take it a step further, study photos of the real A-10 to see how it’s weathered. A-10s are beat up and get dirty in the field and still manage to fly, so in my opinion you can’t really overdo it. Notice the scorch stains around the gun, the darker streaks around the engines, fuel ports, and external stores…even the lighter scratches and nicks along the leading edges and access side of the cockpit. There are volumes on how to best replicate these and many more experienced people on this forum than I. I tend to use acrylics and powders more often than not, as these are easier to remove if you aren’t happy with it. Remember to seal everything once you are happy with it. It’s a real bummer to find the perfect exhaust stain powder you spent the better part of 20 minutes applying now sporting out-of-scale thumbprints because you forgot to protect it!
That A-10 is sooooo pretty…build a cheaper easy model, weather it, learn weathering, then decide if you want to weather that A-10 !!
http://www.swannysmodels.com/Weathering.html
Especially since your 'Hog is already decalled, etc. A gloss clearcoat is a good start. The link above has been INVALUABLE to me after I jumped back into the hobby this month.
I would echo the above comments. You’re gonna see quite a bit of soot aft of the GAU-8 gun…think chimney soot almost. Because of the engine arrangement, there may only be a bit of exhaust trailing over the tail boom. I have the “A-10 In Action” at home, I’ll dig it out tonight, make some scans then get them to you. Of course the Interwebz probably has a lot more accurate photos.
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/AWA2/1001-1100/walk1034-A-10-Doerr/00.shtm
Might help out with your weathering questions.