Model Boat Mayhem
Technical, Techniques, Hints, and Tips => Tutorials & "How Tos" ... => Topic started by: merriman on July 03, 2012, 04:21:23 pm
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(http://s14.postimage.org/r5l8fk1y5/DSCN0079.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/r5l8fk1y5/)
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(http://s17.postimage.org/h4cazjqej/024.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/h4cazjqej/)
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(http://s14.postimage.org/erlfbxtct/DSCN0038.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/erlfbxtct/)
Is the Vanguard effect a mesh laid directly on to the model?
The other photos show the value of close observation of your subject, mixed with a little artistic licence to emphasise the final effect. The 'Merriman' effect shown to the usual high standard.
Model weathering seems to be a subject upon which we are always learning ( Stealing? ) from others, right back to the excellent series of books from Shep Paine, through the various techniques seen mostly in military and aviation mags. Why does the marine community seem to be slow to pick up these techniques. come on guys and gals, get weathering...that means you too Ben!
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... Yes, stock window-screen material was used to achieve the tile effect. Best to get the plastic screen material; more pliable and much easier to negotiate around compound cures than traditional metal screen material. The trick is to use a section of it, secured at one corner of the model (onto some masking material so you don't damage the paint-work) with tape, push the screen flat to the models surface as you spray on a darker/lighter shade of the substrate color, then to move your hand to a new section of screen, holding that flat and shooting again, and so on. I first tried this technique simulating tiles on a space-shuttle model -- back in the days when the earth was still warm.
Orient the screen 45-degrees to the models axis and your putting down a 'geodetic' pattern, such as what is evidenced under a weather beaten GRP sonar window, as I'm depicting on this SKIPJACK model:
(http://s17.postimage.org/ogbtsrgx7/017.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/ogbtsrgx7/)
(http://s18.postimage.org/zea6ks251/022.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/zea6ks251/)
(http://s17.postimage.org/789w1biaz/023.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/789w1biaz/)
(http://s18.postimage.org/bibn6qk0l/032.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/bibn6qk0l/)
(http://s7.postimage.org/7tu68f407/DSCN0154.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/7tu68f407/)
As to why people don't properly paint their model submarines: Hell, beats me. Why put all that effort into getting the damned thing running and not paint it up right?!....
David
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The degree, type, and colors of the discoloration of a submarines below waterline structure depends on pier-side-to-underway time, time between hull scrubbings (in water and drydock), water temperature and location, amount and time of variances of surface trim draft, and anti-foul paint chemistry.
Some submarines spend most of their time out of water, such as the Japanese KAIRYU's, and KAITEN craft, and other marine rail-way or shipped launched midgets -- these will evidence the same streaking and weathering effects along the entire structure. No obvious waterline or marine growth.
American front-line submarines beginning a patrol or recently launched -- such as the hand held 1/96 LOS ANGLES below -- will evidence only a slight scum-line and 'sea grass' from waterline down, with little bleaching or marine growth. Same with the little used, but extensively maintained SEAWOLF (the CARTER on the other hand is being put to good use and is likely rather rough looking these day).
The 1/96 OHIO represents a boomer long on patrol, with several patrol cycles behind it since the last dry-docking. And note the scuffed anti-skid paint atop the deck and sail planes. This a well maintained, but hard working boat.
The two SF boats, the FLYING-SUBMAIRNE and SEAVIEW had little if any weathering, as was the case with the many effects miniatures they were based on.
The ALLIGATOR, an effects miniatures, was weathered to represent a short-lived Civil War era submarine that spent a lot of time out of water. Most of it's in-water time spent tied up to a pier in brackish water. The narrow scum-line and rusting between riveted plates reflecting such use.
Bottom line: below waterline 'weathering' is varied and prominent or nonexistent.
David
(http://s17.postimage.org/85ktch4dn/DSCN0004.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/85ktch4dn/)
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(http://s9.postimage.org/m89v2igsr/sf_talk002.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/m89v2igsr/)
(http://s8.postimage.org/v3gocjetd/Wireless015.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/v3gocjetd/)
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(http://s17.postimage.org/ooqxo9ld7/dmerrimanmoreflysub1012t.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/ooqxo9ld7/)
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Okay, Nautilus time.
I am currently restoring, rebuilding etc a Nautilus by Engel, follow my obsessions elsewhere on the forum. I have reached the painting stages and have been documenting them, what follows should translate beyond submarines and be of use to surface vessels as well. Nothing here is new, you just need to know where to look to find these techniques.
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The first image above shows the model prior to painting, I have been experimenting with schemes and effects while working on other aspects of the model.
The second image shows a coat of matt chocolate brown acrylic applied from a rattle can over the entire finish. This is my new base colour.
Next I proceeded to build up a mix of colours on top of the brown, to provide a bit of depth. These included a copper colour, two greens and a little bit of mid grey. all from rattle cans. The specific colours are not important at this stage, they are just providing a base to proceed to the next part of the paint job.
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With the model looking very metallic and generally shiney, it was time to tone down the look of the model. For this stage I used my faithful Badger 200 Airbrush ( as my two cheaper chinese models had decided to cease to function at the critical moment. ). The first job was to reduce the reflective look of the model. Most reflections were coming from the rivets and any corners or edges. I used a Tamiya olive drab colour, suitably thinned, the sprayed over all the rivet lines and any deck or supersructure edges. This toned down the look greatly and didn't take long to complete.
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The next stage was to lightly blow a Tamiya light buff colour into the larger panel areas, taking the speckly look away while not laying the colour on too thick. The effect was almost instant and could stand alone as a final finish as it was.
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As I still had some paint left in the Badger brush, I added some darker colour to the mix and blew in some streaking around the slots in the forward casing, always in a general downward direction. Indicating the way muck etc runs down and around a sub.
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Now the model had a good layer of colour on it, nice and matt, it was time to start abusing it!
A good technique I discovered by accident involved buffing a matt finish with a piece of cloth. This gives it a slightly satin sheen which gives the finish a bit of 'interest', not just flat matt. This has developed into an effect that can be obtained using wire wool, scouring pads and sandpaper, as well as oily fingers ( good for buffing up a model of Capt Picards head! ). In this case I started with wire wool, the rivets reduced this to a wire blob in short order. A magnet on a stick picked up most of the errant wire wool. Whatever is left can rust to its hearts content when the model gets wet.
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Once again working in general downward strokes, I found the rivets provided a 'shadow' to the buffing and created more streaking down from said rivets. This was entirely unintentional but all helps with the look.
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Now cleaned of all wire wool etc, I could move on to the bit I was looking forward to.
I have seen this method used on model tanks for a few years now and fancied having a go. The acrylic base would now come into its own.
I now started the next stage using artists oil paints, from a squeezy tube. The idea being to dot tiny amounts of differing colours on the model, then using a suitable thinner, blend the oils into the model, creating a further layer of effects.
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Applied with a cocktail stick, I used a fair mix of colours, including Burnt Umber and Raw Umber ( brown and lighter brown! ) which seemed to be a Tankies favourite. The thinners I chose to use were low odour white spirits and the brush a 1/4" flat, red nylon one. The thing to remember is not to over do the thinners. I poured a little amount in a milk bottle screw cap lid and worked from that. Dipping the brush, then drying most of the thinner off of the brush on a bitt of kitchen roll. What was left was used to work the paint into the background colour, once again in an up and down fashion.
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The two browns and a red brown were used to simulate a light rusting effect ( my theory is that Nemo may have been mad, but would he have made an advanced submarine that rusts like an old bucket? ), The yellow was worked into some of the panels, dark grey into corners to darken them, and the blue...that went a long way, covering everything it touched, and had to be used with extreme caution. I used it again in the centre of panels to enhance the metal sheet look of the model.
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The advantage of the artist oils is their very slow drying time. Easily over 24 hours, allowing you to stand back, think a bit, and change things if needed. If I had used thinned acrylics for this effect, five minutes and it is dry, no amount of thinners will shift it without ruining everything that went before.
If you need to see the work in a different light, take a photograph using the cameras flash. This will highlight what you have done, sometimes frighteningly so!
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Notice the little smudge of blue, I missed that, didn't see it till I looked at the photos the next day. Still came off with a little bit of thinners on a brush.
Once left to dry the effects blend in to the background.
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And that is as far as I have got so far. The next stage will include an attempt to apply the blue green verdigris look of brass and copper to the parts that would be above the waterline.
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Very nice.
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Following this with interest, keep up the good work.
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Okay, sub painters, come on, while I am fitting lights to Nautilus. Lets make this a 'go to' page for painting subs. So more paint jobs please....
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great work this will be looking out for more soon :-))
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Okay, sub painters, come on, while I am fitting lights to Nautilus. Lets make this a 'go to' page for painting subs. So more paint jobs please....
Are Static models acceptable?
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Will you now have to remove the Un from your Name ?.
Len. %)
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Static models are fine, most of the tanks I stole the techniques from didn't move :}
I still have another Nautilus to complete, so still Un.............. for a while yet!
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Static models are fine, most of the tanks I stole the techniques from didn't move :}
I still have another Nautilus to complete, so still Un.............. for a while yet!
Cool :)
Waiting onŽdelivery of Industria Mechanicas Long nosed submersible :)
http://industriamechanika.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=15&products_id=25
Should be fun to paint
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Cool :)
Waiting onŽdelivery of Industria Mechanicas Long nosed submersible :)
http://industriamechanika.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=15&products_id=25 (http://industriamechanika.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=15&products_id=25)
Should be fun to paint
That sub has an implausably long snout on it, I look forward to the paint job :-))
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It's actually modelled on a real fish
The long nosed butterfly fish
(http://www.liveaquaria.com/images/categories/product/p-69040-longnose-2.jpg)
I plan to paint it in a similar colour scheme but aged
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Next Project..
Abusing a Nuke.
My mate Ahmeds recently re-acquired Engel USS Patrick Henry. Owned by him over eight years ago, and weathered by me then too. Cannot remember that, but it does look good enough to be one of mine :} .
He got it back and I suggested a change of colour scheme. I did not like the way the red antifouling stretched up to the waterline, and suggested we take the darker colour down to the mid line of the sub, while painting the upper casing and sail the classic 60s grey instead of black. Very 'Voyage to the bottom of the sea' looking.First job, replace the Fablon missile hatches with aluminium tape.Once the missile doors were on and a bit of extra scribing done, it was time for etch primer. Coat one reacted with some areas of the earlier paintwork. This was left for a few days till a second coat was applied. all going well this time.
Finally following another few days to cure off, a Humbrol enamel mid-grey was airbrushed on and left to set off for a few more days, then offered up to the model.
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The next stage being to mask off from the waterline down to the mid-point of the submarine. Doing a bit of research on this subject, one shipyard would paint down to the mid-point, while another shipyard would only paint to the waterline, leaving the red antifouling visible just below the waterline.
A light dusting of black, from a rattle can, went on first, followed by green, misted on along the waterline edge and in downward passes, in a random fashion. With the masking removed, the effect looked a little 'fish' like at first. Also, the model had suffered some damage from the removal of the masking tape. Once this was made good, and following a couple of hours to set off, I assaulted the paintwork with a medium Scotchbrite pad, red I believe, and an old shirt. Light downward strokes in the direction of any water run off or general wear and tear. This helps to blend in the green misting and helps to show off the shape of the sub.
The last shots showing the model with the corrected paint damage and the blended effect of the green to good effect.
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The original casing black colour was treated to a few tweaks. The old shirt can be used to buff the paint up just enough to produce a nice satin sheen in random streaks. One of the photos shows the weedy detail up well. more of a green scum than any proper weed. Also I took the opportunity to add some random pencil lines for a bit of extra ...stuff. You can never have too much 'stuff'.
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The upper casing was next. The first colour was too light, so a new, darker Tamiya Grey was airbrushed over the entire casing. After a couple of hours this was subjected to the abrasive actions of 'the old shirt'. Once again, in a generally downward fashion, but also bringing the deck 'round down' up to more of a satin sheen.
A couple of basic washes of colour were applied after this first stage, thinned down black and dark grey, painted into all the details and mostly dabbed off with tissue. This builds up a level of colour variation in an otherwise drab grey finish, easy to overdo this stage, but as the base grey is acrylic and the washes are enamel, you can remove any foul ups with a cloth lightly dampened with white spirit.
The final detail for the upper casing being the darker walkway paint on the upper sail, hydroplanes and down the middle of the missile deck. This was masked off first, then pretty much scrubbed onto the deck with a stiff brush, avoiding any obvious brush marks as I went.
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Camoflaged periscopes have to go, not of the era. Noticed that last night watching a programme about seaplanes. the lower scopes are the same grey as the sail, the upper scope parts look about right, so imagine they are the correct colour :-))
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Seaweed, unless you have fondled the weed, you cannot possibly paint the weed...
This went wrong, then it went right. I stippled one of my favourite 'match pots' along the waterline in a random fashion. Then remembered that being acrylic, sort of, it wasnt going to allow me to tone it down without a fight. A fight followed, with Scotchbrite etc, resulting in the second and third image...still looked tat!
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Second try, with a nice acrylic base colour laid down ( on purpose, designed that way, not a total foul up in any way..) I then laid a second, enamel green colour over the original pale colour. I worked right round the submarine, allowing the colour five minutes to start to go off in the heat. Then with a half decent brush, loaded with spray thinners, 'chased' the green edges out, feathering them downwards and softening them slightly above. Its a random effect that is difficult to describe and just requires a bit of practice, preferably on someone elses model!!
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In the previous photos you may notice a blotchy effect to the black upper hull colour, this is caused by the spirit based thinners used for the waterline effect, you can get an edge to the weathering caused by the thinners like a drying mark. this can be chased out using more thinners but this can lead to the effect seen. Sometimes that makes for a good effect, not this time though. so it was out with the Scotchbrite and 'buffing' shirt to polish the effect out.
These shots show the weed effect well, also the overall random satin sheen which I rather like.
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Thats another less than conventional weathering job done, back in the time machine to spread the word about Scotchbrite, through time and space :}
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Why have I only just picked up on this ?? !!!!
You'll have great fun with the long - nose,
and what about the squid shaped one ?
That should be a laugh..... O0
all the best
Vic