barra733

Has anyone had any problems when using spirit based weathering products (oil paints/thinners)? I know from my 1/35 scale modelling that these can sometimes make the plastic brittle and prone to splitting if handled lots. I'd like to do a heavy weathing job on my Tiger but I'm a bit worried that it will weaken the model.

martin g

Dont know about weakening, it would make sense though. I have three weapons for this, a soldeing iron, tamiya weathering powder and the usual paints etc, oh with some dust ( to mix in the paint for rougheffect)

Soldering Iron..perfect for marking damage, cutting, motling and putting in welds. It takes pratice and a steady hand. You simply 'melt' the plastic very gently and form it as required. I cant stress enough how good this can be with practice, some may use a hot gun ( paint stripper) to soften and bend the plastic but the soldering iron is more precise. For example, along the side of a Tiger is the mud guard things, in th HL model they are straight and together, they rarely are for real, they get bent and curled, so, use the sharp edge of the iron to cut the divisions out, then genlty heat and bend them so they oppose eachother, it looks great once weathered.

My basic method is

Paint the base coat brush and sponge. paint the disruption ( camo effect) usually with sponge. Mark out dents, scratches, holes and creases with the soldering iron. Paint any deatils, like shovels etc. Then weather with powder, i use a finger rather than the girly applicators. Thats it. The key for me is, it must look scruffy, neat paint jobs, even neat weathering can look unnatural.

navspook

Sounds like a great way to weather!

I use oil based paints and thinners with no problem -- the tank (1:8 scale KT) is made of a thick type of PVC (still, it's a "pasticide", so it's vulnerable to some types of solvents... but not spirits, apparantly).

I agree with Martin -- the most natural looking weathering is anything but neat-n-tidy. Try different effects using various tools until you get the effect you're looking for.

I particularly enjoy the battle damage look.

Right now, I'm winter camoflaging the KT. I have the turret done and will post pics of the process once it's finished.

Cheers....

navspook

Sorry. Typo -- I meant "plasitcide" as in plastic-based.

martin g

some pics, when i say scruffy, i mean scruffy! This is my HL S+S Pershing, just 'after the battle' look, very tired, a bit rusty and shot to pieces. when you sit tanks like this ext to an out of the box one it really does show that the effort is worth it, it takes away the 'toy' look.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n/IMG_1240.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n/IMG_1247.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n/IMG_1245.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...n/IMG_1248.jpg

This hero deserves some R+R

navspook

Excellent! Now that's what I call fine tuning the effects.

I especially like your treatment of the fenders -- looks quite realistic as does the rest of it.

Looks like it took a few shots at this guy...

martin g

Nice job! I had to check out the back ground to realise it wasnt real. really good

pantiger man

nice job on that pershing martin g escpecially love the rust effect it has.

martin g

One thing I could do with some pointers on myself is getting hold of zimmerit effect coverings. I notice they are available for Tamiya KT, are they available for any other tanks? I was thinking of melting it in myself but these kits seems worth a look first.

navspook

Here are some pics of my RC Armory 1/8 King Tiger getting its winter camo.

Cheers...

Leo2A6 Owner

For those who want a winter white wash effect that will wear and wash off like the real thing try using white "poster paint". like the kind that drys all powdery. Grade school art classes used this type of paint, those people on here with kids know the paint im talking about. The great thing is it will scratch, scrape and wear off. Once the winter is over all you would need to do to remove it is hit it with some water with detergent and a toothbrush.
Other than that i tend to let my tanks weather normaly. Im going to replace the side skirts on my tamiya tiger with individual skirt sections made from soda cans. these will get the best denting and will rust a bit over time when scratched.

dinodog

[8D] Hi Guys, I must say thank the quality of work on this thread is outstanding and a pleasure to behold! This is my first attempt at weathering a 1:12 Tank but I have done a couple of Tamiya 1:12 scale Hummers before. V. V. cool battle damage Navspook! I must admit I love my M1A2 so much that it would break my heart to RPG damage it! But after seeing Navspooks great job I am inspired to consider! I use Tamiya mini acrylic Desert Yellow XF-59 colour washed (add a little washing up liquid soap to help the colour wash to flow to the edges better) with Tamiya Buff XF-57 and some rusty brown on the edges and smeared about. All sealed with PVA wood glue 20% diluted with water 80% for matt finish or 50/50 for satin. No solvents no problem. Happy trails