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Forums - Modelling / Construction |
The construction forum is for the discussion of techniques on the construction phase of AFV modelling and the tools and materials used. |
| Topics | 1939 |
| Messages | 9055 |
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| Subject: | Re: Camo netting and foilage |  |
| Date: | Jun 25, 2008 |
| From: | Christopher C Tew | |
4. Look for Aber, Part, and Eduard photoetch sets at one of the larger internet hobby shops. These sets, unfortunately, cost about half as much as the original kit. It's easier and surer for me to use a file or knife blade to thin the plastic. If you want to make your own, try to get some plumber's thin sheet lead and mold it over the kit part to get the shape. Prime the lead (put an even coat of paint on it) as soon as you can - don't put your fingers in your mouth after handing the lead and wash your hands thoroughly afterwards.
7. There were some small wire loops, usually molded as thin straight lines, on the turret sides. They're probably under the Zimmerit now! If not, you can scrape these off and replace them with thin wire, but this requires a very small drill bit to make anchoring holes where the ends of the molded effect were. If you can still find one of the track hooks that got broken off, shape some wire like that and replace those hooks and use them to anchor the camo wires. Otherwise, just do what the original owners did and wrap the wire around any handy projection or "weld" it here and there to the turret. Again, photos are your best guide.
8. Paint straight out of a bottle - unless the bottle says it is specifically for airbrush - will be too thick. Most paints need thinning: 3 parts paint to 1 part thinner, then adjust to get it a little thicker than water but not thicker than whole milk. Many paints will have a suggested thinning ratio on the bottle label.
Diluting the paint too much will not help - you'll just be chasing drips and squiggles around with the air stream. Use an index card or piece of scrap plastic to test your nozzle setting - you can't fill in large spaces and get a narrow line with the same nozzle setting. Screw the nozzle down until there is hardly any paint coming out, then open it just a little more and practice holding the nozzle close (.5 to 2 inches) to the card at a constant angle whille drawing a solid line, like the airbrush was a pen. Try not to to vary the angle, as that will cause the paint to spread out away from the nozzle tip. Outline your camo areas and then fill them in rather than trying to get the camo down with one spray setting.
I use a single action brush, an old Paasche, and it will give a good clean line if I have thinned the paint properly and kept the nozzle cleaned out.
9. A wash is mostly thinner (water, alcohol, or mineral spirits, depending on the paint - generally the wash will be in the opposite kind of paint than the kind you used for the basic camo: acrylic camo uses a mineral spirits wash and enamel camo uses a water or alcohol wash) with a very little paint. Some modelers call it a filter, but the difference is more in how it is applied than the liquid itself. A brown or tan (or any appropriate color) wash represents the dust and grime that builds up on surfaces and the natural bleaching and color shifting of paints exposed to sunlight and weather. Applied evenly, it's a filter; allowed to build up in corners and around nuts and the like, it's a wash. The distinction is not one I care to bother with. The T-L articles section has lots of information about how to use this technique.
One exception to the comment above about thining paint is that you can spray very thin paint (wash thin) if you hold the airbrush far enough away not to get drips and squiggles. This gives a basic coat of dust to the vehicle, and you can make it a bit thicker near ground (track or tire) level and lighten it as you move away from the ground.
HTH,
CTew |
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 | Camo netting and foilage [IMG] - a. syalabi - Jun 24, 2008 |
| . . . Re: Camo netting and foilage [IMG] - a.syalabi - Jun 24, 2008 |
| . . . Re: Camo netting and foilage [IMG] - a. syalabi - Jun 24, 2008 |
| . . . Re: Camo netting and foilage [IMG] - a. syalabi - Jun 24, 2008 |
| . . . Re: Camo netting and foilage [IMG] - a. syalabi - Jun 24, 2008 |
| . . . . . . Re: Camo netting and foilage - Johnathon Courtot - Jun 24, 2008 |
| . . . . . . Re: Camo netting and foilage - Christopher C Tew - Jun 24, 2008 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: Camo netting and foilage - a. syalabi - Jun 24, 2008 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Camo netting and foilage - Christopher C Tew - Jun 25, 2008 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Camo netting and foilage - Paul Roberts - Jul 25, 2008 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Camo netting and foilage - a. syalabi - Jul 26, 2008 |
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