Advice wanted

[JGREEN]

Guys,

I'm planning to paint a Templar Knight, and I would like to depict the top part of his helm as painted. The thing is, I want the paint to have a worn, cracking, chipped look to it. I've seen some armor guys, space marine painters, etc. achieve this effect very well. I also remember reading something about a "hairspray technique" but dont remember how the hairspray was employed. Can anyone help here with some advice on how to achieve this look? Any help would be much appreciated.

Jason

 

[T-34/85]

Jason, I'm no expert at it but I have used it several times with some tanks that I finished. It basically goes like this, paint your base coat first, let that dry, then spray it with hairspray. (I was told the cheaper the better) Then apply the, "coating" or the paint that you want to appear worn. Before that cures completely, scrub it off with an old toothbrush or simular brush only so far as you want the effect to look. Be carefull because depending on what you use to scrub it off with, it might come all the way off. I use water based paints for this. Some other guys might have a different method but I think this is the basic way. Hope this helps, Tom

 

[T-34/85]

I forgot to mention that I use lukewarm water with the brushing

Jason, I'm no expert at it but I have used it several times with some tanks that I finished. It basically goes like this, paint your base coat first, let that dry, then spray it with hairspray. (I was told the cheaper the better) Then apply the, "coating" or the paint that you want to appear worn. Before that cures completely, scrub it off with an old toothbrush or simular brush only so far as you want the effect to look. Be carefull because depending on what you use to scrub it off with, it might come all the way off. I use water based paints for this. Some other guys might have a different method but I think this is the basic way. Hope this helps, Tom[/quote

 

[megroot]

Maybe this is some help Jason.
http://privateerpressforums.com/showthread.php?116134-Heavy-Paint-Chipping-Tutorial
http://www.militarymodelling.com/forums/postings.asp?th=78368
http://www.scalemodelguide.com/painting-weathering/weathering/apply-realistic-paint-chips-salt/

Marc

 

[housecarl]

A bit more on YouTube too Jason.
Carl.

 

[Mark S]

Thanks for those links Marc and Carl.

 

[Einion]

Jason, if you don't have any hairspray in the house you don't necessarily have to go and get some (cheap as it can be). You can substitute other things that have similar properties, basically something that dries but isn't waterproof.

Einion

 

[Mark S]

I think what Einion's hinting at here may be Cream of Tartar!!

 

[Mirofsoft]

An if you don't have ( cream of tartar ), it's easy to do

 

[bwildfong]

Hi Jason,

Some of my tread-head friends have also used the "salt weathering" technique to achieve the effect of chipped/worn paint. As I understand it, you base coat the helmet with whatever metallic colour you're using, then when that's dry, you mix up a granular slurry of water and table salt crystals, apply it patchily on top of the metallic and let it dry. Next, use acrylics to add the painted colour(s) on top of the salt and the rest of the helmet and let that dry. Then, hold the part/helmet/figure under running tap water and use a toothbrush to scrub off/dissolve the salt, taking the paint with it and leaving the chipped effect behind.

I've never done it, but I sure do talk a good game ! Keep us posted on whatever method you do.

Cheers,

Brian

 

[JGREEN]

Thank you guys very much for taking the time to offer some advice. Brian, I like the idea of being able to skip the hairspray. You mentioned a granular slurry of water and table salt crystals. Wouldn't the salt just dissolve in the water though?

Jason

 

[Piotrec]

There is many techniques beside hairspray to achieve paint chips. You can paint them with a sponge or small brush, I am pretty sure you figure those out on your own Next worth to mention is a salt technique. Paint the base coat, let it dry and softly moist the surface, than apply salt grains in places where you want to have a chips. Paint final color after making sure that everything is dried. Let it dry, moisten the surface and use some tool the take the salt off. I believe this could give you a better control on small surface than hair spray.

 

[SPrimeau]

You can get great effects with hairspray. Airbrush the "final" color on after the hairspray. You don't necesarilly need to use a brush and water to remove the final color...you can use toothpicks and smaller tools to put the chips and scrapes into the color as well.
I've used the salt tecnique as well, just use a bigger granule salt...not table salt. I think I used kosher salt, when the surface is lightly moistened it won't disolve the bigger granules when applied on the under color. Airbrush the final color over it as well, let it dry and take a brush to knock off the salt and you are left with chips. The salt technique will probably only work on larger scale figures...the chips would be out of scale in smaller figures. Looks good on 1/35 scale armor though
Hope this helps Jason-
Scott

 

[Ferris]

On such a small surface I would paint the chips. I think the salt technique, and hairspray to a lesser degree, work best on larger surfaces.
Plenty of things to learn from armour modelers about painting chips. One thing I remember: paint a light-coloured chip first, then fill it in with a darker one, leaving a minute light edge. This gives a nice 3D effect to the chips.

I look forward to your result Jason!

Cheers,
Adrian

 

[valiant]

You could try painting the basecoat first, then sparingly dab on masking fluid using a pan scourer where you want the paint to appear worn. Spray the topcoat on, allow to dry, then carefully pick off the masking fluid with a scalpel point or toothpick to reveal the chipping.

Cheers,

Steve

 

[bwildfong]

Thank you guys very much for taking the time to offer some advice. Brian, I like the idea of being able to skip the hairspray. You mentioned a granular slurry of water and table salt crystals. Wouldn't the salt just dissolve in the water though?

Jason

Hi Jason,

I wondered about that too, having never done it myself. What if you dab on just a bit of water, enough to hold the salt in place but not so much as to dissolve the stuff entirely?

I just found a couple of Youtube vids that show the basic techniques:




Also, here's a website article with some sbs photos:
http://www.scalemodelguide.com/painting-weathering/weathering/apply-realistic-paint-chips-salt/

Hope these help,

Brian

 

[JGREEN]

Thanks again for the helpful advice guys. Time to do some experimenting . . .

Jason