If you have any interest in kit bashing aircraft you will know that among the various, much-touted techniques, the use of artist's oils is currently in vogue. Any sucker, sorry, reader, who persuses the pages of modelling magazines will meet with 'how to do it' accounts of smearing oils over their nicely painted models. The oils are wiped off after a while, using white spirit if necessary, and, hey presto, panel lines are all revealed and one's model is suitably weathered. But it is ALL LIES!!! See:
I can't bring myself to show a close-up of the oily mess that my second Tupolev has become. These blurred photos (rather like something from the old Cold War) will suffice:
Moving swiftly on... After my query in my last post re Norwegian He115s, the good blogger over on FalkeEins confirmed that there were two finishes sported by the Norwegian aircraft. The second finish involved the hastily applied camouflage shown below:
The photo shows two RAF officers on one of the Norwegian machines that made it to the UK. As for the finish - well, your guess is as good as mine. So, it looks like the choice will be this:
'FalkeEins' assures me (from a learned perspective) that this was overall aluminuim/silver, rather than grey; so I'll go for that. Cheers, FalkeEins!!
Back in the world of beauty and truth, i.e., the garden of a middle aged Englishman:
Another Iris - wonderful, beautiful. I give thanks !
That Badger looks the business whatever the outcome of the oil experience.
ReplyDeleteNo solutions from my patch as I am far too scared to mess around with such measures.
Keep up the good fight Stephen.
What were you thinking, man? Follow my weathering procedures for guaranteed satisfaction and harmony.
ReplyDeleteHi Stephen,
ReplyDeletesorry to say but I think you've mixed up your techniques - if using oils then you create what the French call a 'jus' - a small amount of oil paint well thinned down with white spirit - and then taking a very thin brush dab it into the panel lines (if recessed) or along raised features. If the 'jus' is thin enough it will 'run' along those lines. Just leave it to dry. Otherwise you can use one of those clay-based washes - these are the ones you apply all over and then remove after they've dried. I find them less than satisfactory and much prefer to create oil panel-line washes....then of course there is the other oil weathering technique - put small dabs of oil paint on the model and with a wide brush dampened with thinner, 'draw' down the 'dab' until its nice and thin and spread along the surface.... especially effective on armour...but that's about the limit of my weathering techniques I'm afraid
It looks quite good, though, when all is said and done! Having seen a few I can confirm that Tupolevs are usually only held together by the oily mess...
ReplyDeleteAlso, I found your book about the Home Guard most interesting when painting a few of my conversions. I finally came round to amassing the troops who will attempt counter the formidable platoon of German paratroopers I've been building up in an Op. Sealion game. Working in 54mm is quite difficult, as you miss out on the vast breadth and variety of 28/25/20mm models, but it's quite fun converting to plug the gaps. Thus far I have a company of mixed German infantry and paratroopers, facing an extraordinary array of soldiers, sailors and candlestick-makers from the British side, quite a few of which are converted... I must post some pictures.