How do you do yours?

How do you guys like to finish your boats? Do you like to finish yours in pristine condition with shiny paintwork, with the ''just left the showroom look''? Or do you like the battered look, with dents here and there, rust streaks, bad welding on show, crooked panel lines...that sort of thing?

Personally, I like the latter, especially on a wartime boat...having seen the X craft at Gosport Sub Museum close up (when it was kept outside) that's how I want mine to look.

So...how about you guys? What's your preferences?

Filthy-dirty. And it must smell bad too.

David

Filthy and dirty I can do...but to make it smell bad? Maybe mix some fish oil with the paint...

I am In-between. Like Richard said, older diesel war boats look good with wear and tear on them. My Skipjack (Scamp), I like it looking pristine, might change my mind when I give it a bit of weathering.

When I look at other peoples subs, I do not seem to care either way. Except for a weathered sub done horribly wrong, that does not appeal to me.

My models just get hard-use and neglected maintenance - just like the real thing?

David

I like the finish on your Resurgam, David...very realistic.

I guess modern day boats get more regular (and better) maintenance than the wartime boats would have done...they would have been just patched up, a quick oil change, clean the filters and back out to sea.

I was wonder if you could use Iron filling in vinegar, then pour over the sub, should get the streak where it runs down the hull

I have tried putting iron filings on a model - then left out in the rain. It works but is slow (days and weeks). I have also tried ferric chloride (Printed Circuit Board etchant) very good rusty look but don't overdo it.

Overall though I think that you are better off learning how to do it with paint (I haven't learnt it). At shows you see some wonderful examples (tugs and trawlers especially.) In my opinion, more models should be weathered. The "out of the box" look is very rare in real ships. (Or am I trying to excuse my limited painting skills!)

David

Cheers David,
one product I keep meaning to try (but a £7 what to see it first hand) is the rust effect from model mates. been watching the youtube video and does look good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWsgOXLNQ2s

Way back when I built my first Darnell U boat, I left the hull and deck out in the garden for weeks, covered in anything metal I could find...nuts, bolts, old fencing wire, chunks of metal from the scrap bin at work...anything that would go rusty. Every now and again I'd pour a bottle of salt water over it to assist in the rusting process, and after a month or two it looked perfect...covered in rust of all colours, filthy dirty and looking as though it had done a long arduous patrol in the North Atlantic.

I took it into the shed, and applied many light coats of thinned down matt varnish, sprayed on from a distance of around six feet or so, so as not to disturb the rusting...it looked grand (well, I thought so...the wife of the time wasn't impressed, she couldn't figure out why I'd treated a hundred and fifty pound's worth of submarine like that)

I must try and locate the photos of it, I have them somewhere in here....somewhere could be anywhere,

Richard,

I have many 'how to' photos of weathering tricks, but for some reason can't get them to the site. How bout I e-mail them to you? If so, e-mail me at,

dmeriman@aol.com

David

Email en route, David.


Richard

Richard(Admin) wrote:Email en route, David.


Richard

Just sent a bunch, thanks.

David

I go for a realistic, slightly dirty but nor for a completely rusty and worn look.

Techniques:
I usually do a base coat with acrylic 2 component paint and work from there. To give the surfaces a more realistic look, I apply at least tow layers of filters (e.g. "the filter" by MIG productions). With the right brusch you can also add structure to surfaces at that point, i.g. directionality of dirt induced by the flow of water etc.. After the filters I usually go forward with two or three different colored washes (again e.g. MIG productions). With the wahses I enhance surface details like edges, recesses, rivets, corners. Dark washes are also good for simulating dirt and oil. Finally some very conservative applications of rust stains (again MIG productions rust work splendidly) and after letting everything dry thoroughly I cover everything under silk clear coat.

Cheers Andreas