Finishing your model
There is an infinite number of ways to finish your
model and you can spend hours or days on the finished look depending or
how far you want to go. There is a huge amount of information on this
subject available form books, modeling magazines, the Internet or fellow
modellers. With that said, I am not going to go into great detail
here, just give you the basics to a good finish.
Painting your model
Remember if you used tape to cover your model,
sand it lightly first with 400 grit paper and wipe with Mentholated Spirits.Use
an airbrush or just plain spray packs to paint.You and your fellow modellers
will look on with pride at your well-painted model and it is not that hard
to do just a little practice. If you are a little unsure practice on
paper first.Remember to keep it LIGHT and don’t add layers of thick paint
to your model.There is an enormous amount of material on scale paint schemes
and 3 views etc. available on the Internet free or in good old books and
I am sure there will be one that appeals to you.A important note regarding
painting EPP models.As EPP is a semi-flexible material you must use a paint
that is also flexible and a lot of paints are not.So when the EPP is doing
what it should by absorbing impacts that happen from time to time, your
paint can flake away in places.We have found mat paints to be the best at
resisting flaking. You can of course touch up these areas were the paint
has flaked and even use them to add to the weathered affect to your model.Or
when your model is finished with panel lines and weathering completed to
your satisfaction, cover the fuselage in clear packing tape.Don’t overlap
too much and take your time to avoid wrinkles remembering you will have
to slit the tape in places to get around the curves.Once finished you have
not added to much extra weight, your model is stronger and the paint job
you have spent all that effort on will look great and not flake or peal.
Coloured packing tape or film
You can also get coloured packing tape that may
be just the colour you need.Midnight blue for a Corsair for example.Tape
is quick easy to use if you take care (see tape covering in the FW190a
page) or use covering film over plain packing tape to get an even better
finish. It is up to you.If you decide on covering film, use one that only
needs a low temp on the iron and remember to test it on some scrap first
as you don’t want a disaster.It can also help when applying film to spray
a light film of 3M M77 spray first, let it get tacky (wait a couple of
minutes) as this will help hold the film in place. Also cover you model
in small section with film and take down the small overlap first with
the iron.
Basic panel lines and the lumps and bumps!
Adding panel lines can be easy, just get a suitable
picture or 3 view and a permanent pen and the affect will look great!You
can make it as simple of adding just a few of the main lines on the wings
and fuselage or go all the way and even add the rivets and draw in the
lading gear bays etc. You can use a permanent fine point NICO pens or
if you have access to them drafting pens work even better, even pencils.
Putting panel lines on can be as simple as drawing carefully the lines
onto your model using you’re chosen 3 view or picture as reference. Start
with a pencil if you wish and judge it by eye as is this is not rocket
science and we just want it to look accurate. Once you are happy with
the level of panel lines added you can give them a weathered look by drawing
over them with a pencil or permanent pen and smudging with your finger
or blotting paper to take away the hardness of the lines.Use this technique
to also add the smoke stains around your exhaust and gun ports etc. Now
if you are really keen you can use an airbrush instead of the smudging
technique for a knock out finish.Now those lumps and bumps!Well you may
be surprised how good they look just drawn onto your model with a bit
of shading to give that 3D affect.If you want more, shaping blue foam
and affixing to your model can achieve most lumps and bumps.For exhaust
stacks you can cut plain old plastic drinking straws and glue them in
place as we have in our models pictured and they look great.
More Panel Line Detailing
F4U Corsair
Republic A-10 Warthog
Douglas C-47 Dakota
Want to know how to make your models look
like this?
Both of these models have mostly flat surfaces.
The illusion of different panels and textures has been added using paint.
These models are both built by Max McCullough from Melbourne. I think
the A-10 is particularly realistic, and is a great example of how panel
lines should look, subtle. If you stand 20 feet away from a real aircraft,
the panels etc. don't jump out at you! You have to look closely at the
surface, and most times you'll only get the impression of texture changes
or dirt build ups. Here's how:
What you need:
- A hobby type airbrush. Badger is popular, but any
single action or better unit will do.
- You will also require paint. Oh Dur! I use
enamels, although they take a lot longer to dry. This is only because
I have a fair stock of colours from my plastic modeling days. The colour
I recommend is dark gray. Black seems a bit overdone, if you are looking
for a realistic effect. That said, Max uses black, but only at low pressure
and aims the gun to achieve the smallest amount of overspray. Black
is OK, but gray is more forgiving. The paint needs to be thinned using
the applicable material for the type of paint you are using. The consistency
of slightly thinned milk is about what you are looking for.
- The other essential part is the mask. If you are
doing panel lines a mask is a must to keep the edges and corners accurate.
If you see a crooked line, the effect is lost immediately. Masks are
usually cut from thick card. Try to cut the mask big enough to allow
your fingers not to get oversprayed! Masks can be just straight, have
sharp corners, rounded corners or be custom cut to the shape of an access
panel.
Preparation
Take the time to look at any 3 views and photos
of the aircraft you are modeling to determine the level of details required
and the location of the panels to be represented.
Glossy, civilian aircraft and generally very clean except for exhaust
staining. Military aircraft are usually dirty due to the flat paint used.
Propellor driven aircraft (WW2) are generally the grimiest because of
lack of cleaning and the fact that a lot were made with overlapping panels.
Jets are generally cleaner because of the flushness of the panels in relation
to each other, but believe me, modern, mostly gray jets such as the F/A-18's
look filthy even when delivered to the customer, again, because of the
type of paint used.
Time to paint
Test paint a (non model) surface first. Ensure
the paint sprays cleanly, with no clogging. Hold the mask in the location
required. LIGHTLY spray the paint onto the CARD first, then move the gun
until only a tiny amount of paint hits the surface and move down the line.
Do not stop spraying until at the end of the mask. All of this must be
done with one, fluent action. Don't worry if you missed a part of the
line when getting the correct amount of spray onto the model. You can
always go back over the area once you get the hang of it.
The most important part of the process is to go lightly.
It is best to go over the same line 2 or 3 times
to get the effect that you want, rather than go in heavy handed and ruin
the model trying to apply all the paint in one shot.
Want more?
You can apply this technique to almost anything
once you get the hang of it. Solid canopies look more realistic when there
are highlights applied.
Stains from firing guns, exhausts etc. can all be added to increase the
realism of a model.
With thanks to Glenn and Max! |
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