Chipped & Worn Painted Metal Technique

[marc_reusser]

This is a technique and photos posted by renowned armor modeler Adam Wilder, over on the MIG Forum:

"........Anyway, the method I used is one similar to the type Phil Stutcinskas used to get the chipped winter camo on his Euro Best of Show PZ IV. I painted the model using different rust tones, added a coat of satin varnish, then added another few coats of hairspray, applied the green and then carefully removed the green using an old brush and thinner. I decided to use the Vallejo paints instead of the Tamiya to obtain more of a blistered appearance. I was able to more or less get the appearance I was hoping for. It is a lot of fun!!!!!!......


.......I used rubbing alcohol because regular tap water was not pulling the Vallejo paint from the surface. I would recommend that you try this technique on a few pieces of scrap first with different paints experimenting with both water and alcohol. This will allow you to see which method you are most comfortable with........."

Marc

[marc_reusser]

Here is another example of the hairspray chipping technique by another modeler (name not posted with original image).

It was noted that water will also work instead of thinner/alcohol, and that the technique can be hard to control, so a practice piece should be done first. Works on both matte and gloss base color.


Marc

[marc_reusser]

Seeing that I was going to need to represent a chipped/worn dark yellow color over the dark grey base color for my project, I decided to do some experimenting on a spare kit.

The pieces were primered with MR. Surfacer, then sprayed with Tamiya drak grey acrylic. This was followed by a heavy filter of blue Windsor Newton artists oils on half of the piece. The other half was left in the plain flat paint finish as sprayed.

When dry,this was followed by an airbrushing of hairspray over the entire surface. Which was followed when dry by the final dark yellow color, and some lightened panel fading.

After about a week of drying I went in with water and a cut down bristled brush, and began to slowly and carfully wash/work/chip away at the yellow paint.

The process is very time consuming, and somewhat difficult to control....but with practice and luck, can yield what I believe are pretty realistic results. The image below is an are of about 1/2"x3/4", once chipped it was followed by some touches of Valleja "SS Camo Black Brown" to simulate dark older oxixidized scratches/areas worn through even the gray paint, Local washes of Burnt Umber artists oils and rust powder/pigment, and a wash/dusting of "dust" powders/pigment.

Marc

[marc_reusser]

....but of course there is also always the bad news, or problems that go along with every experiment.

This photo showas onother sim sized area of chipping, and illustrates what I found to be the biggest problem with the technique...and that is the ease/posibility that one wears/cips through the base color coat also (exposing the primer). I believe this can be corrected/repaired...and will do so in a follow-up post.....but I believe the major cause of the problem is the fact that the base coat is also acrylic, an thus susceptible to the water and pressure being used to remove the top coat, as well as binding with the hairspray layer (since hairspray has an alc. base that can bind with acrylic)...thus causing it to come away in areas.

I have in the meantime sprayed some pieces with a base coat of Floquil, and when cured for 5-7 days will try overspray that with the hairspray and then the Acrylic, to see if the base chipping problem can be resolved. I will also try the experiment without the hairspray...just the acrylic directly over the Floquil.


Marc

[marc_reusser]

I seem to have completely overlooked a step in the process  ....the application of a clear coat over the base color.

Since I don't have any Valleyo Satin clear on hand, I have sprayed another test piece 1/2 with Model-Master "Lusterless Flat", and 1/2 with Mr Surfacer "Flat Topcoat" (both from spray cans)....This will then also be broken down into each of these with, and without, an artists oil "Filter" over them (just to see if there is a difference in the chippining effect).

Hope to airbrush the hairspray this evening, and then the paint...so will have more progress info in a couple of days.

The Floquil samples are still curing...so I will try various approaches with them hopefully over the weekend.


Marc

[finescalerr]

Marc, it seems to have more potential than the rubber cement method. For one thing the chips look more like chips. Please be sure to comment on your results. -- Russ

[marc_reusser]

While I am waiting for the floquil to cure on all of the test parts, I decided to take one and try a quick 15 min experiment along a different path.

This piece has a base color of Floquil, which was given a filter of Cobalt blue artists oil paint. As soon as the filter appeared to be dry, I used a round tipped brush and randomly dabbed Gum Arabic along the edges and approximate areas where I wanted chips. The Gum Arabic does not hold well anbd will shortly begin to lift from the surface. Over this I promptly sprayed some Tamiya acrylic paint from a spray can...when the surface was ddry to the touch, I used Tamiya masking tape to lift of the Painted areas of GumArabic. Because the paint wasn't completely cured, the tape lifted of areas of non Gum Arabic also.....This though can easily be controled by using smaller pieces/edges of the tape, rather than the entire surface as I did.

This was followed by a light wash of Raw umber artists oils. An 0/18 brush was used to paint some Vallejo "SS Camo Black Brown" and "German Camo Dark Grey" into some of the chips to indicate areas of bare rusted metal. (The scratches were made using a pin, and then lightly lifting the edges with the masking tape) onto these darker chips were addede some diluted pin washes of Burnt umber artists Oil using a 0/18 brush. The entire surface was then given a light dusting of MIG "Europe Dust"

I think this technique has a lot of potential. It's easy to work with and the effects can likely be adjusted with how/where the Gum Arabic is applied, how thick the Acrylic is applied, how long the acrylic is allowed to dry/cure, how the tape is used, and taking a bit more time/finess to do the process.


Marc

[lab-dad]

Forgive my stupidity, but;
How the heck are you "airbrushing hairspray?"
-Mj

[Chuck Doan]

Glad to see you back at the bench, Marc. Nice stuff! I will soon be needing to paint my tractor and hopefully not screwing it up. I have gathered the usual suspect rubber cement (and thinner) and some liquid frisket stuff to try for masking. I'll also pick up some gum arabic.
I hate this part of a project...scary! (unless it turns out good!)

CD

[marc_reusser]

Marty,

I am using a pump hairspray by Pantene. This allows you to remve the top and pour out the hairspray into the airbrush cup. I am also dilluting the hairspray, so that it sprays/goes on finer/thinner, and has less chance of orange peeling and/or hiding details. I used alc. to dilute it for the last experiment, but may switch to/try water for one of the next, to see if there is a difference in how agresssive the hold to the to the acrylic base coat is, and how it affects the overall results.

I still will do the hairspray test, however after seeing the potential with the Gum Arabic, I may just use that as the primary method for my model, in conjunction with some others, to get the chip/wear effects I am after.


Chuck,

Painting scares the pant's off me too ....all the work to this point can suddenly go down the drain.....hence my long, drwan-put, and boring chipping experimets . Luckily acrylics can always be removed if absolutely necessary  . I like the Gum arabic better than the rubber cement, as it does not need to be thinned, it is more viscous...and as such alows for "finer" application, once applied it dries quickly, yet has a longer "working time" on the brush.

I recall you were primarily brush painting everything, are you planning on doing that on the larger tractor surfaces also, or will you be switching to airbrush or spray can? Personally I have discovered that for the resist methods to work properly for me in smooth surfaces (plastics/metals), I need to spray over then, as the brush application tends to affect them in one way or another. Am curious/interested as to how you will go about your techniques.

[EDIT/PS: I posted a bit more info on the Gum Arabic over on MIG in my "38tOOB" build that may be of use/interest]

Marc

[Chuck Doan]

I am tenativly planning on the multiple application brushed on wash of Polly Scale method.
I have probably nixed the gum arabic as it is water soluable.
All pending results of experiments too.
The saving thing is that when doing a heavily weathered finish in large scale, one can tolerate some additional build-up/multiple coats/texture (at least that's what I hope!)

CD.

[marc_reusser]

I got around to exerimenting some more with the Hairspray technique, and...well....as has been mentioned, it is a tempramental thing. I didn't have a lot of luck with it over acrylics, regardless of if I used the clear sealer coat (I used Model-Master lusterless finish, as well as Mr Hobby "Topcoat")...neither giving good results. So as I mentioned previously I was also looking at a slightly different approach.

Warning:  the images are not any great examples of modelbuilding... merely intended to see how the chipping technique would work. The experiment is intending to represent paint that has chipped through to a previos layer of paint, and in a few areas to the metal below.

This experiment was done using a mixed Floquil grey color as the base coat, then an artists oil-paint filter, followed by a brushed on coat of hairspray. The acrylic was airbrushed once the hairspray had dried for about an hour.

Chipping was done by first thoroughly wetting the surface then using a pin and/or pointed wooden toothpick to chip/lift the paint. The chipped ares were then followed by a wet scrubbing with a stip brush to refine, shape, soften and/or expand the chips/areas.

Though a lot more work, and care needing to be taken not to dig into the plastic with the pin, I feel that the technique offers more control, than just "scrubbing" at the color.

Overview:


Details:





This is  a test that was done in the same manner on another/different piece. The left side was chipped using just water and a stiff brush, the right side was done using the above described method. For me, the main difference other than control, was th the pin chipped side did not leave the "color residue" in the chipped areas, like the scrubbing method seemed to.



Critique/comments/suggestions welcome as usual.

Marc

[finescalerr]

Both methods seem to have their place. Sometimes, on an old wreck missing some paint, there is a little residue such as remains by the scrubbing method. The other method is more precise and controllable but both can work.

Overall, the results are pretty staggering (as were those you obtained on corrugated metal). Without a reference photo for comparison, it would be difficult to determine whether your results vary significantly from those of Mother Nature. They certainly work for me; I would be delighted were I able to get the same effect. -- Russ