Bits, Pieces, & Clutter

[finescalerr]

Any effort that can transform bare white plastic into something that convinces me it is an iron vehicle that's been in the elements for years is pretty earth shattering. -- Russ

[Ray Dunakin]

Looks good to me, Marc.

[narrowgauger]

Hi Marc,

its looking good.

By the way Mr Surfacer can be diluted with MEK for airbrushing.  Have been using it as a primer on brass for a while with very good results.  it's main benefit is far less chipping on corners & edges compared to normal acrylic primer.

have fun

Bernard

[Chuck Doan]

Looks good to me! I know what you mean about the coloring; I just did some rusty metal pieces in a pile-looks OK, but with everything rusty it is kind of blah. Once set in place as you say, I am sure some contrast pieces can be found.

[Carlo]

Hello, all -

"Mr. Surfacer" is a new material/technique for me. I assume it is some sort of primer/filler/texturing finish.Can one of you point me to a post/thread/site where it is discussed...
What is it? How is it used?
Advantages/Disadvantages?
Results? Examples?
Sources for on-line purchase?

Carlo

[marc_reusser]

Thanks Guys!

Carlo:

If you look back through all my projects here you will see that I use MR Surfacer for primer on all of them. On some parts that re resin, metal or delrin, I may also use MR Resin Primer....which as far as I can see is simply a more aggressive version of the MR Surfacer. I find MrS. to be a superior primer, over ANYTHING else I have used (Tamiya comes as close second)....if applied properly...which is not hard at all to do...when dry it shrinks down to the surface and does not hide any detail whatsoever. Mr. Surfacer is made by 'Gunze-Sangyo' (often just called 'Gunze'), who also have a whole line of paints and other associated products.

MrS. comes in 3 different weights or "fine-ness" (I know, not a word); 500, 1000, and 1200......the higher the number, the more fine the pigment/filler material. The heavier will help a bit if you need to hide or fill some fine sanding marks.

MrS is available in 2 sizes of spray cans, or in jars. I have both, but primarily use the spray cans (1000 or 1200) for all my work, and have never had a problem. The MrS in the jars, as Bernard mentioned, needs to be thinned for spraying through an airbrush....I have not tried MEK like Bernard, but have used the thinner made for it and their paints called simply "Mr Thinner".  I tend to use the MrS from the jar (500) primarily for creating a cast iron type surface texture or for spot filling of small surface imperfections.

I have found ZERO disadavantages with this product. 

Most good online military and sci-fi modeling shops such as;  Great Models ( http://www.greatmodels.com ), Jadar Hobbies ( http://www.jadarhobby.pl/index.php?currency=USD&language=en ), Mission Models ( http://www.missionmodels.com/home.php ) , Hobby-Link, ( http://www.hlj.com )....etc.  It is also available on Ebay....I once bought a case (12 cans) of it there from a shop in Hong-Kong for half the price of the cheapest online shop...and that included shipping.


HTH.


Marc.


BTW:...while we are on the subject of indispensible and IMO, great products for surfacing/finishing your model....the best putty out there is the Tamiya "Standard Putty" .......I have not found better for scale plastic models, and I have worked with everything from super fine automotive glazing/surfacing putty, to the green/red Squadron stuff (which is really absolute crap). This is available from the same shops above, and ebay. (bought half a dozen tubes from the same HK shop....still on my first tube )


EDIT: this may sound like a stupid an unecessary comment, but just in case someone that reads this did not know.....when sanding your plastic or resin models and putty filled areas....always "wet sand"....it will cut faster, cleaner and with less surface damage (if you use the correct sandpaper grit of course)......and as an added benefit, it will aslo cut down on the dust/particulate matter floating around.

[Chuck Doan]

Not stupid at all. I have never wet sanded a puttied part. I shall give it  a try.

[Frederic Testard]

Thanks for the comment, Marc. I never think of doing that, and this results in a surface less neat that I sometime would want.

[marc_reusser]

While I had all the stuff out I figured I would goof around with another misc. detail part.  This will be a gate consisting of a chain strung between two posts made from embedded rail pieces.

I used some plastic rail pieces from a Trumpeter armored rail car kit (they sell the rail and ties as a seperate item as well).

The piece on the left what it looks like after it was primed with Mr. Surfacer, then base coated with a mix of Tamiya "Hull Red/Black/Yellow", this was followed by a rough AB application of Vallejo #820 "Off White", The area below the white then received a random sponge application of LifeColor #UA-702 "Rust"..and some blending with a mix of Pigments (CMK #SD-02 "Dark Rust", and MIG #P230 " Old Rust")

The piece on the right is after the application of chipping (Vallejo #802 "German Camo Black Brown"), and some pin washes of ABT-502 oils (#070 "Dark Rust", and #080 "Wash Brown")




...next, chipping the other post, and making the chain and sign.



MR

[jacq01]

   Very convincing...... now stop these photo's of the real thing and show us your modeling efforts   

    Jacq

[finescalerr]

I agree with Jacq. You are messing with us. I am almost certain I saw those rail sections in your backyard last time I was at your house. Unless they were your cats. -- Russ

[JohnP]

Marc, so the chipping is adding a layer of a rust brown over the previous finishes? You are not actually "chipping" any previous coats off

I hope that's not a silly question. I like that effect after looking at so many old bridges and industrial thingies.

John

[marc_reusser]

John,

No silly question.....you are correct...the chips are painted on over the white....properly used (which is easy to do with such good paint) Vallejo will lay down really nice and tight to the surface, so you can't really tell that it has been painted over the color below....especially once additional steps of weathering process has been done/added.

MR

[Ray Dunakin]

Nice work on the "chipped" paint!

[JohnP]

Thanks Marc. Gosh darn that rail end just looks so right even though it is not in context.

I might try that chipping technique full size on the wife's '88 Caravan, on the opposite side from the one the deer hit four years ago. At least it would look uniform.

John