Weathering / toning down decals part 1

[Phil_Flory]

OK, how many times do you see a good looking model nicely weathered and finished but are dazzled buy the decals.

Well, this is how I do it.

You have finished painting you model, what next?

Then a coat of future.

Well, I give mine the obligatory wash in this case dark for the top and bottom.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9xdNPHxo98

OK, next decals. I don't put a gloss coat down, I just go straight in after the wash.

OK. Flat coat on and tone to dull the decals down. With a bit of dried wash on the finger I rub it over the decals

Rub off any excess with a damp cloth. Next it's out with the airbrush and with a mix of 90% thinners to 10% flat black, gently blow over all the decals

[Phil_Flory]

then it should look something like this

Instead of this

I hope this helps and happy modelling

[thegoodsgt]

Nice work, but I have the opposite problem. I usually want my decals to have a faded look. I just applied decals to a Mirage F1 over the weekend, but based on my desire for a time-worn and weathered airframe, the bright decals aren't effective. I'm thinking through ways that I might be able to very carefully and subtly drybrush the decals to get a faded effect. (Or I could just put them in a south-facing window for six months!)

[Chris Kethan]

I actually spray a light mist coat of the underlying color over the decals. It really fades the decals into the paint nicely.

Here are my layers..

1. Paint

2. Clear Coat

3. Wash

4. Clear coat

5. Mist coat over decals

6. Dullcoat

Here's a couple of examples:

HTH,

Chris

[Gervais8]

Great tips guys. Thanks for the help.

RG

[Phil_Flory]

I do over spray the decals on heverly weathered models as in this Rafale.