pminer Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 (edited) Gents, How do you guys "mottle" a surface on a LARGE (72nd AWACS) military aircraft? I work mainly with Air Force planes but Navy too. I tried it last night for the first time. LOLOL!!...I sucked at it. Soooo...I just painted the A/C all nice and pretty and now I'm Futureing it. Just glad that I was able to salvage the original paint job. How do you guys mottle an A/C surface? (not really heavy "weathering" per se') IE..."break up" the smoothness of a surface. Make it look like it's been used....etc. Any articles...etc?? Thanks, Paul Edited June 8, 2015 by pminer Quote Link to post Share on other sites
godfrey1775 Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Hi Paul, I think the term you are looking for is weathering. There a re a lot of great instructional videos on YouTube if you search weathering aircraft. mottling is a disruptive camo pattern used primarily by the Luftwaffe, also some very good instructional videos on you tube. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pminer Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 Hi Paul, I think the term you are looking for is weathering. There a re a lot of great instructional videos on YouTube if you search weathering aircraft. mottling is a disruptive camo pattern used primarily by the Luftwaffe, also some very good instructional videos on you tube. Ok...great. I meant mottling though. IE....the process of breaking up the smooth surface of a freshly painted object or A/C. Technically it's called "mottling". Or weathering too...either way. I just wanted to be clear about what I needed. Thanks!! I'll look at Youtube. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brad-M Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Hi, I have seen guys use a dark colour and spray small dots and streaks on the aircraft, and then paint the base coat, which is lighter than the dots and streaks. Once the lighter base coat is completed, you have what looks like a mottled finish showing lighter and darker areas of paint. HTH Brad Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pminer Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 Hi, I have seen guys use a dark colour and spray small dots and streaks on the aircraft, and then paint the base coat, which is lighter than the dots and streaks. Once the lighter base coat is completed, you have what looks like a mottled finish showing lighter and darker areas of paint. HTH Brad Yes! This is what I've been reading too. I have a large 72nd AWACS that I'm trying to weather/mottle. I don't want a lot of dirt or grease...just a "mottled" surface on the A/C. They're very well taken care of...but used a lot. I believe my mistake was that I didn't paint a dark undercoat first and then build up the lighter, final color. Oh well...Lesson learned. Paul Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Janissary Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 I think there are several ways of achieving that effect. Here are some examples: My F-14 My F-18 Honza F-4 and shading tutorial Doogs' excellent site Doogs on LSP In all cases, after a base coat of paint (main colors or black), the effect is given by a patient application of thinned shades of the target color. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pminer Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 I think there are several ways of achieving that effect. Here are some examples: My F-14 My F-18 Honza F-4 and shading tutorial Doogs' excellent site Doogs on LSP In all cases, after a base coat of paint (main colors or black), the effect is given by a patient application of thinned shades of the target color. Thanks so much! I've got a lot of reading/watching to do! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Darren Roberts Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 (edited) I've recently started spraying the base colors, then overspraying the entire model with a light coat of Tamiya Smoke. I then go back with the original colors and lightly spray over the Smoke. You can even lighten your base color a bit and lightly make another pass. This tends to break up the monotone look of the overall color, yet still keep that color intact. It's really easy to overdo it and get a blotchy appearance that doesn't actually exist on the real thing. Try some different techniques and when you land on one that you like, go with it. I used the Smoke technique on an F-105 I just finished. It's subtle, but it makes a big difference. Edited June 8, 2015 by Darren Roberts Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pminer Posted June 9, 2015 Author Share Posted June 9, 2015 I've recently started spraying the base colors, then overspraying the entire model with a light coat of Tamiya Smoke. I then go back with the original colors and lightly spray over the Smoke. You can even lighten your base color a bit and lightly make another pass. This tends to break up the monotone look of the overall color, yet still keep that color intact. It's really easy to overdo it and get a blotchy appearance that doesn't actually exist on the real thing. Try some different techniques and when you land on one that you like, go with it. I used the Smoke technique on an F-105 I just finished. It's subtle, but it makes a big difference. Awesome...thanks! It seems as if there's several ways to do this. Got a lot of experimenting to do. Paul Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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