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Some questions on salt weathering technique


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Guys, I've been experimenting with the salt weathering method to acheive chipping and blotchy paintwork. However the results I'm getting are not quite what I expected. While the weathering effects are undoubtedly good, the surface finish of the paint is rough and it's clear that some finer particles of salt are getting trapped by the paint. When you wash away the excess, it does not remove the tiny salt particles unless you abrade the surface, which has an adverse effect on the final paint finish.

 

I understand that for blotchy paint, you are looking at simply putting on a fine filter of lightened or darkened paint so it would be misted very lightly. However for chipped paint, over a bare metal and/or primer substrate the top coat has to go on sufficiently thick to actually cover the surface with the top coat colour. It's here that I don’t seem to be able to avoid the poor surface finish due to the trapped particles of salt.

 

Clearly my technique leaves something to be desired, and I would appreciate any help or hints in identifying where I am going wrong. 

 

Cheers

 

Les

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I've used salt weathering before, Chuck Sawyer (Chuck540z3) has a great article on his technique.  I've had similar problems to what you describe.  Are you using acrylic paint for all the work?  I recommend a really tough durable base like lacquer and then using acrylics on top of it.  Some people put a clear coat on to protect the paint work a little too before applying the salt effects.  Try using thinner paint and do it light passes or mists to prevent it laying thickly over the salt thereby entrapping it.  Hope this helps.

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Thanks.

 

Another (maybe daft) question is whether to apply the decals before or after; if they are applied after they may be too bright and clean, but if applied before they can be damaged by the process. Having had decals suffer damage due to their adhesion not being up to any even light abrasion,  I'm interested in how people get around it

 

Cheers 

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you can damage the decals to suit their surrounding, they don't have to look pristine. if you need chips you could intentionally damage the decal after a while it's soaked with the setting/softening agent using any sharp tool at your disposal; tweezers, blades, cocktail sticks etc. takes trial and error since no decal is same and a light hand.
sponge technique and/or using a fine brush to brushpaint the chips and scoff marks ala armor modelling is another option too.

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Hi, I used salt weathering for my F-4 build, which you can see in the link below:

 

 

I had applied decal on the base coat and built a brand new F-4 in pristine condition. Then I had applied all weathering. Decals should also be weathered in line with the rest of the plane, otherwise it will look unrealistic, I believe.

 

 

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