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Help! How do I weather a black aircraft?


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Hey crew,

Been lurking here for quite a looong time but I do believe this is my first post. I have been building on and off since I was a kid but over the past 10 year I think I've only done about 3 or 4 kits. I recently finally got my hands on an airbrush and I'm thinking of getting back into the hobby on a much more regular basis.

 

I am currently working on an Italeri 1/48 F-5E Tiger II and I'm looking to paint it in the MIG 28 movie scheme. I'm going to use Tamiya X-1 Black for the overall colour because I don't want it too too glossy and I'm sure it will get shinier with a coat of Future.

 

My question to all the experts: does anyone have any tips on how to weather a black aircraft? I have never actually done weathering before and after scouring the internets to try and find some sort of trick I came up short. All I get are results for black basing vs pre-shading. I must be typing something wrong because I'm sure somebody somewhere has weathered black aircraft. I was thinking of pre-shading with flat black, spraying with black, a coat of Future, then again with a flat black panel wash. Like I said though this is my first attempt at weathering so I don't know if that will even work. If anyone has any ideas I would LOVE to hear them!

I have been following  chuck540z3's F-5 build but he's not at the point of painting/weathering yet. I can't wait to see how his turns out! 

 

This is basically exactly the look I'm going for...

M03copy.thumb.jpg.5c9b5864526a25bb677cc4a79bf8a1f8.jpg

 

I know this pic is a simulation but I really love how this is weathered and would like to try and replicate it as best I can. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

-Zombiel

 

 

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I am very new here as well, my last build was when Bush was president, the older Bush, so that gives a time frame, may have even been Reagan, I can't remember. The one piece of advice I can offer you is this. Once the kit is painted and the decals are sealed in, you can use a satin clear coat to tone down how shiny it looks. Then, this is where you need to be bold and try something new. Try using colored chalk to weather it. You should look up how to use chalk for weathering, it looks pretty easy, just grind it to a fine powder and use a big brush to put it on the plane. Once it has gotten into the panel lines and other crannies, you can basically brush off the excess with very little worry about doing permanent changes that you can't return from. After that, you can just leave it as is, but you won't be able to handle it much, because the more you do, the more weathering you will lose. You can seal it in, but be warned that chalk wet will typically darken, so you should test the sealing on something else. Once you have the right color combination that looks good sealed, then weather the kit. Brush to your liking and seal it in. After that, you can handle it again without losing all your hard work.

 

These guys on here are master if their art, best part, they want to share it with the world, so feel free to ask away, someone on here will have the right answer or at least point you in the right direction. I am still learning my way around here and already found it to be an invaluable source for inspiration and information. So welcome aboard, don't be a stranger lurking in the background!

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony

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To get that result you have to break up the overall black by weathering inside the panel lines.  For a starting point on the top of the bird, where most wear and tear occurs, take the base black and add some white,  grey, rubber n tires, even tan or brown.  Take it slow and use thin mixes to build up the effect on the panels. This should give a nice contrast with the darkened panel lines.    For the clear coat, I would spot coat it with gloss, satin and even a little flat.  One, smooth, uniform clear coat will crush the effect.  Lastly, tamiya weathering pigments could really make the highlights pop.  The approach would be similar to the process used on WW2 F 4 or F 6 in the Pacific only your using black in place of blues.  That would be my approach, hope it helps

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Great tips guys. I'm almost ready to paint. Still not 100% sure which approach I'm going to take but I will be sure to keep you all in the loop. (Puns slightly intended).

My anxiety was going into overdrive about this build especially because it's going to be a gift for my nephew but then I realized... It's black! Even if the weathering doesn't show up it's still going to be black. So I'm a lot more relaxed now.

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I forgot to mention this, if you want to see weathering on black aircraft, you should do a search on this site, and then others like britmodeler or armarama I think it is, then search for Blackhawk helicopters, specific terms like SOAR, DAP, MH-60 and AH-6J, all these birds are black, with lots of weathering techniques offered. If the build lot doesn't explain it good enough, as the builder what they did, I am sure that they will be more than happy to share their methods. I did not say it before, but one thing to remember, no matter what paint you use, the aircraft is only as shiny, or dull as your last coat. So the final clear coat should be semi-gloss after weathering is complete. If you don't like that, then satin. Try until you get the results you are looking for. And as long as you are doing thin coats, you will never build up too much coverage, but you will seal in the details for a very long time, which is the goal anyway.

 

Most of all, remember to have fun, I am sure your nephew will love it!

16 hours ago, Zombiel said:

My anxiety was going into overdrive about this build especially

 

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46 minutes ago, Zombiel said:

I will definitely look up some Blackhawks

You are in luck, here is the SR-71 in what appears operational condition. This should really give you a good start. I did not look at the pics yet, but they appear very detailed and of good quality.

http://www.primeportal.net/hangar/mark_hayward/sr-71_64-17962/

Enjoy!

Sample pic, but dark, but it is the one showing the most aircraft I could see.

 

sr-71_64-17962_54_of_55.jpg

 

More luck, here is a list of different walk around of the Black Bird on prime portal, they have everything under the sun!

 

Quick fun fact, the SR-71 was not the SR-71. The aircraft designation used to the Reconnaissance/Surveillance or RS-71. After the potus mistakenly called the plane the SR-71, did the airforce rearrange the letters, because well, you can't go telling the president that he is an idiot and got it wrong. If the president said it is the SR-71, we'll dammit, I guess it is.

 

Have fun, this will keep you busy for a month!

 

https://cse.google.com/cse?cx=partner-pub-3887193418448336%3Ay3j50p-e9zf&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=SR-71&sa=Search

Edited by Stalker6recon
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The real designation was always SR-71.  The person who wrote the transcript of Johnson’s speech for distribution transposed the letters.  BTW, the “S” in RS stood for Strike, as in the proposed RS-70 variant of the XB-70 bomber.

 

https://theaviationgeekclub.com/sr-71-or-rs-71-how-the-legendary-blackbird-got-her-designation/

 

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