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Hey everyone im curious to how you guys and gals go about designing up your camo for planes on 1/48. Do you use free hand/ stencils etc? I am currently brushing but have a airbrush on order but want to finish my current p40 with brush. Either way I can use the same ideas with airbrushing for camo once I have that going well. 

 

Any sites / tips or tricks would be appreciated. 

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I usually use the "putty worm" approach. i use that blue tac sticker poster hanging stuff, roll it into little worms, and use it to demarcate the camo pattern. the thicker the worms, the more blended the camo line is, thinner worms makes it a sharper line. I usueally mask around the putty worms so I dont get any overspray. Takes a bit of practice to get the lines right and you have to be very careful not to mix up the colours...I may have started painted the pattern in reverse on a few models before catching myself.

 

049.jpg

 

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sean

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Paint colors from light to dark.

 

Paper masks

 

Print the marking guides from the kit or decal instructions at 1/48 scale and then cut out the different colors as masks.

 

This works great for the surfaces relatively normal to the view, like the wings, stabilizers, and slab-sided fuselage sides/tops. Curved surfaces and transitions between surfaces, such as the upper and lower halves of, say, a Spitfire or Thunderbolt will additional more freehand work because those marking guides only show projections of the pattern onto top, side, and bottom views. You need to adjust the freehand parts until the visually match the views.

 

Next you need to determine if you need hard or soft edges to the camo pattern. For hard edges, I'll double some Tamiya masking tape, put on the bottom of the mask, and attach the mask to the model. For soft edges, I roll out Silly Putty nto ropes, stick the rope to the bottom surface of the patches, and drape the silly-putty+paper masks onto the model. As noted above, the purpose of the Silly Putty rope is to raise the mask, encouraging a soft edge. Try to hold the airbrush normal to the paper for uniform soft edges.

 

@martin_sam_2000 explained the other technique I use. Which method I use depends on the camo pattern, model shape, and my mood...

 

Airbrushing

 

Surface prep is important, so get those polishing pads and make sure the surface is as smooth as possible.

 

Lacquer paints give the thinnest coats and dry very fast. They do not brush well

 

Enamel paints are thicker, and take days to cure. They brush well.

 

Acrylic paints are the thickest coats. They dry quickly too. I use Citadel and Games Workshop acrylics for brush painting details.


I  prefer Mr Color. It's a lacquer and provides the smoothest, thinnest coats. I always use the paint's airbrushing thinner, so that's Mr Leveling Thinner for Mr Color paints. I also use AlClad paint, which is pre-thinned.

 

Stir the paint well until completely mixed. Thin the paint to the consistency of 1% milk with the manufacturer's thinner. Adjust the airbrush to 14 psi with full air flow (i.e., not static pressure). Spray from 0.25" to 2". Spray very thin coats, building up coverage. The paint should be just wet when it hits the model surface--hence the close-in spraying.

 

If you get orange peel or a powdery finish, you're spraying too far away and the paint is drying before it hits the model.

 

If you need a gloss coat, build coverage with thin coats then apply a final wet gloss coat. Never just blast on a gloss coat. It will be a disaster.

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On 8/27/2019 at 6:18 AM, AusNoobModels said:

Hey everyone im curious to how you guys and gals go about designing up your camo for planes on 1/48. Do you use free hand/ stencils etc? I am currently brushing but have a airbrush on order but want to finish my current p40 with brush. Either way I can use the same ideas with airbrushing for camo once I have that going well. 

 

Any sites / tips or tricks would be appreciated. 

 

One more airbrush mask idea: use solder of the appropriate diameter. Stick it down with (e.g.) Blu Tack.

 

rq7-13.jpg

 

Rob

 

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I'm old school and use a paint brush (a.k.a. the Hairy Stick), often just a cheap Testor's one that came in a set. 

 

I use acrylics and just free-hand it all, starting by laying down the light color overall and then painting outlines for the darker portions. One thing I've learned is to go a bit narrow on the dark areas since they can easily be added to, but trimming them with a lighter color can be challenging.


Best of luck!

 

Bri2k

Edited by Bri2k
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10 hours ago, BaconRaygun said:

I've only built two kits so far... and I've been all about the freehand.   I'll have to get creative with masking when I build the Sea Flanker that's next in line, though.   

 

You're kind of in luck with the Sea Flanker (Su-33). Some aircraft had soft edge camo and some hard edge. I built one with hard edge camo so I could just lay down tape directly on the surface to mark off the different colors. Its a lot of taping, mind you, but I've always had a hard time with soft edge camouflage (generally use blue tack as noted above, with varying degrees of effectiveness).

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I did notice that after going through some reference shots... but the "soft edge" is still on the hard side compared to what I've done, and I don't think I'll be able to capture that well without some masking.  I guess I'll figure that out when I get there. 

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1 hour ago, BaconRaygun said:

I did notice that after going through some reference shots... but the "soft edge" is still on the hard side compared to what I've done, and I don't think I'll be able to capture that well without some masking.  I guess I'll figure that out when I get there. 

 

I know what you mean. There are soft and then there are really soft and then not so soft :whistle:.  Its the not so soft ones that are hard for me too. That's why I went with a hard edge bird, Bort Red 80.

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