Chipped/Flaking Paint, Aluminum Style...

[lesofprimus]

OK, so my Dora of JV44, specifically Red 1, has the back portion of the cockpit canopy as chipped camo paint showing the alum underneath...

Besides using a silver artists pencil, is there another way???

I was ready to go and spray the portions that I want to show the alum underneath, and then after that dries, spray over it and the rest of the canopy with the RLM 82....

From there its a crap shoot for me... SHould I wait till the camo is dry then carefully chip off the camo to reveal the alum under it??? Do I lightly blot off the semi-dry camo to reveal the alum???

Whats the general concensus??

 

[lesofprimus]

BTW, both the alum and the RLM 82 I have are enamels.... I do not have the wherewithall to get a silver pencil or acrylic alum paint, and I dont like the look of just painting it with a brush...

 

[lesofprimus]

Also, after the alum goes on and dries, I will spray the areas with a good coat of Future.... Let that dry and then spray the camo on.... Let that dry, not too much but dry to the finger, and then use masking tape to try and pull off some of the camo to re-create the profile and pic above...

Am I close???

 

[Matt308]

Here's my technique. It's worth exactly how much you paid for it.

Paint the area your camo color first. Take a cheap/worn out brush and cut the tip off it until you only have about 1/8" left (it will be very stiff). Put a dab of silver/alum/steel on your brush and remove virtually all the paint in a paper towel. Dab it (dry brush) on another area for practice to get the effect you want and put this OVER your camo area. It will look initially too bright. But once you put your final matt coat on, it tones down a lot.

 

[bigZ]

Another technique for a really worn and chipped look and for for larger areas. Is paint ali first. Gloop on top a salt water mix and allow to dry( I believe rubbing alchol works even better). Spray camo. Use an old toothbrush to remove salt crystals. Instant chipped paint.

 

[lesofprimus]

Hmmm, good idea BigZ... Not sure what ur talkin about tho...

Im not trying to do small chipping tho, but the large chips misssing on the back of the blown hood, as in the profile above....

 

[bigZ]

This will do large areas.

Found this vid.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyby00-R2mg

 

[lesofprimus]

Interesting method.... Thx for the link Z...

 

[Lucky13]

Try this link Dan....Weathering and washes, this one...Weathering Tips

 

[lesofprimus]

Thanks Jan...

 

[Lucky13]

Anytime buddy!

 

[Airframes]

I think I've tried every method/technique going over the years Dan. But I generally stick with the dry-brushing technique that Matt described. The only difference is, I very rarely, if ever, use straight 'silver'. If you look at paint chips or paint flaking on the 'real thing', you'll notice it is very rarely that bright; normally, the only time it is, is if the metal has been freshly torn up or punctured, either by accident damage, or bullet/shell holes etc. Then, it IS bright, as it's brand new, untouched metal. I normally add a touch of matt white, varying the amount to vary the shade,density/brightness. With practice, the dry-brush technique works very well indeed. It can be varied, by gently painting, in thinned colours, to achive the desired effect. However, as the area you are concerned with is the opposit, i.e. a large area of bare metal, with worn, scuffed, flaked and chipped paint remaining, I would do it the opposite way around. Paint the canopy section in the metal colour first, preferably with your airbrush, then give it a bit of a polish when dry. Now, you can either use your pull-off method, with tape, or use a masking fluid, spotted on, then paint the whole area in the cammo colour. When dry, pull off the spots of dried masking fluid. If you can't get this fluid (one type is humbrol 'Maskol'), use PVA adhesive, ever so slightly thinned with water. Alternatively, use the dry-brush technique over the 'metal' with a slightly thinner, perhaps lighter shade of the cammo colour. These all work very well indeed, and it's only the amount of brushing/masking etc, plus practice, that will affect the result. As Matt said, try it out first, on a piece of scrap plastic, an old model or something similar. I'll see if I can get a close-up shot of the very weathered, and part paint-stripped Marauder I did recently, to show you what it can look like.

 

[Wayne Little]

When I do this....I apply the Silver/Aluminium first, then the colour once dry then i use stripes of masking tape, apply carefully allowing only a small portion to contact the paint, then pull it up and it removes small random amounts of paint. Then I will apply some black or Red Brown or Lead from my pencil line work to dull down the exposed silver/aluminium.

 

[lesofprimus]

Please refrence the profile above guys.... There are large patches when the metal is bare, not just small chips...

Ive got the canopy sprayed aluminum as of last night... Should I spray it with Future before spraying the camo over it???

And should I wait till the camo paint is completely dry, a days wait, before using the tape to draw it off, or wait just until the paint is dry to the touch???

 

[muller]

You could try the dry-brushing method descrided above, but with a small piece of sponge held with a tweezers, dip in whatever metallic paint you're using, dab most of it off onto a piece of tissue paper, then dab it on the canopy, when dry do the same again with your camo colour.

I did this on my battered zero.

 

[Airframes]

I know the area you need to paint dan. Muller's method would work fine also. If you are using enamel paint, and you want to do the 'pull off' method, I's say leave the cammo paint to dry for about 45 to 60 minutes. You can pull-off with tape, or apply masking fluid before painting the cammo colour. In thsi case, let the paint dry for 60 minutes plus, then pick-off the spots of fluid. Overall, Wayne's method is probably the best, but with masking fluid, you'll be able to make better 'shapes' on such a relatively large area. Whatever method used for 'pull-off', it works as the matt cammo paint is being applied to, then removed from, a paint-metalized surface. Muller's method is also very good, and works well but, in this case, as the area is fairly large, and smooth contoured, I think the 'pull-off' will be better.
Forgot to add; probably better not to coat in Future first, in order to get the benefit of the 'metal' rejecting the enamel paint. Make sure though that the 'metal' paint has dried for at least 12 hours, in order to ensure it is fully hardened.

 

[Wayne Little]

Sounds good Terry....

Dan you may have missed my point about small portions of contact....you simply repeat to enlarge the area so you have a bit of control over the process and the size of the area you want to expose.

 

[lesofprimus]

Thanks for the advice fellas.....

Too late on the Future tho.... Its done.... Infact, the canopy weathering iss just about completed.... At first, it didnt go so well, the camo wasnt seperating worth a damn from the aluminum....

Then I started being more forceful in the pull the tape off department... That worked better.... Its still not completed, but I will post some pics of it before I gloss coat it....

Question.... What the best way to get off the stubborn small patches of camo from the future coated alum skin??? I keep on tapin it and it wont come off??? Im scared to use a damp thinner dipped rag or brush.... Just touch up with a brush and some alum paint????

 

[Airframes]

Hmm! Bit of a problem that one Dan. Paint seems to stick like Ess Aitch One Tee to a blanket when it goes onto Future, hence why I suggested not 'Futuring' yet. I've done what I'm about to suggest once, and got away with it, so you can give it a try on an 'unimportant' bit first, if there is one!
Take a cotton bud (Q tip?), and just touch it onto some thinners. Press the cotton bud onto tissue, in order to get rid of most of the thinners, leaving the tip only just damp. Then, very carefully, and LIGHTLY, go over the area you want to remove, gently moving the cotton bud in a circular motion, as if using a drill to ream, or widen a small hole. Then, using a clean, dry cotton bud, go over the same area, again lightly, but with a little more pressure. This should remove, or start to remove the paint. When the area is totally dry, carefully wipe off any residue, or grains of paint that might have built up, ensuring that it is all removed. Next, wipe over with a damp soft cloth, something like a cotton handerkerchief. Hopefully, the worst that will happen is that the Future in the immediate vicinty will be slightly damaged. However, this can be re-coated if desired and, once the whole lot is gloss coated, then the final semi-matt finishing coat applied, it should look uniform. I'd suggest you try it on a VERY SMALL area first, just to see, and to practice.
Hope this helps!
PS; if the 'metal' area of the canopy is actually a transparent part, it should work OK, as 'clear' parts will wick-away the paint easier than 'solid' plastic. BUT, make sure you mask the clear parts, if not already masked, just in case of slippage!!

 

[lesofprimus]

Terry, check out my Gruppe Buiild thread, you'll see the afteraffects of this threads advice.... Im lockin this one up now....