Weathering

This model poses some interesting problems when it comes to painting and weathering. The base color of the fighter is flat black, which means the only option for seeing anything against black is to go light. But it all starts with an even coat of Tamiya Flat Black. I taped over the canopy so it retained the primer gray.

I experimented with some dry brushed silver on the right side of the above picture. But that really didn’t make any panel details pop at all. Clearly something more was needed.

Above is a close up of the wing showing the silver dry brushing.

The bottom got some touch up with different shades of black paint brushed on.

In the end, the best way to show details turned out to be brushing on gray pastels. I mixed white and black to get an ash gray color and then used a wide, soft brush to dust the model. More gray around the engines than on the rest of the model to simulate the burnt metal look.

Votainion fighter use a blue-gray color for inside panels and details that are normally covered up with panels. I hand brushed this color on and then dirtied it down with black pastels.

Here is what the stern looks like after a proper dusting with the pastels. Even the top panels have some accent areas using the pastels.

Above we see the model getting it’s canopy painted in the sunlight. As you can see, it looks a deeper black in sunlight. For the canopy I used a mixture of black and silver to create a different shade of dark material.

Above you can see the canopy paint and the weathered top panels.

Here’s the completed fighter on the bench with a shiny canopy window.

Here it is on my desk at work with the headlights and engines on.

Engines lit and full afterburner.

And that’s a wrap! Next up comes a screen test against black felt in preparation for the K’nat Trap book cover.