The Ship Model Forum

wefalck wrote:Less is alway more.

I forget who originally said it, but it's the absolute truth when it comes to weathering: when you feel you're getting close to the effect you want, that's when it's time to stop.

Jodie Peeler

What kind of paint do you use for the salt stains?

With Humbrol enamels and with oil paints, it shouldn't be too hard to feather them out with a brush moistened with White Spirit (not too wet; you don't want the thinner to run around!).
It helps to thin the paint a bit before application, so there is less that needs spreading out.

Drying times of Humbroll enamels and oil paints is not so bad, because you are applying only very very thin layers. I never had paint dissolving again after a couple of hours drying. But don't drench the surface in White Spirit; just moisten your brush with it and wipe it of on a paper towel before touching the model.

Acrylics certainly won't dissolve, but you have to build up the effect very slowly because you cannot blend them anymore when dry.

With any material: don't hesitate to correct with the base colour if the stains are too much. It will probably be hard to use the exact base colour, but an enamel of almost the same scale, thinned heavily and applied over the edges of the stain can blend the stains and provide some variation of its own.

Building up layers of washes with organic solvent-based paints is difficult, if not impossible. The abundance of solvent in a 'wash' tends to dissolve previous layers of paint and has a sort of 'chromatograhic' effect, i.e. the pigment separate out due to different speeds of diffusion in the liquid solvent.

The Old Masters applied layers over layers of translucent paint, but this is something different, as the paints contained just enough solvent to make them 'paintable' or no solvent at all, only the binder, the oil. It may be possible to apply very translucent layers of white paint mixed with a lot of oil. However, it will take days, if not weeks for each layer to dry, that is to oxidise, due to the high oil content.

In general, it would be easier to use acrylics for building up these kind of 'washes'. Once dryed, the following water-based wash will not redissolve the previous one.

thank you , i will try to fix the mistake, also, may i ask how did you do the salt line with white oil paint dot ? i try to put several of them and use white spirit to spread it out, but the paint is become really strong, it take me several swipe, clean in white spirit .. and swipe again just to make it subtle

Less is alway more. Too heavy rusting would not normally permitted, unless a ship has been in contnuous duty for prolonged periods of time.

There would be no vertical streaking below the waterline unless the ship spent a prolonged period of time in a dock. If there was any streaking, it would be horizontal, due to the movement of the ship.

Such weathering can be simulated by repeatedly applying light washes with very diluted acrylics. I use those that are diluted for the airbrush and dilute them even further. Other people use oils to good effect, but that involves long drying times in between and there is always the risk that the following wash dissolves the previous ones. While this is a disadvantage, it can be also an advantage, if you are not happy with the result. Acrylics cannot be redissolved. Patience is the answer, work in stages, let it dry overnight and then look at it the next day to see, whether you are happy with the effect, or whether more is needed.

I notice you have placed the White Ensign on the bow. British or any British Commonwealth ships, such as Canada, Australia etc would not have this flag in that location. At sea, the White Ensign would be flown on a gaff on the mainmast while in harbour or at anchor it would be flown at the stern.

Paul

Hello everybody, i'm new here so forgive me if i do something wrong.
Can anyone have a look at my weathering , and give me some tip on how to make the lowerhull paint look more bleach and scatch due to salt water ? i want to make it more bleach to blend with the weathering on the upper hull part, as well as hide some of the uneven paint job in the lower hull too. Also, how did we make Salt line ?


Also can you have a look at the rust cause by the anchor ? i try to make it look like the real effect.. but i still feel something missing