re: Vader’s Model Desk: MiG-21 “Fishbed”

Awesome stuff. Do you sell any of these?

quote:

---

White shelf would be so nice.

---

Like this:

Darth, as always, awesome work!!

I need some advice. I’m just getting back into putting these bad boys together. I used to do it back when I was younger and had gotten pretty good at it. Well, I’m stuck in the hospital for the foreseeable future and my father-in-law sent me an F-18 Super Hornet to work on and help kill the time..

Do you have any advice on how to do any basic weathering/ smoke trails with just hand painting? All I can really do is just dip the brush, get most of the paint off, then do some small trails or “weathering” Obviously, I’m not airbrushing anything in here and to be honest, I’ve never used an airbrush before. I’m kind of limited on colors as well. I’ve had to mix some to get what I want, but it’s tough.

Any advice would be welcomed!

Yes

F nicknames for Fighter

B nicknames for Bombers (my favorite was Badger and wished one had Beaver designation - for Ward's mom)

quote:

---

Any photos of the canopy masking or interior cockpit details?

---

quote:

---

Darth, as always, awesome work!!

---

Thanks!

quote:

---

need some advice. I’m just getting back into putting these bad boys together. I used to do it back when I was younger and had gotten pretty good at it. Well, I’m stuck in the hospital for the foreseeable future and my father-in-law sent me an F-18 Super Hornet to work on and help kill the time..

---

I hope everything is ok.

quote:

---

Do you have any advice on how to do any basic weathering/ smoke trails with just hand painting? All I can really do is just dip the brush, get most of the paint off, then do some small trails or “weathering” Obviously, I’m not airbrushing anything in here and to be honest, I’ve never used an airbrush before. I’m kind of limited on colors as well. I’ve had to mix some to get what I want, but it’s tough.

---

Something super simple you could do for weathering is an oil wash. Here is a step-by-step.

1. Paint the model with flat acrylic paints in whatever scheme/camo pattern you want it to have when done.

2. Go over the model with a gloss acrylic clear coat. Wait at least 30 min before moving to the next step.

3. Apply your decals. I recommend using a setting agent. I use Tamiya Mark Fit Strong.

4. Go over the model with a flat acrylic clear coat.

5. Brush on a black enamel oil wash. I personally use Tamiya Black Panel Accent that I’ve further thinned with Testors Enamel Thinner. Allow this to dry for about 15/30 minutes.

6. Using a-tips or a paper towel soaked in Enamel thinner, remove the excess oil wash. Be careful to not bear down too much in order to not damage the actual paint job on the model.

The finished product will be like what you see in my OP.

The key to all of this is to use acrylic paints, including the clear coats I mentioned and wash in an enamel based wash and use an enamel thinner on cleanup. That way it won’t harm the acrylic paints you’ve used. You’d flat clear coat will offer good protection, but you can still damage it if you scrub too hard.

Sandwiching your decals with gloss clear coat under and flat clear coat over, will both protect the decals and paint and reduce any shine. The result will look something like this…



Also, since you’re brush painting, I’d recommend thinning your paints. I personal use Tamiya Flat Acrylics and thin with Tamia Acrylic Thinner. Thin your paints to a ratio of 2:1 paint to thinner. Don’t try to cover the kit in one thick coat. Instead use thin, even coats.

Good luck. Once you’re done I’d love to see the finished product.

quote:

---

How'd you do the weathering? As always

---

Thanks!

In this particular model, my weathering process was the oil wash I described in the post right before yours. On others I’ll also chipping effects by dabbing the desired color using a tiny bit of sponge. Here are two examples of chipping:





On some armor models, one thing I like to do is make a well worn winter whitewash camouflage effect. It was common for tank crews to apply a whitewash on their vehicles at the start of winter. But the paints they used were temporary and would wear out over a matter for a couple of months. I do this effect. by first painting the model a base white then dab the regular vehicle color to give it a well worn look. Here’s an example:

quote:

---

How'd you do the weathering?

---

He does an awesome job!

I use the black basing method, as shown below:

black basing highlights:

Which creates tonal patterns:

Then oils:

Then airbrush stuff like exhaust staining:


Also so some chipping like Darth does, but he is the master at it!

I'm curious, where do you put all of these? What does your display look like?