Weathering belt boxes

Hey gang,

Have a question for you. I was thinking about my ESB Vader costume. Looking at the pic of Vader on the weather vein fighting Luke, when he is reaching out to him...I noticed that the belt boxes look to be a bit weathered. I would like to attempt to do this, but I'm not sure how to go about it.

Here is a pic of me in my costume:

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Now, what is the best way to weather these boxes? I believe they are the GT version, as I have not been able to upgrade yet.

Any help would be great! Thanks in advance.

Elijah

....easiest way? Get a flat "fan" brush...some silver/aluminum or steel coloured Testor's model paint and "drybrush" the edges of the boxes. Apply paint to the brush....brush off the excess and lightly run the fan of the brush along the edges to get the desired effect....

Originally posted by KevVader@Mar 8 2006, 09:21 PM
....easiest way? Get a flat "fan" brush...some silver/aluminum or steel coloured Testor's model paint and "drybrush" the edges of the boxes. Apply paint to the brush....brush off the excess and lightly run the fan of the brush along the edges to get the desired effect....

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Kev,

Do you have any exapmles of this technique? I would like to see something before I attempt to do it. Thanks!

Eli

Also another method, spray your boxes with a silver automotive paint then when that's dry spray them again black over the silver (with the same brand of paint). When the black has dried to the touch, but before it's had time to fully harden scratch at it with anything - fingernails, glasspaper, keys - anything abrasive enough to make a mark.

If you catch the black paint before it's fully hardened you should be able to mark it easily revealing your silver paint underneath. Obviously don't scratch too hard or you risk going through the silver too!

I think the best weathering is the weathering you do very quickly without putting too much thought into it, that way you get good naturalistic and random scratch patterns. Oh, and know when to stop before you over-do it :P

(Maybe practise on some scrap plastic first?)


Jeremy

Originally posted by vaderfanforever+Mar 8 2006, 05:31 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(vaderfanforever &#064; Mar 8 2006, 05:31 PM)</div>

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@Mar 8 2006, 09:21 PM
....easiest way? Get a flat "fan" brush...some silver/aluminum or steel coloured Testor&#39;s model paint and "drybrush" the edges of the boxes. Apply paint to the brush....brush off the excess and lightly run the fan of the brush along the edges to get the desired effect....

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Kev,

Do you have any exapmles of this technique? I would like to see something before I attempt to do it. Thanks&#33;

Eli

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....I&#39;ve done it with the models that I&#39;ve built. Do a google search on model painting/weathering/drybrushing....Im sure you&#39;ll find lots of info....

Drybrushing is definately the way to go. It&#39;s fast, easy and you get great looking results. Do a google search on "drybrushing" and you should find enough info on the technique to get the look that you want.

- J.

Thanks guys for all the help&#33;&#33; I will give it a try, and try NOT to screw it up.

Elijah

I do things the hard way :P i&#39;ve painted over a set of belt boxe&#39;s with raidaint sliver or any other metallic color you want, do a few coats . Wait a few days till the paint cure&#39;s then do black let it dry and sand off the edges of the box with light sanding paper.
You want to get ride of the black but you don&#39;t want to strip the sliver under it, you could clear coat the sliver frist befor the black but i have yet to try this.

Definitely practice first-- it won&#39;t take long to develop the feel for it. And remember the adage, less is more. You want Vader to look like he&#39;s been too busy to get to the armor spa, not body surfing down the air chutes.


Another model weathering technique is to use silver artist PENCIL on your edges--you can rub the edges(not the point) of the lead on the areas you want to look worn, and it lays down nicely. It works beautifully on flat aircraft finishes to simulate all kinds of abuse, but I&#39;ve not experimented on gloss like your boxes.

Borrow a friend&#39;s armor, then experiment. j/k

A very small amount of silver rub and buff--on your finger- very carefully rubbed along the edges of the boxes works very well.

Originally posted by Pauleysolo@Mar 10 2006, 02:22 AM
A very small amount of silver rub and buff--on your finger- very carefully rubbed along the edges of the boxes works very well.

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would you then clearcoat that to protect it? I&#39;ve not worked with Rub and Buff, but I&#39;ve seen amazing things done with it.

If you use very little , it is really not necessary to clear coat it