DaveG's "Green Leader" Y-Wing - Paint and Detailing

DaveG

Master Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
I've decided start a separate thread for the paint and detailing portion of my Green Leader Y-Wing build. I'm going to try to be as comprehensive as possible about the various painting and weathering techniques used. The paint job is also going to be something a bit different from what's been done on Y-Wings in the past. A bit of a departure from the movie version. I'm also splitting of the remainder of my build so that the main Open Source thread can focus, evolve (or devolve!) around the Y Wing project as a whole and not one specific build.

So the first step is primer. I prefer lacquer based primers as the base coat. Here I'm using Ditzler DZL-32 lacquer automotive primer. It's great stuff. Very thin so it doesn't fill in fine detail and sticks like crazy to both plastic and metal. Unfortunately, Automotive lacquer based primers are very difficult to get, at least here in the United States and California in particular. Tamiya's lacquer primer is a pretty good substitute, although expensive in those little bottles.

A number of the kit parts have been kept separate so that they may be easier painted different colors or shades.
 

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Eager to see that paint job as well as the tuto for different types of techniques. Question: why is it so difficult to obtain those automotive paints in Cali?
 
California has some funny laws designed to protect the environment, which restricts certain kinds of paint; I'd assume that's what Dave's talking about.
 
Re: DaveG's "Green Leader" Y-Wing - Paint and Detailing

Yep, environmental protection restrictions. Basically auto lacquers have been phased out in favor of polyurethanes and water based paints, which are not so good for models.
 
Do you apply the primer straight out of the spray can or so you use an airbrush to keep it thinner? I'm obviously a novice, but I'd like to learn. Thanks!


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No worries... The automotive lacquer primer I used is sold (was sold) by the gallon. I thinned it down and sprayed through an Iwata touch up spray gun. It gives the most control and I'm less likely to apply too heavy of a coat, which can happen with rattle cans. But i do also use spray cans quite a bit, especially if I have only a few parts to paint and don't want to be bothered to load and clean an airbrush.
 
Chipping away (literally) at the paint!

Way back in one of my early posts on this project I mentioned that I was planning to do something unique for the paint job on my Green Leader model. The original concept for the Y-Wing was that it was once covered by sleek aerodynamic panels but that Rebel mechanics, getting tired of constantly removing and reattaching the panels when doing maintenance eventually just decided to leave them off. My paint job is going to reflect that concept. Rather than paint the entire model a base grayish-white and weather that down I'm going to only paint the forward fuselage, engines and the rear of the main fuselage the white color and paint the majority of the "guts" a series of metallic shades. Kind of like a jet engine with the cowlings removed.

I am also planning to get a little finer with the chipping and other paint details. I think the original paint jobs looked fine streaking past on the movie screen but look a little crude when seen on a static display model.

Once the primer was good and dry the next step was to base it out with the metallic undercoating. I'm going to use the "hair spray technique" to actually chip the outer color coat layer of paint away in places revealing the metallic base coat underneath. The basic process is that you first paint the model with the color you want to be revealed by the chipped paint. Then a layer of hair spray, then over that an acrylic color coat. It has to be acrylic, this technique won't work with lacquer or oil-based top coats. Once the top coat is dry (but not too dry) you moisten the surface with a little water which soaks through to the hairspray dissolving it and loosening the top color coat. The top color coat can then be chipped away with a stiff brush, toothpicks, your fingernail, or other tool to create the desired look.

I used Vallejo Acrylic Metal Colors and a metallic Tamiya Acrylic paint to get the desired base coat.

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After the metallic base colors had cured for a few days I masked off the main fuselage then sprayed the engines and forward fuselage with a couple coats of Vallejo's Chipping Medium. It's basically the same thing as hairspray just sprayed through an airbrush. I did some comparison tests first and the Vallejo product may actually work a little better than hairspray. Once the chipping medium was dry it was time to start spraying the color coat and chipping it. Something I discovered when painting my X-Wing is that you can't let the color coat dry for too long before trying to chip it. On that project I did some test panels where I chipped the paint away after it had dried for only a few hours, worked great. But when I did the actual model I had let the top paint dry for several days, by which time it was too hard and the water couldn't soak through and soften the hair spray. I ended up painting all the paint chips on that project by hand. So I started the process on the Y-Wing in the morning, knowing I would need to finish it the same day.

I used Tamiya Acrylic paints for the color coat on the model, mixing up a warm grayish-white color.

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Once the grey color had dried for an hour or two I masked off the forward fuselage for the green "racing stripes" using a combination of Tamiya's yellow masking tape and 3M blue masking tape. The green paint was again a Tamiya Acrylic.

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While the paint was drying on the main model I played around with some various metallic tones on the rear bulkhead for the forward fuselage. All water based paints brushed on over the base color which had been applied with an airbrush. It still needs a bunch more weathering, washes, over spray, dry brushing, but you can start to get the idea of my intent on the exposed mechanical guts of the Y.

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Once the paint had dried for a couple of hours I started in on the chipping, working section by section, first wetting the area down with a little water, the scraping away the paint as it starts to soften. In some areas I think I applied too heavy of a coat of the chipping medium as the paint started to bubble up in little dots. At first I was concerned but it ended up looking great! Some of the nicest chips, scrapes and scratches were acheived by scraping the paint away with a fine Scotch-Bright pad. A toothbrush also worked well over larger areas, and as I mentioned before, tooth picks and fingernails.

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On the L'Eggs cones I used a darker graphite color for the base so the chipped paint would reveal something that looked a bit like carbon fiber.

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Overall I'm thrilled with the results! The chips have a very fine, realistic look that should stand up to the closest scrutiny.
 
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Incredible paint decision.

That cockpit backplate had my jaw on the floor and I can't get over how cool it looks. Amazing work and the choice of green is awesome I like it a lot more than the gold leader colors. I am so excited to see how this looks completed.
 
No worries... The automotive lacquer primer I used is sold (was sold) by the gallon. I thinned it down and sprayed through an Iwata touch up spray gun. It gives the most control and I'm less likely to apply too heavy of a coat, which can happen with rattle cans. But i do also use spray cans quite a bit, especially if I have only a few parts to paint and don't want to be bothered to load and clean an airbrush.

Cool! Thank you so much for the tips!

And I agree that this build is looking amazing! Great job!


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Beautiful job Dave...that chipping technique is certainly something I'll try on some future models...Tx for the extensive tuto!
 
I painted some more green areas back on the rear of the fuselage and the tail shrouds. Unlike the problems I had on my X-Wing chipping paint that was several days old, there were no problems chipping away the new green and older white paint underneath that had been sprayed almost 4 days ago. It must be the Vallejo Chipping Medium working better than the traditional hair spray used before. Highly recommended!

IMG_2461.jpg IMG_2463.jpgChipping update.
 
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Starting to come together now. Still a lot of weathering to go but most of the base painting and attachment of parts is done. Working with Tamiya and Vallejo acrylics for the most part. I really like Vallejo's new line of acrylic metal paints. Very finely ground metallic pigments.

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