M.F. Extraordinaire and Air Brush Questions

[Tom1971]

I am giving serious thought to repainting my Millenium Falcon Extaordinaire after seeing a repainted Master Replicas Falcon that had received one of the poor paintjobs from MR. I don't care about the "value" of my Falcon. I will be buried with it. I already added removable landing gear and a ramp. I was going to build a full interior but with the new Hasbro BMF I decided to scrap the idea.

My Falcon Extraordinaire is one that is in good shape. Most if not all stickers came with it and overall it's in good shape. A few dings and knick but hey it's the Falcon.

I really figured with the MR Falcon I would just leave the Falcon Extraordinaire as it was and wait for some skilled model maker to release a 5ft kit thumbsupthumbsup:thumbsup. But looking at some MR repaints I'm thinking since the Extraordinaire has such an "Odd" paint job it could look really great.

As I said, I buy and never sell. The Extraordinaire is one of, if not my favorite piece but I do what I want with my stuff. Open everything, except for one figure each of the figures I want for the wall, and modify as I want. My point is just I enjoy my collection and don't worry about any re-sale value. My wife knows if we become homeless it will be us in the pickup with the Uhaul trailer containing my collection.

The Falcon repaint that inspired me is here:

http://www.therpf.com/f10/falcon-repaint-take-2-a-50037/


So here are my questions:

Am I insane or would the Falcon Extraordinaire look real good with decent repaint???


I have always done well with rattle cans and brush paints. But I think it's time for an airbrush and I know nothing about them.

What do I need?

How much will it cost?

Is there a good all in one package?

What kind of paints do they use? Special ones, rattle cans, or what?

Can the Airbrushh make a huge difference in larger jobs like Vader's Dome???
My Reveal and ROTJ Rubies conversions came out good but not as smooth a finish as I would like on the domes.

Reveal can be seen here:

http://www.therpf.com/f9/my-vader-reveal-80806/

I put this here because I figured the Studio Scale folks are the people to ask.

Thanks

 

[superjedi]

What is a MF Extraordinaire? Are you talking about the gigantic Toys R Us display?

 

[Tom1971]

What is a MF Extraordinaire? Are you talking about the gigantic Toys R Us display?

Yep :love

 

[superjedi]

For something that large, I'd say an airbrush (and your trigger finger) would get one helluva workout!
I'm not an airbrush expert by any stretch, although I have owned and used 3 on prop projects. If you want to get one, I'd say go for a double action brush. It'll give you much more control depending on the type of application you're using it for.

There are cheaper ones and very expensive ones. There are internal mix and external mix brushes. Personally, I've been using a relatively cheap Testors Aztek set for the past 2 or 3 years and have had good results.

There's a pretty good variety of paints you can shoot, too. Acrylics, enamels, it doesn't really matter as long as you thin them properly. Tamiya or Polly Scale acrylics spray on very well with an airbrush, as well as Floquil or Model Master enamels. I've shot Polly Scale paints straight out of the bottle before with great results. Enamels have to be thinned with. . . well, thinner. I tend to use acrylics simply because I'm lazy and can thin and clean up with water.

I'm sure others have much more airbrush knowledge and can recommend specific brushes that are more "professional."

 

[jedimaster]

Show us some pix of your bird please.

 

[Tom1971]

Show us some pix of your bird please.

Will do ASAP.

 

[Guy Cowen]

I wouldn't use an air brush for any base coat on this, If its a complete re paint either take it to a body shop & get them to do your colour of choice or use a rattle can or 2 or 3 to do the base coat.

If your going to match one of the ILM falcons then upscaling the weathering would be one fun task on something this big. I would use an airbrush for this no problem but the weathering would need a far greater level of detail to make it look realistic.

Boy, I would love to do it If I had the chance.

 

[Jedi Dade]

Heck for somethign this large - a paint gun (like for painting cars) would probably be the best way to go to get an even base coat. With the smaller airbrush for all the detail work.

Is it a crazy Idea - Absolutely - all good ideas are

Jedi Dade

 

[Tom1971]

Here she is. I whipped up some temporary landing gear out of spare parts just to see how it would look. I still need to build accurate ones and finish the boarding ramp.

The pic with it's smaller cousin is the new Hasbro Big Millenium Falcon which I think is one of the best things ever. Perfect no, but awesome yes!!!!

Anywho I'm thinking of using Testers Light Aircraft Gray as a base coat. I've used it on various Falcon stuff and it looks real good.

I can do all the painting of the various straightfoward pieces, masked off, etc. Misting is no problem. The problem is the weathering. That is gonna take mad airbrush skills I will need to develop.

 

[Tom1971]

I don't have tons of room so I threw some boards across the bed of my truck and set the Falcon there for pics. It's not great lighting and the camera is going but you get the idea.

Yep, I think a re-paint is in the very near future.

 

[franz bolo]

You don't need an airbrush at all. Rattle can primer, rattle can paint some weathering powders and the typical wash and drybrush should do the trick. You can actually add some more details to give it a little more life.

For something this large, a spray gun is better than an airbrush for the primer and base cote.

FB

 

[Tom1971]

You don't need an airbrush at all. Rattle can primer, rattle can paint some weathering powders and the typical wash and drybrush should do the trick. You can actually add some more details to give it a little more life.

For something this large, a spray gun is better than an airbrush for the primer and base cote.

FB

Yeah looking at airbrush systems obviously this is too big for base coats etc. But for detailing and weathering what are "powders" and could you explain the "typical wash and dry brush" technique??

The only "wash" I've done is when I added weathering to my Acme Headpiece but all I did was throw some black on and wipe it off until I got the weathering I liked.

For finishes like on Vader's dome would an airbrush be able to put a smoother finish on it than rattle cans??

Thanks

 

[franz bolo]

Obviously an airbrush atomizes the paint smaller than a rattle can. To get a super shiny surface requires a lot of wet sanding. You cab get a good finish with a rattle can though.

Weathering Powders:
YouTube - Shed Weathering
YouTube - Model railroad steam engine weathering clinic demo reel

Chipping:
YouTube - Paintbrush chipping

Washes:
YouTube - Oil filters & point wash

Dry Brush:
YouTube - dry brush tutorial

FB

Yeah looking at airbrush systems obviously this is too big for base coats etc. But for detailing and weathering what are "powders" and could you explain the "typical wash and dry brush" technique??

The only "wash" I've done is when I added weathering to my Acme Headpiece but all I did was throw some black on and wipe it off until I got the weathering I liked.

For finishes like on Vader's dome would an airbrush be able to put a smoother finish on it than rattle cans??

Thanks

 

[Tom1971]

Thanks so much for the great links. I will be studying those a lot.

When you say wet sanding are you talking about prep before painting??

 

[franz bolo]

When you say wet sanding are you talking about prep before painting??

Listen to the Junkman!

YouTube - Wet Sanding 101 - Part 1
YouTube - Wet Sanding 101 - Part 2
YouTube - Wet Sanding 101 - Part 3

FB

 

[Tom1971]

Thanks for all the help guys.

I'm gonna do some sample pieces to be sure but I'll probably use Light aircraft grey for the base. The black wash for details after priming but before the base coat. Tape off the sections and Airbrush the weathering after a lot of practice. The MR Falcon I saw that did that looked incredible.

Finish the ramp and build the proper landing gear and it should look good.

Now to add details thus opening a huge Pandora's box or leave it alone. decisions,..decisions:wacko:wacko

Thanks again

 

[Tom1971]

Bump for any additional advice.

Wondering if there is a good all in one airbrush that comes with everything you need.

Also would welcome any other thoughts on the Falcon Extraordinaire repaint.

 

[-... . .- --..]

I think this really belongs in the general modeling forum.

 

[LrdSatyr8]

Bump for any additional advice.

Wondering if there is a good all in one airbrush that comes with everything you need.

Also would welcome any other thoughts on the Falcon Extraordinaire repaint.

Here's a good starter airbrush for ya. Testors has this a thing for making painting easy and they put out a series of airbrush kits awhile back. They aren't the highest quality and are made of plastic but they are cheap and actually do a good job on a budget.

Testors » Airbrushes » Airbrushes » Broad Stroke EZ Airbrush Set with Propellant

 

[division 6]

If going with an air brush get a decent one and make sure to use a compressor, those cans of air are expensive and last about a minute before freezing up.

Get a dual action top feed (has a cup on top).
Dual action means push down for air and back for paint.

I've has a Iwata HP-C for about 20 years and it still works great.

For a compressor get something with a tank and has a regulator to adjust air flow otherwise you will be replacing your airbrush tip.
Compressors can be found just about anywhere for under $100.

A moisture trap is good to have especially if your in a humid area but not necessary.
Also a decent hose (braided) with quick connect attachments to make removing the brush from the compressor easy.

Coast Airbrush carries all kinds of brushes, there is also Dickblicks and Dixie Art.

That model has a lot of potential for super detailing. if nothing else the cockpit could use some work.