Painting/airbrush experts..how do I paint Serenity?

[hankey01]

I have a Serenity kit and have been a bit too intimidated to try the painting..beyond my base coat. I have painted it with a metallic aluminum (from a spray can) and a mist of flat black to darken it slightly. I am happy with that as a base coat..BUT how do I proceed?

I will use this image as a guide, but I'm not sure exactly how to pull this off. I have some basic airbrush experience and recently got a Badger Anthem airbrush.

I want to work with acrylics since it is COLD outside and I will be doing this in my basement so fumes are an issue.

At this point I am thinking of using some black misting to accentuate the burns, edges etc. I guess that should be done last. SOmehow I want to mask off panels here and there since some are lighter and some darker etc etc.

For parts where the pait is worn I was thinking of either trying to duplicate the patterns by hand..or paint it on..and try using masking tape to pull paint off here and there.

I guess my next step should be a black wash (black acrylic diluted with water or windex?)

Anyways any suggestions or procedures will be appreciated. Kind of a step by step of how is what I am looking for.

Thanks guys..this oe is a little beyond my current skill llevel and I don't want to do a poor job.

 

[Watson]

Whose kit is it? How big?

 

[hankey01]

The amazing Alex Kung's kit...

http://www.alexkung1.com/scale/serenity/cmain.htm

It's about 12" long...

 

[Watson]

If that picture is what you are going for I would recommend you use Alclad 2 metallic paints.

I know you want to use acrylics but I would wait until spring to use these paints. They cant be beat for the type of paint job you are wanting to do.

Greg

 

[Lear60man]

My .02. This job involves a lot of panel masking. I would mask off about 10 panels and shoot with a medium gray. Then mask of another 10 random panels and slightly change the hue of gray by adding white, black etc. Keep repeating and after a while you will have an appearance that the panels have been swapped out at various times and will show different amount of age. It appears that there are a lot of panels that have the same color in a pattern on the main hull. Try to replicate this. Add blast marks with a flat black and deep recessed areas. Introduce rust stains to the base of the blast marks as exposed hulls would rust? Then very light charcoal rub with a q-tip. Thats how I would tackle this kit.

 

[hankey01]

Well..I masked off a few panels that I perceived as lighter and gave them a light spray. I cheated and just used a metallic chrome spray can..didnt want to waste all the airbrush setup time for one little spray. They are lighter..but Definately need some darker now to accent this. Just a few panels masked took about 2 hours. This is going to be a slow process!!!

If only our 7 month old and 2 year old would let us sleep...I could stay up later and get more done!! The toddler has started screaming for 3 hours in the night because he wants stories..and the 7 month old is teething so at about 4am when the toddler is finally bach to sleep he starts up for a couple hours. Up at 7am with toddler....MAN I am TIRED this morning!!

Thanks for the tips guys!

 

[ZOMBIEREPELLENT]

didnt want to waste all the airbrush setup time for one little spray.

Make no mistake, in this hobby there is no wasted time. Any mistakes are learning experiences. Keep in mind the thing with airbrushing is that it gives a much smoother coat than anything you'll get out of a rattle can.

 

[Jedi Dade]

The thing is if you ask this kind of question you are NEVER going to get a definitive answer. Every painter has favorite techniques and even when doing the same technique almost every painter does it a little different.

But since you asked here's what I'd do...

You already have the base color down so you're good. What I'd do is powder up some light and dark gray pastels (use non-oil pastels... I made that mistake ONCE), and mix it until you got a color "close" to the aluminum but not the same - slightly darker. I'd then apply it with a q-tip rubbing it into the paint to "slightly" darken it / remove its sheen. for the paint I'd get masking fluid and dab it all over where the red goes leaving gaps where the red will stay then mask off the rest of the model then lightly spray... Actually I'd do this before the panelling. for the copper gold color - at the front of the engines I'd mix up some really light tan, metalic will look funky... mask off what I didn't want colored at all and give a very light dusting - less is more here I think... and of course I'd seal it in matt clear... although I'm not sure wwhat that does to the metallic aluminum color.

Now the piece of advice I give always - try all of these techniques on some scrap until you like what you see. I like to use old 2- liter bottles to test things on... but that's just me.

Also realize I'm just an OK painter - probably because I do not spend enough time actually painting - I do get better every time I do it but some of these guys here are truly awesome... If one of those guys contradicts me... listen to them :thumbsup

Jedi Dade

 

[hankey01]

Thanks for the tips guys! I will for sure refer to this thread often!

I did do a black wash of the main body only to help define the edges, make it look worn and dirty. I ma happy with how it is looking, but still a lot of detail left, and I haven't touched the many parts I haven't assembled to it yet.

I did fill in some windows using a fine black sharpie. I'll have to add a gloss clear coat to the main bridge window at the front since it looks a little dull..and a gloss there will make it look more like a window.

A mat clear coat on the finished model is a great idea for sure.

I'll have to get a pic of how it's looking so far. I am also pretty happy with the base I made for it using some 1/8" thisck steel rectangles (approx 4" x 10"). The top piece ghas the Firefly logo cut out of it and I did my best to paint it to look like the opening credits where the letters are burning out.

Thanks guys!

 

[AGxM]

Interesting tips - I assumed the painting went on before the model assembly.

Will also be keeping an eye on this one

 

[hankey01]

Well last night I learned how NOT to make my airbrush work.

I mixed a few acrylic paints to get a lighter beige/metallic color to spray over the whole thing as it came out a bit dark after the black washes. My first attempt was too thick as the brush kept clogging. I thinned it with water and it was then too water and the color would not stick (wiped it off and tried again).

Third time was more successful. I just wanted to lighten it up a bit. I can see that the acrylics aren't going to work well with the airbrush. Now I have to either make a trip to the city and buy some expensive proper model paints and thinners, or make do with what I have and maybe just do more by hand as far as detailing...

Here is a pic of it so far. Yes it is unassembled for now. Please go easy on me. I have LOT of work left on it!!

 

[Watson]

Well last night I learned how NOT to make my airbrush work.

I mixed a few acrylic paints to get a lighter beige/metallic color to spray over the whole thing as it came out a bit dark after the black washes. My first attempt was too thick as the brush kept clogging. I thinned it with water and it was then too water and the color would not stick (wiped it off and tried again).

Third time was more successful. I just wanted to lighten it up a bit. I can see that the acrylics aren't going to work well with the airbrush. Now I have to either make a trip to the city and buy some expensive proper model paints and thinners, or make do with what I have and maybe just do more by hand as far as detailing...

Here is a pic of it so far. Yes it is unassembled for now. Please go easy on me. I have LOT of work left on it!!

User either alcohol or Windex with ammonia to thin the acrylics instead of water. I use predominantly alcohol. Mix til it looks like milk and spray away 15-20 psi

use pure alcohol to clean it as well

 

[hankey01]

Great tip..thanks!

I had some airbrush thinner that I think was alcohol..but it seemed to make the paint kind of gummy...

I'll have to double check..

 

[Watson]

Great tip..thanks!

I had some airbrush thinner that I think was alcohol..but it seemed to make the paint kind of gummy...

I'll have to double check..

What brand of paints?

Testors I use windex WITH Ammonia, and with Tamiya I use alcohol.

Greg

 

[hankey01]

What brand of paints?

Testors I use windex WITH Ammonia, and with Tamiya I use alcohol.

Greg

Uh oh..here is where I get in trouble form the experts. I am trying to use Folk Art acrylics (from the craft section at Wal Mart). I like htme cuz they are cheap, nearby and water based.

Tamiya acrylic airbrush thinner what the thinner I tried to use. Like I said it seemed to make it gummy. I thought acrylic paint was acrylic paint?

I know you guys are going to tell me to get proper model paints. I do have some old ones kicking around..Tamiya, testors. SO I can I use windex to thin those? I guess I should use my Tamiya paints where I can witht he Tamiya thinner, and testors with windex to thin? Cool!

 

[Watson]

Uh oh..here is where I get in trouble form the experts. I am trying to use Folk Art acrylics (from the craft section at Wal Mart). I like htme cuz they are cheap, nearby and water based.

Tamiya acrylic airbrush thinner what the thinner I tried to use. Like I said it seemed to make it gummy. I thought acrylic paint was acrylic paint?

I know you guys are going to tell me to get proper model paints. I do have some old ones kicking around..Tamiya, testors. SO I can I use windex to thin those? I guess I should use my Tamiya paints where I can witht he Tamiya thinner, and testors with windex to thin? Cool!

No problem with those, ONLY use Windex WITH Ammonia with them though, available at any grocery store. I used some of those Delta/Folkart paints through my airbrush for the first time a few weeks ago to paint a mural on my step sons wall. It will work great with them so don't sweat it.

IF you use alcohol it will actually turn those paints into gummy sludge just like the Tamiya thinner

Greg

 

[hankey01]

The alcohol sure did turn it to sludge! Well I am glad to hear I can make do with what I have and use somethign as cheap and readily available as windex. I checked and our Windex does have ammonia so I should be good to go. I'll have some time tomorrow evening to try some things.

Thanks guys!

 

[hankey01]

Well I had a long night. Wife was nice enough to watch the kids while I worked on this model.

I started by using a spray can to TRY to give the whole thing a brown tinge to it by lightly spraying a light brown. It didn't work well and the few pieces I tried got resprayed with metallic aluminum base coat again.

I then pulled out the airbrush, mixed a few Tamiya colors...diluted with windex and it sprayed like a dream!! NICE!!! Unfortunately my color mixing had Serenity looking too gold so I resprayed the whole thing with metallic aluminum for a base and started over AGAIN. I mixed a few colors again and came out with a metallic with a slightly yellow/brown tinge. PERFECT!

I then blackwashed it again and pretty much any sign of that yellow/brown tinge seem to have disappeared. Oh well...it has to be under there somewhere. I then decided to paint panels etc by hand. I did some detailing here and there...finally called er quits.

Here is how it's looking now. Still lots of work ahead but I am much happier than I was when I had to start over 4 hours ago!

You can also see the base I made for it months ago. I'll have a rod coming from that to the underside of the ship to hold it up.

 

[hankey01]

Made a little more progress today.

I worked on the engine covers and shuttles, weathered the beehive back parts etc.

I just have all the pieces set together for the picture..it still all comes apart. I am feeling pretty happy about the way it's looking.

 

[Jedi Dade]

Dude Seriously - find some scrap and practice! it makes a HUGE difference. I had a model that I "started over" several times and by the time I was finishing it the paint was so thick that the parts would not mate properly - this is actually not as much paint as you think... if your laying down primer coats... but I digress. After this incident I started practicing on scrap - I like to use old 2 liter bottles with greblies glues to them... You get better at using the airbrush for one - and 2 you can totally f-up a paint color mix and have zero consequences... it WILL save you some headaches Plus you can try stuff you'd be afraid of messing up an expensive model "seeing if it works". It expands the tools in the toolbox by allowing you to fail learning how to "make a blaster streak", or "dust" some beige onto the metal...

Have Fun,
Jedi Dade