Re: CTA Entry - jgrease - Hobby Boss 1/48 A-7
So today I took the plunge and tried salt weathering. I used the technique described
here. Everything Chuck details works as promised. So I put another coat of Future on top of the decals, let it dry a few days, and then wet the plane down with the small pump sprayer. When the plane was dripping wet, I covered the top of it with sea salt from a grinder. I dried it with a hair dryer for 5 minutes or so, and went back to the paint booth. Next, I put some of the gull grey in the airbrush cup, added a few drops of white and thinned it down until almost watery, more like a wash. I then sprayed the top of the wings and the fuselage, avoiding the national insignia, but letting a little creep onto the walkways and white parts of the wings. I hit it with the dryer again, then washed off the salt. The effect is terrific, and this one experience gave me a lot of ideas for future attempts. Some of the patches were almost too big to scale, so I sprayed some more of the grey wash on top of the blotchier areas. Next I touched up some of the black walkways where the grey effect was too much, and I was done:
You can see where some of the patches stand out behind the canopy. I left out the one step where you go back with q-tips soaked in thinner and bring the lines back out. I also didn't spray on the grime Chuck uses, but I may try on another project in the future. I am hoping to tone it down some more with a good wash tomorrow.
Another shot towards the tail. It's hard to make out in places with the camera and the lighting, but the effect is there:
And a final shot with the ordinance painted as well as Futured:
I gave the plane another coat of Future as well, so a good wash tomorrow. Next will be attaching the pylons and finishing the iron bombs. Thanks for looking.
John