Yak 1b

[DougN]

Spent a little time on the Yak, and applied the dot-filter method with oil paints to the uppersurface. As a prep, I sprayed Future/Kleer over the entire model after the decals were set and dry. I gave it a light sanding with a polishing pad to smooth the surface as well as give the oil paint something to hold to.

 

Here are a couple of "before and after photos" - note the change can be hard to capture with photos as it is very subtle:

 

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

 

While I am by no means an expert on this technique (I am still learning), I thought I would share the process in case anyone is interested

 

First up, here are the supplies I used:

 

 

I used the small point brush to apply the oil paint. I used the middle flat brushes to blend the dots, and the large flat brush to blend out anything left over (as the smaller flat brushes can get loaded up with paint towards the end).

 

First, I apply small dots of each of the colors (yellow orche, green, blue and red in this case) to the surface:

 

 

Then I start blending them with the dry, flat, brush using a tapping, circular motion:

 

 

Then I blend a little more until they just about "disappear":

 

 

Then a little final work with the large flat brush and we'll call it finished:

 

 

The hard part of this technique is stopping at the right time. It is VERY easy to go to the point where you really have nothing left. To complicate things, that point is different for every color (more blending for lighter, less for darker).

 

I'll let this dry over the weekend, and then do the underside next week. After that, a burnt umber wash will be applied to the panel lines, and then the whole thing will get a coat of flat clear (probably Dullcoat). Then a little more work with some very thin (90%) red brown and black mix (and more flat clear) and it should be wrapped up.

 

Thanks for looking, comments/questions welcome!

 

Doug

Edited March 1, 2012 by DougN

[Mikester]

That looks pretty slick, Doug. I tried this technique once but I used a wet brush and it turned into a soupy mess, now I know my mistake!

[Loic]

[radial]

Yak is lookin really good! Thanks for the oil paint tutorial. I' ve been wanting to try this to knock the " toy" out my civilian ac but didn't know where to start. Are you thinning with turp or applying as is out of the tube?

[Guest Peterpools]

Doug

Thanks for the mini tutorial on weathering with oils. Sure will come in handy.

The final weathering on the Yak looks perfect and very natural.

Peter

[LSP_Kevin]

Are you thinning with turp or applying as is out of the tube?

 

I'm not Doug, but I've used this technique myself, and you simply apply splodges of oil paint straight out of the tube.

 

Kev

[scvrobeson]

Wow, the oil filter looks good, especially on a wood surface like that. I will have to try that on my next build that's not NMF or airshow. This Yak looks great, I hope we can get one of these in plastic someday!

 

 

Matt

[DougN]

Yak is lookin really good! Thanks for the oil paint tutorial. I' ve been wanting to try this to knock the " toy" out my civilian ac but didn't know where to start. Are you thinning with turp or applying as is out of the tube?

 

 

I'm not Doug, but I've used this technique myself, and you simply apply splodges of oil paint straight out of the tube.

 

Kev

 

Kevin is correct, I use the oil paint straight out of the tube

 

Doug

[tbell]

Kevin is correct, I use the oil paint straight out of the tube

 

Doug

 

Looking good, Doug. One thing that helps with the oil dot technique is to use a chunk of cardboard as a palette and let it absorb some of the excess oil before applying the paint to the model. I've also found that, contrary to washes, this technique works best over a flat finish as it allows the colours to diffuse a bit, creating a more subtle look.

 

Cheers,

Tony

[A.Wolf Grant]

Fascinating - when you say finish with a large flat brush, do you continue with the circular motions or drag the brush front to rear?

Those red stars just pop - terrific especially against the dark camouflage.

Grant.

[DougN]

Looking good, Doug. One thing that helps with the oil dot technique is to use a chunk of cardboard as a palette and let it absorb some of the excess oil before applying the paint to the model. I've also found that, contrary to washes, this technique works best over a flat finish as it allows the colours to diffuse a bit, creating a more subtle look.

 

Cheers,

Tony

 

Thanks for looking in Tony If you apply the oil paints over a flat coat, do you then need to use some sort of thinner to blend them? I would think they would just make a big mess otherwise?

 

 

Fascinating - when you say finish with a large flat brush, do you continue with the circular motions or drag the brush front to rear?

Those red stars just pop - terrific especially against the dark camouflage.

Grant.

 

Thanks Grant - yes, I continue with the circular motions, otherwise I've found that it just drags everything together creating a streaky look.

 

Thanks again guys

 

Doug

[DougN]

I guess it's time for an update!

 

I've spent the last couple of weeks sorting out a couple of self-imposed issues on this build (and working on the F4B-4) I finished up the oil dot weathering, as seen above, and then let it dry for a few days. I decided to use a different flat coat (Mr. Color instead of my usual Testor's Dullcoat). I mixed some up, and then tried it on a test piece, which looked good - so I grabbed the model since I had the airbrush all set up and started spraying! All was well until I ended up putting a gouge in the wet flatcoat on the uppersurface of one of the wings

 

So, it was sand, sand and sand some more to get rid of the gouge. Then I had to build it back up again. I also had to repaint that area and re-apply the oil-dot weathering, let it dry and then put some flatcoat over it. Of course, while I had the sanding sticks out, I noticed that one side of the tail had some oil paint that did not get blended in enough (but now had flatcoat on it) - so I foolishly thought I could sand it out and re-apply the oil paints to blend better. Of course I messed up the decal, so I tried to use the one spare I had (from the extra sheet I got) but of course that one did not want to cooperate either! So, I ended up masking and painting that star, and then also re-applied the oil dot weathering etc.

 

So, here are some interim shots I took to show how the weathering looks after some flat coat (which is a little too flat for my tastes, so I'll address that before finished it off):

 

 

 

 

 

(bottom is not flat coated yet - also needs the few panel lines there highlighted)

 

 

 

I've got all the bits painted and ready to attach, so I'll be working on that once I get the flat coat a little less flat

 

Thanks for looking! Comments/questions welcome!

 

Doug

[LSP_K2]

Dullcoat makes such an impressive difference. Looks great Doug.

[Kagemusha]

Pity you had such a hard time Doug, but I really like the finish.

[LSP_Ray]

Nice, Doug! Looking forward to seeing it finished!