Uilleann Posted August 16, 2013 Share Posted August 16, 2013 Curious to your techniques, particularly with cockpits and gear wells. While I have a relatively steady hand, I have the w-o-r-s-t time dealing with the fine details...at least cleanly. Stuff like the yellow/black stripes on bang seat handles, O2 tanks, belts and buckles, brake lines, plackards Pretty much all stuff that always causes at least a grey hair or three to pop out when I'm done trying to get a nice sharp effect. I have super tiny brushes, I use thinned paint so as not to just glob it on (though this often flows where it should through capillary action - CRAZY FRUSTRATING!), and as my age is showing, even my near-sighted self is thinking it's time for a lit magnifying lens for this level of work. How DO you guys DO IT? Bri~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparzanza Posted August 16, 2013 Share Posted August 16, 2013 How DO you guys DO IT? Slowly. Iain 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radders Posted August 16, 2013 Share Posted August 16, 2013 Get a magnifying glass on a stand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradG Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 Get a couple of good brushes and Vallejo paints. The pigment is much finer in these, making it easy to brush paint especially for details. You can also cheat a little with black washes in cockpits etc. If your detail painting isn't perfect, a black wash will fill in the crease between painted area's, cleaning up the detail painting. Iain 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 I use strictly enamels for overall painting, and normally use acrylics for the hand/brush detailing...................however that being said, for the SUPER fine stuff I too find that acrylics dry way too fast. In this case I have a special brush for just such paining. Its one of the smallest brushes I could find, that I then cut down so that there are just a few mms of fine bristles at the end of it. I use enamels for this work, as I find the pigments to be much finer, and the slower drying time allows for less paint to be put on the end of that tiny brush without it drying off before it can be applied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilB Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 Big magnifyer and a tiny brush and bracing your hand whilst painting. Like Brian, using enamels helps as they don't dry so quickly. Bang seat handles can be done brilliantly using thin strips of black decal but I use drawing pens. I have a couple of black pens, 0.1 and 0.05 which are a water based ink. Great for picking out instrument bezels and as they are water-based if you screw things up a quick wipe with a moist q tip and go again. After a day the ink has dried properly and can take a clear coat. Don't always think paint and brushes. Some permanent black markers can also be great for getting a blued finish on brass barrels as well. Uilleann and Iain 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattlow Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 From another angle, think about how the detail is going to be looked at. I think we all suffer from the 'tyranny of the macro lens'. Thing is once it's built it's going to be looked at from further away and rarely under optimum lighting. So maybe it's better to get an effect, rather than an exact miniature representation of the real appearance. Think about what a painting looks like from close up - just a sort of painty swirly mess - it's when seen from the correct distance that it takes form... I'm not saying that you should do a Jackson Pollock on your details and I enjoy doing some fine work now and again... just don't be a slave to it... Matt marauderdriver, Iain, Uilleann and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 For me a critical thing has been to use an Opti-visor. They are very reasonably priced, and you can buy additional lenses and snap them in for specific needs, like detail painting. I use the 5X mag lens for painting small details, and it works great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarryWilliams Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 I have to agree about perspective. I too use an opti-visor a lot of the time and I work on the basis that if detail looks OK under magnification it will look perfect to the naked eye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uilleann Posted August 20, 2013 Author Share Posted August 20, 2013 I like the idea of the visor...plus I there's a slight chance I could get mistaken for a ghostbuster. Win/Win. Do you guys have a preferred source for yours? Cheers! B~ Girlscanplay2 and Uncarina 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cplrafman Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 You can get them on amazon. Yours aye Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piltdown Man Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 For working use a head-loupe or a magifying lamp. I believe binocular vision is essential for both the assembly and painting of small parts. As for how you paint small details, that's another matter. You have to be cunning! Small paint brushes, bow pens, toothpicks, wire, masking tape, air-masks, cotton, transfers are just some of the tools available. And then you have various painting techniques.... Trevor Uilleann 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Toothpicks are quite good to paint the smallest details. Uilleann 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogsATX Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 I think it really depends on what kind of micro details we're talking about. For something like, say, a bracket on the side of a gunsight, I've got a few brushes that come down to wicked tips that I prefer to use. Like others, I find these a bit more workable than the crazy-tiny brushes. For really minute details like switchgear, I prefer using a toothpick, or occasionally an old airbrush needle (though those are dicey since they don't absorb any of the paint). For most of this kind of detail work, I default to Vallejo, with the sole exception of Model Master Chrome Silver topped with Tamiya clears for recreating warning & indicator lights. marauderdriver and Uilleann 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncarina Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 (edited) I actually use oil paints for a lot of small details such as in the cockpit: good color density and doesn't run when you apply it. You can also easily clean up any misapplication. The downside is the long drying time, but after a day or so I can add Future or other gloss coat to protect it. I would do this anyway before applying a wash. Hope this helps! Tom Edited February 23, 2014 by Uncarina Uilleann 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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