Rapid Black Basing... using a Scotch Brite

[KitmodellerNZ]

IMO, airbrushing a squiggle pattern randomly over a kit still looks too uniform, regardless of how ‘random’ you try to make it.

 

… And it takes too bloody long on a large kit such as a 1/32 Ju-88!

 

Enter the Scotch Brite masking technique which came about after I had been looking at pro airbrushing stencils online and thinking there must be a cheaper way. 

 

Firstly some prep is required before using your Scotch Brite. Because these types of pads are dense, you must prepare them by tearing, pulling and reducing the thickness by tearing them in half carefully along their horizontal axis. 

 

 

Here is an example of the Scotch Brite in action on Revell’s 1/32 Ju-88.

 

Airbrushing Tamiya XF-54 Neutral Grey through a Scotch Brite;

 

 

 

I completed the entire underside in approximately 40 minutes. The result;

 

 

 

Close up;

 

 

 

I applied further mistings of neutral grey to reduce the contrast;

 

 

 

 

Where possible, I mix my own colours with Tamiya Acrylics mixed with 50% Tamiya Lacquer Thinner.

 

For RLM 65 I mixed up equal parts of XF-23 and XF-2 thinned as per above. In the airbrush cup I added this mix and then added the same amount of thinner to make it highly diluted. This allows the topcoat to be built up gradually. This makes it hard to overdo it and destroy the effect if you get heavy handed with the trigger.

 

 

The result so far;

 

 

 

 

Edited March 3, 2019 by KitmodellerNZ
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[LSP_Kevin]

I like it! Any method that helps to break up a monotone finish in an organic way is worth exploring, and this one looks like it takes considerably less work than some other methods. I'll be giving it a try!

 

Kev

[Out2gtcha]

On 3/3/2019 at 6:53 PM, LSP_Kevin said:

I like it! Any method that helps to break up a monotone finish in an organic way is worth exploring, and this one looks like it takes considerably less work than some other methods. I'll be giving it a try!

 

 

X2 buddy!  That is really cool. I too think the mottle pattern used for black basing and pre-shading can get more uniform than Id personally like. I'll definitely be giving this one a shot on my big Dornier .

[KitmodellerNZ]

The great thing is that it can be used for other techniques such as adding texture layers etc, without using methods such as salt masks.

[alain11]

I 've already read about this method , but never use it , . that very convincing , I think I will try , I have an overall black Corsair  on the bench , the black paint is a bit tricky to make it " alive" , your "Scotch Brite" tip could be useful ...thanks for sharing 

Alain

[themongoose]

This is a great method for being completely random. You can also get different grades of it so you end up with larger or smaller spaces as you tear and expand the scotchbrite. Gives good overlapping patterns with different shades of paint.

[Gerhard]

Very cool. 

[Durangokid]

Hmmm, I might have to give this a try.

[Collin]

I like it...I am going to give it a try on my next project.

 

Cheers

Collin

[Fvdm]

I like it a lot. Thanks for the tip.

[nmayhew]

Looks awesome!

 

however, it must be a colossal waste of paint no?

[DonH]

Genius

[KitmodellerNZ]

14 hours ago, nmayhew said:

Looks awesome!

 

however, it must be a colossal waste of paint no?

 

You do use more paint than you would if you were to use the squiggle method, but I wouldn't say that you're using a colossal amount. I'd estimate that I've used around 1/3rd of a 10ml jar of Tamiya XF-54 to complete the undersides. 

Edited March 5, 2019 by KitmodellerNZ

[MikeMaben]

On 3/3/2019 at 2:23 PM, KitmodellerNZ said:

     airbrushing a squiggle pattern randomly over a kit still looks too uniform, regardless of how ‘random’ you try to make it.

 

I have to disagree with this , there are inumerable ways of applying the 'squiggle' pattern

some of which are too finely applied. Like most techniques it's a matter of too much or

not enough.

I do think this method is quite effective and could be used in conjunction with other

patterns.  Have to give it a shot in the future.  Thanks for the share Simon  

 

 

[nmayhew]

I do agree - I will definitely be giving this a whirl, if only for the fact it seems way easier than fiddling around trying to do a random squiggle myself!