Best way to paint gun and engine exhausts on black camouflage ?

[Landrotten Highlander]

Title sais it all really.  Am working on the Dragon BF-110D nightfighter and am wondering how best to tackle dirty-ing up the bird, partculalry when it comes to exhaust smoke, as well as those dirty things that happen when you fire your guns and the cartidges are beng chucked out...

 

Thanks in advance for any tips

Edited October 16, 2022 by Landrotten Highlander

[Fanes]

Not an easy task!

I had the same issue with my black Fiat CR.42. I haven't done any exhaust stains (because of their position on the real thing), but would opt for something more dark brownish and rather flat.

The gun somke stains were applied with flat black in my case. That resulted in a nice contrast to the more rather dark grey fuselage.

They will stand out even further if you play a little with the sheen of the surfaces.

[thierry laurent]

I would start with a dark earth color with some drops of mid grey, then use sand mixed with a little bit of light grey in the middle and end with a mix of buff in the very center. Use very diluted color and always leave the external border not covered by the next coat. Globally, the more you go from the border to the center, the more the exhaust color has density and has lighter hues. This is just the basics for very dark schemes as it is always better to work from pictures.

[Gazzas]

Do you have any pigments?  On a paint hack, I would apply pigments (gray and brown) dampened in turpentine with a fine brush.  Let them dry and dust them off with a soft brush and see if you like the effect.  Then, matte coat it and see if you still like it.

 

I like the vague effects that this gives.  It's easier and more precise then I often get with an airbrush.

 

Edited October 21, 2022 by Gazzas