Is the era of weathering over?

[Woody V]

I know I'm sticking my neck out here so be kind.

 

Looking over photos of the trophy winning entries at the latest IPMS Nationals, weathered aircraft are few and far between. Is this an indication that the trend (and yes, there are trends in model building) is steering away from weathered aircraft models? 

 

Discuss.

[BarryWilliams]

Do you mean not heavily weathered?   Surely to avoid a model looking like a piece of painted plastic some of what we loosely call weathering is necessary.  

[Rick Griewski]

I feel that your observation has merit.  The ooo ah aircraft models at the last two contests I attended showed great restraint.  Gone are the uniform/same all over black and grey under painting panel lines and squares.  No inked in panel lines.  No dry brushing with silver everywhere.  Big models need the paint surface  broken up.  

[npb748r]

3 hours ago, BarryWilliams said:

Do you mean not heavily weathered?   Surely to avoid a model looking like a piece of painted plastic some of what we loosely call weathering is necessary.  

I think you are right - a subtle tad of weathering adds realism, anything more also looks painted plastic. There are exceptions but these are few and far between. However, people should do what they want with their models, paint and build in the way they see fit and enjoy. 

[nmayhew]

3 hours ago, Woody V said:

I know I'm sticking my neck out here so be kind.

 

Looking over photos of the trophy winning entries at the latest IPMS Nationals, weathered aircraft are few and far between. Is this an indication that the trend (and yes, there are trends in model building) is steering away from weathered aircraft models? 

 

Discuss.

 

nothing wrong with a viewpoint!!

 

I couldn't disagree more

 

IPMS winners  - indeed most IPMS entries - are just not weathered that much at all; the focus is on having your wheels 100% straight and if not you're in the bin and that's that, so I don't think entries and winners are any kind of barometer for 'what's going on in modelling'

 

that being said, the majority of finishes I see are plain, unweathered, and just scream 'plastic toy' to me; unless you are building from a specific reference that shows straight out of the factory, that's just not how the thing looked - and even then if you get a sharp enough image you will see the finish is rarely if ever 'plain'

 

i've seen the whole "no crew chief would allow x y z to fly like that" arguments and frankly I think that's b*llocks.

for every clean bird I've seen (and it probably only appears clean because the pic is not sharp enough), I've seen far more that look like someone with grubby shoes just walked all over them - funnily enough because that's exactly what happened.

 

i guess the irony is that many build clean because they are unsure how to weather, or are a bit scared to attempt it - I was definitely in both these categories - and yet to achieve a clean build that doesn't look like a scale model kit is actually harder in my view 

 

by all means build whatever makes you happy - it's meant to be fun - but aircraft get filthy in many areas; not mud build up like tanks filthy, but filthy nonetheless

 

just my 2p of course

[Panzerwomble]

For me all of this modelling is an expression of peoples Art .

 

And the liking or not of art is entirely subjective to the eye of the beholder . Each to their own , don't like it , it's ok -don't look at it !

 

So lets line up some art in a gallery and award prizes . 1st prize to Da Vinci, his brushwork better than Van Gogh .......etc .no that clearly is nonsense beyond kindegarten .

 

So sorry peeps, but, to me, what won at some IPMS show somewhere is completely irrelevant, I appreciate I may be in a minority , just my opinion .

Edited November 20, 2022 by Panzerwomble

[chukw]

Hardly. I don't give a rat's patoot what the IPMS prefers.

[npb748r]

1 hour ago, chukw said:

rat's patoot

I had to look that up - it's obvious now 

[Archimedes]

This is an interesting debate: Doesn't the weathering depend on what a modeller is attempting to portray? Let's use a DeHavilland Mosquito FB 26 and FBVI as examples: 

 

Here is a nice picture of the beautifully restored FB 26 KA114 in flight - not much weathering needed if modelling this airframe.

 

And here is a picture of a wartime FBVI underside which clearly has dirt around the cannon barrels and some ugly -looking "get-it-done-now-so-it-bloody-well-works!" repairs under the nose. Tons of weathering needed. It totally bears out the notions that aeroplanes do get filthy (take a look out of the window during your next airline flight to see how dirty airframes get when in constant use).

 

Both weathering approaches are perfectly legitimate because it depends on which airframe one is modelling, in what period and to what use it was likely to have been put during that period.

 

Now this Gladiator probably does need a fair amount of weathering...

 

How weathering is achieved however is a totally different question and the techniques listed in posts above all have their place somewhere at some time but not everywhere and not all the time. 

 

Kind regards,

Paul

Edited November 21, 2022 by Archimedes

[daveculp]

I do think there are trends, or fashions, in paint effects.  I'm reluctant to use the term "weathering" because it seems to have no definition, and is often used to describe paint effects that are unrelated to weather.

 

It would be nice to have a set of well defined terms for all the paint effects, but I don't think it'll ever happen.  This is the internet, where people like to argue about completely unrelated subjects while pretending they're not. 

 

Dave

[Gazzas]

Remember who your judges are.  Volunteers who stayed late after everyone else went home.  Ideally, if you enter a category, you don't judge that category. 

 

So, a guy like me who entered five military categories last year ended up judging cars, sci-fi, fantasy, figures and some stuff that I can't categorize.   Except for looking for faults, I was pretty much in the dark.  And there are those people who vote for the pretty one.

 

There aren't any professional judges.  And the best build might not necessarily win.   Really...   sometimes entering the competition seems pointless.

Edited November 21, 2022 by Gazzas
correcting syntax, nosey.

[MikeMaben]

What seems odd to me is partial weathering. Gun muzzle stains and nothing else.

Wing root chipping and nothing else.  I understand why that is so it's not a criticism

per se. Of the two kinds of criticising, one done in a mean spirited or elitist way or

one done to help educate. I only do the latter.

 

[Stevepd]

As said above the weathering is all about the subject the modeller is modelling at a particular time. Having been in military aviation since just after school the cabs (aircraft) are in varying states of use. They get used often, especially in conflict when serviceability takes over is it clean. Periodic cleaning takes place, eg a Tornado fin. One week it’s dirtied up, then next week it’s been cleaned. Again general wear and tear happens around contact areas, and these may/usually get brush repaired (rotary) until it goes into scheduled maintenance. So weathering is all of the moment.

 

however some great models have an overkill of the patchwork quilt effect rather than panel wash. In my experience they just aren’t like that. Perhaps a panel tone change which could be different shade of paint or simply sun bleaching. My opinion though which means nothing to what the modeller chooses to represent their project.

[Confusionreigns178]

Surely, as a hobby, this past-time should be what the individual model-maker wants to make it? If you want to produce a model to have a "just-rolled-off-the-production-line" look, that's great. If you want to make something that's been in numerous battles, with very obvious damage, dirt, scrapes and other "wear-and-tear", that's also a cool thing. 

 

I find that the idea that models have to look a certain way a very "artificial" one. It's simply a matter of personal opinion, surely? 

 

This is a hobby, folks - not a crusade.

 

Cheers. 

 

Chris.  

[Archimedes]

On 11/21/2022 at 1:58 AM, MikeMaben said:

What seems odd to me is partial weathering. Gun muzzle stains and nothing else.

Wing root chipping and nothing else.  I understand why that is so it's not a criticism

per se. Of the two kinds of criticising, one done in a mean spirited or elitist way or

one done to help educate. I only do the latter.

 

100% agreed Mike.  My own pet peeve is modellers looking at other modeller’s models who in turn have looked at other modeller’s models and almost no-one has looked at an actual aircraft (but that is my own OCD kicking in). Totally agree that constructive criticism is the way to go.

 

Best regards,

Paul