Brush painted Kotare Mk.Ia - Weathering the underside

[Martinnfb]

lovely work !

[scvrobeson]

Hard to believe that it's all done by brush. It looks excellent, truly excellent

 

 

 

Matt

Edited March 15 by scvrobeson

[Archimedes]

Kelly,

 

That is already a masterclass in brush painting. Bravo! It would be great to know how you do the ‘smoky ‘ effects down the side of the fuselage. Truly exceptional work. 
 

Kind regards, 

Paul

[Kelly]

7 minutes ago, Archimedes said:

Kelly,

 

That is already a masterclass in brush painting. Bravo! It would be great to know how you do the ‘smoky ‘ effects down the side of the fuselage. Truly exceptional work. 
 

Kind regards, 

Paul

 

Thank you very much, Paul.

 

The process is simple, but requires patience (and it is how I weather and shade all surfaces after the base coat).

 

I'll do my best to describe it:

Basically, on a palette I thin down water colour pencils to a point that is "dirty water" then with the tip of a brush, paint very fine diagonal lines filling the basic shape of the 'smoky' area on the model surface.

There is not much of the paint mix (water) on the brush, so the lines are nice and fine. When the water dries (almost instantly) you cannot really see any difference on the model at all. And this is where the patience (and faith in the process) comes in, start again at the beginning of the exhaust line, paint more diagonal lines but in the opposite direction so you get a "criss-cross" pattern. You still wont see anything much at all. Repeat the process vertically, horizontally and diagonally. 

In time a shadow forms with no discernible brush strokes at all.

It sounds laborious, and I guess it is, but it can be done fairly quickly/roughly because no single line remains visible.

A word of warning: If you fill the brush too much or reduce dilution of the mix you will run into trouble. The right mix becomes apparent pretty quickly.

 

To speed up the process, I use an older brush that has kind of "splayed out" allowing each stroke to do multiple lines.

It takes practice (It's a brand new process for me, so I'm not very practiced!) but the results are nice and you have total control over how dark or light it is, what hues you want, the shape of the stain, etc.

 

I also use the process or variations of it to differentiate panels, add hue/tone variation, stains, dust, etc.

If you are careful and patient you can get close an airbrushed look.

 

I hope that is helpful.

Thanks again,

 

Kels.

[Archimedes]

2 minutes ago, Kelly said:

 

Thank you very much, Paul.

 

The process is simple, but requires patience (and it is how I weather and shade all surfaces after the base coat).

 

I'll do my best to describe it:

Basically, on a palette I thin down water colour pencils to a point that is "dirty water" then with the tip of a brush, paint very fine diagonal lines filling the basic shape of the 'smoky' area on the model surface.

There is not much of the paint mix (water) on the brush, so the lines are nice and fine. When the water dries (almost instantly) you cannot really see any difference on the model at all. And this is where the patience (and faith in the process) comes in, start again at the beginning of the exhaust line, paint more diagonal lines but in the opposite direction so you get a "criss-cross" pattern. You still wont see anything much at all. Repeat the process vertically, horizontally and diagonally. 

In time a shadow forms with no discernible brush strokes at all.

It sounds laborious, and I guess it is, but it can be done fairly quickly/roughly because no single line remains visible.

A word of warning: If you fill the brush too much or reduce dilution of the mix you will run into trouble. The right mix becomes apparent pretty quickly.

 

To speed up the process, I use an older brush that has kind of "splayed out" allowing each stroke to do multiple lines.

It takes practice (It's a brand new process for me, so I'm not very practiced!) but the results are nice and you have total control over how dark or light it is, what hues you want, the shape of the stain, etc.

 

I also use the process or variations of it to differentiate panels, add hue/tone variation, stains, dust, etc.

If you are careful and patient you can get close an airbrushed look.

 

I hope that is helpful.

Thanks again,

 

Kels.

Thank you Kelly! Much appreciated. I am always fascinated by techniques that are new to me.

 

Much obliged. I shall give that a go!

 

Kind regards,

Paul

[Kelly]

Hellooo!

Another small update.

The canopy has been started, but not finished (just plonked on for these pics).

The wings (top only, haven't attached lower wings yet) have been base-coated, gloss varnished and decals have been applied.

They look awful at this stage, but with the addition of watercolour pencil washes, rivets, chipping and various stains, etc. they should come up OK... Hopefully.

Made a start on the exhausts. Will leave them as is until later to see if I need to knock them back a bit, once the rest is done.

It's coming together, but work and distractions keep getting in the way.

 

Cheers,

 

Kels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Archimedes]

Phenomenal work Kelly  - a great reminder of what can be achieved with a brush and proper skill!

 

Thanks for sharing this with us.

 

Kind regards,

Paul

[monthebiff]

Really nice work and beautiful painting, I wouldn't dare brush paint a model as I would ruin it!

 

Regards. Andy 

[Oldbaldguy]

I do so love seeing that the good old days can still be a thing.  I hand painted - but never so well as this - all my kits for a quarter of a century before I knew there was such a thing as an airbrush.  This is so very grand.

[scvrobeson]

Beautiful work and it's amazing that it's all been done with brushes. Please keep it up

 

 

 

Matt 

[MikeMaben]

[Kelly]

Hello again,

 

I've worked up the tail section.

Turns out light colours need a slightly more subtle approach, so I'm glad I found out on the little tail wings rather than the big main ones.

The red is me trying to represent the doped fabric becoming visible through the camouflage paint.

In the example I used as reference it seems to be abrasion revealing the red paint rather than chunks of camo chipping off, so the red kind of blends into the camo.

Not sure if I pulled it off, but its great fun trying! All my models are experiments in one way or another, which is why they often end up in the bin after some gigantic failure on my part. I'm hoping this one gets to the finish line.

You may notice a few lines scored into the paint on the fabric sections (visible on the left side of the last pic). This is to represent the strips of tape. I'll add the rest in later.

At the moment, the overall finish is irregular and streaky, When I get ahold of some matt varnish and give it a spray it will even the surface out a lot.

 

Cheers,

 

Kels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Oldbaldguy]

I think this is a much more “honest” representation of a wartime paint job than most people are aware.  When done correctly, even a good fabric cover job can look a bit ham-handed - it’s just the nature of the beast.  Unlike an aluminum skin, fabric is not structural, is essentially expendable and repairs are usually pretty messy.  From what I can see in the photos, this looks spot on for a tired, war time airplane.  It’s nice to see some the painterly quality good artists possess make its way over to modeling.

[Kelly]

Hey there,

 

I thought it'd be interesting (for anyone curious about brush painting) to show how I go about it.

I'm by no means an expert, as this is a fairly new process to me.

 

Here are a few home truths I've leaned (the hard way):

- It is a universally acknowledged truth that more thin coats are better than one thick one. This fact has to be taken on faith, because for a good few coats it can look like a slowly unfolding unmitigated disaster.

- Light colours are less accommodating, so need more/thinner layers.

- Prepare the surface well, by cleaning any oils, etc.

- Use the broadest, softest brush practicable for each surface. 

- It sounds counterintuitive, but the "look" of the surface at any stage is not a priority. All that matters is your last coat is smooth and consistent. Trust that you will get it, eventually.

- Lifting paint is to be avoided, so resist the urge to "go over" areas while paint is tacky. When it is truly wet, it can still be workable, but not for long. Always better to fix it on the next pass. 

- Do not overload your brush. Pooling paint is your enemy - repeat, POOLING PAINT IS YOUR ENEMY! The objective is to paint a thin layer as evenly as possible.

- Clear off dust particles between coats. Painting them in creates unwanted build-up.

- At first it seems like you will need 20 layers, but after the 2nd, things become opaque more quickly than you think.

- Sanding is your friend. Some paints sand more readily than others, so I have chosen a brand that sands well. When sanding layers, the brush strokes from overly thick layers become really apparent. The paint I use (Atelier Acrylics) dries enough to do a second coat in about 15 minutes or so. Other brands will vary significantly.

- When masking, dry brush the edges a few times. The objective is to create a thin barrier layer to avoid the diluted paint sneaking under the tape. Let it dry thoroughly before the base coat proper begins.

- White is really tricky (not impossible!) so if your model is going to be heavily weathered, then off-white is the go. Off white looks more or less white on a model anyway (Contentious?).

 

The three pics below just show the initial base colour phase. After that is done, next up is; gloss varnish, sanding, re-touching, then wrapping up with matte varnish.

 

The first photo (Pic 1) shows why people are prone to not go anywhere near a brush, as it looks truly awful!!!

The variation in coverage is inevitable with such diluted paint, all you are going for is something on every bit of surface area whilst avoiding pooling. 

 

Pic 1. After one layer on un-primed plastic.

 

Pic 2 After 2nd layer.

 

Pic 3 After about 5 or 6 layers. (Forgot to count!)

 

Pic 3 has pretty much complete coverage. I'm happy to have some variation in the finish because it helps with the weathering process to follow.

And that's the process, for what its worth. I try to get the surface done in as few layers as possible so as to not lose detail. Each colour will have different opacity so there is no "right" amount. Black will take maybe 2 thin layers, sky maybe 5-7! 

 

Most of us will have started out brush painting and transitioned to airbrushing as a logical, quality improving progression, and the results are undoubtably superior, but I'm having a stab at this because I work in a small space (living room), like having a simple brush in hand and not bothering the family with the noise of an airbrush. 

Also, the "real" painting for me is the watercolour process that starts after this base coat is done. I think of it as prepping the base canvas for the painting to process to begin.

The finished result looks different to when using an airbrush, but that's fine, it can still look good!

 

Not sure if the above is in any way helpful (or relevant!) but I'm an enthusiast so enjoy getting it down on paper

 

Cheers,

 

Kels.

 

[scvrobeson]

I appreciate the step-by-step on your process. It's cool to see what you've been able to accomplish with the humble paintbrush. Your Spitfire looks truly excellent.

 

Do you find it easier to do the model in stages instead of assembling the entire airframe before painting? 

 

 

Matt