WnW Albatros D.Va

[LSP_Ron]

Great attention to detail.

[Zero77]

I've finished redoing the wood grain effect.

 

It was way faster than the first time, but i'm not so satisfied. But it may be because i have become more choosy, more than a year later.

 

 

For those who are interested in a slightly different technique than the well-known oil technique, i've made a small tutorial for the "artist acrylics" technique. Personnaly, i prefer the last one because you can make a whole fuselage in about 2 or 3 hours maximum, and it's dry almost immediately, so you can manipulate it, mask it and so on. I also think the finish is a bit better as the wood grain is more defined and less blurry than it is with the oils, but it's a matter of taste.

 

Of course the model must be primed with a wood base color, for example sand yellow, flesh, or any other light yellowish or brownish color.

 

First, you have to mask each panel one by one. It is easier to regroup by lines of panels, so you only have to mask once horizontally, and move small bits of tapes vertically to change from a panel to another.

 

Then you have to choose the good colors for the acrylics. For this specific model, i only used the raw sienna and a very few burnt sienna.

 

You first dip a piece of foam in a nut of paint (this paint is pretty thick).

 

Then you dab it on a paper or any other stuff to remove the excess.

 

You can add a bit of a darker color, to add some variation, but personnally i prefer to do that in a second time.

 

Then you lay a coat of the paint with the foam on the delimited panel. It HAS to be rough. You can even made some wave alike strokes to depict a more "veinous" wood.

 

Then, and you have to be pretty fast as the acrylic dries very fast, you smooth it with a brush. A very soft brush is better as it wont smooth it too much. If the paint is already too much dry, you can wet a bit your brush, but the effect will be a bit different.

[Zero77]

If you're not satisfied, dont panic !
 You still have at least 5 to 10 minutes to wipe it out with a wet tissue (wet only with water ! no alcool or any other thinner, or your undercoat will go as well....)

 

And voila !

 

It's easy and fast. And as it dries very fast, you can move your masking tape to the next panel only a few minutes after.

 

 

 

 

To add a bit of variation, just before smoothing the wood grain, and once the paint is not dry yet, you can add some small strokes of a darker color, in various shapes (V shape, or eye shape), or small dots, and they will blur with the whole surface for a nice effect of wood knots or stains.

 

The rear belly :

Edited October 7, 2015 by Zero77

[Zero77]

Fuselage done, time to go : 2 to 3 hours.

 

[rjones726]

Thanks for posting this. A nice tutorial of a great technique. One question, Did you apply clear yellow, orange or just plain clear over the woodgrain?

 

v/r,

Rob

[Zero77]

Thanks for posting this. A nice tutorial of a great technique. One question, Did you apply clear yellow, orange or just plain clear over the woodgrain?

 

v/r,

Rob

 

I did not apply anything at the moment.

But it's up to you. I think that i will just apply a clear coat, but a slightly yellow tinted clear coat may be nice as the Albies seems to have a yellowish tint. Applying a tinted clear coat also has the advantage to blend the slightly different colors of the panel, giving a more even aspect.

 

However, inside the cockpit, i've applied an orange tinted clear coat.

Edited October 7, 2015 by Zero77

[mywifehatesmodels]

Watching....learning...drooling!!!

 

John

[rjones726]

I did not apply anything at the moment.

But it's up to you. I think that i will just apply a clear coat, but a slightly yellow tinted clear coat may be nice as the Albies seems to have a yellowish tint. Applying a tinted clear coat also has the advantage to blend the slightly different colors of the panel, giving a more even aspect.

 

However, inside the cockpit, i've applied an orange tinted clear coat.

Thanks, I did notice a difference between the cockpit and the fuselage colors which is why I asked. Good job!

[ClumsyDude]

Wow, you often see it done well, but this is really good. Taking notes!

 

Jim

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks for the terrific tutorial, Nicolas! That really does look like wood.

 

Kev

[John F Smith]

Wonderful tutorial....Thank You!

 

That wood grain word is as good as I've seen it done... Simply outstanding!

 

And, the work in the cockpit seem flawless to me.

 

I will be following this closely!

 

John

[dodgem37]

Man, that's nice.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[Zero77]

I've painted the yellow tail and nose. I was not able to get exactly the same yellow than the first time, so i've slightly sprayed the formerly painted parts (propeller cone, stabilator) with my "new" yellow.

Unfortunately, once everything was done, i thought that this new yellow is not so good... I tried to get something mustard-like, but it's not bright enough in my opinion.

This evenig, i might spray a slight coat of thinned RLM04 over it to get it a bit brighter.

 

First i had to paint the crosses, for them to be later visible under the poor coverage yellow coat (as on the period pictures). The masks are custome made (Silhouette Portrait cutter, i still have the programs since my first attempt, so cutting new masks only takes me a few minutes).

First the white coat :

 

Then the black coat :

 

And voilà (ready to paint the yellow areas) :

 

And the final result :

 

I think that yellow is a bit drab.

[mgbgtv8steve]

Nicholas I remain very impressed by your tenacity and of course the excellent tutorial! Thank you.

Regards,

 

Steve S.

[scvrobeson]

Great looking plywood Zero!  Hadn't thought of using acrylics, I'll have to give that a try on my next project needing wood.

 

 

 

Matt