Official Weathering Techniques Thread

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Official Armor Weathering Techniques Thread

Hey folks,
This may be old news, I don't think I've heard it before.

I know it's old advice to use charcoal pencils with weathering, but my main problem was that it always left very clear lines from where it was rubbed, I just couldn't get a nice spread out effect.

Well, for my helmet I actually filed my charcoal onto the helmet using an x-acto knife. Hundreds of little charcoal shavings, spread randomly onto the surface. Just wipe around or in the direction you want the blast to go and wa-la. No clearly defined lines, just a nicely dispersed blackening of varying degrees.

I plan to try it a little on my shoes and jumpsuit, if there's any interest here I'll let ya know how it goes.

Hope this helps,

Phil
 
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Use sand paper to grind the charcoal into a powder then apply it with a dry cloth. Works great!
 
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Originally posted by TylerDurdenSoapMaker:

Some people have had good success using pastels in various shades.......dark green, black, grey, to simulate dirt and weather- they then top it off with a clear coat to seal it.

I actually use dilluted water colors for some weathering. I dry brush and the dawb shades of black and gray on the appropriate areas, and it is good because you can just water it up a bit and sort of "erase."

Again clear coat it with a matte finish and viola!
 
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Originally posted by SSJFett:

The silver layer along with masking is a great technique. Some people use that liquid mask, but I just used ripped and torn masking tape for the major scratches(dent, and back of helmet) then after I did all the colors, I did the more detailed things with a brush and silver model paint. Works like a charm. Check out Webchief's site for a good step by step guide to layering paint.(don't remember URL)


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Never hit a guy with glasses. Use something heavier..
 
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Originally posted by WebChief:

You should try using an exacto knife to scratch at the paint too. I used all kinds of methods of making it a mess.

"What we do in life...echoes in eternity!"
 
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Hello,
i just thought i would share my method of painting and weathering with you all. obviously you have to go out and select the right colors for othe costume.
so, what i would do is prime all of my pieces that needed to be painted first. helmet, armor etc. onc the primer has dried i will put my forst coat down....but not paint....a lot of folks use a nice silver paint for the damage marks on the helmet and suit but i wanted the closest thing to metal i could find...SILVER LEAF! i cover the part in the adhesive that the silver leaf comes with..wait 60 min and then you can lay down your sheets of leaf. then you can seal the leaf in with a flat clear coat. usually you dont have to...if you can, leave the silver leaf raw...because....you;re going to tape off as best you can, all of you blast marks..then begin layering paint on. first the yellow...oncet hat has dried tape again so you can create the yellow around the blast marks for the armor..then lay your greens on. i use 2-3 different greens for my armor. try and create a darker color that may look a bit spotty. for the knees and shoulders, i use yellow and orange paint at the same time crossing the streams of spray to get a nice yellow/orange color that looks perfect. so..paints done and now its time to remove the masking tape. viola! you have a nice new set of armor with real metal blast marks...the only problem is that it looks too new! her is my other secret...i use ash from the fireplace to weather my stuff. nit that white ash but the black chared pieces of wood that you can find after the fire has died. take the chared ash and crush it between your fingers and begin to rub it all over the armor. this creates the best blast marks and weathering you can imagine. really rub it into the silver leaf and add soem blast marks, use the piece of charred wood directly on the armor to make nice dark score marks. you have to seal it tho, otherwise the ash will dust right off so grab some flat clear coat and give it a light spray to seal the ash in. looks fantastic! i will try and take some pics so you can all see the finished product.
Steve
 
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Dude, I just got back from a craft store and I was staring at the silver leaf thinking the same... you wouldn't happen to have a disfiguring scar on your side too, would you? ;)
 
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HA! do it, it takes a little more time to do but it looks so much better.
 
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Heh, most of us Jango or Jango-esque mandalorians use nothing but Silver leaf... :D
 
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I'm not talking about the rub n buff silver leaf, I was talking about thatvery thin aluminum foil looking stuff, i already know about the wonders of rub n buff. :)
Not sure if that's what steve was talking about.
 
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yeah, no rub and buff stuff but the micro thin sheets of silver
 
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I've seen alot of your helmets and the weathering is awesome but mine isn't nearly as good, does anyone have any tips all help will be appriciated. :D
 
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I've built many Fett parts over the past few years, and I just used the mustard trick for the first time this week on my new gauntlets. Basically, you put down your base of silver and then mask off damage with...you guessed it... painted on mustard. Once dry, you paint the top coat, then scrape away the mustard and viola! Instant damage. I think the damage looks much more realistic and random than masking with tape, however, I did lose some of my silver in the scraping process and I went down to gray primer.
 
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Cool I'm gonna go redo some of my damage with MUSTARD.:)
 
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mustard eh?

i've been using Windor and Newtons Art Masking Fluid, as recommended by Steve the Swede. it is FANTASTIC stuff!!

you can pick it up at Micheals. it might seem spendy at first, $10 per bottle, but the bottle goes a LONG way. i'm well over halfway through my MSH build(see my thread in the helmet forum) and i've used roughly 1/10 of the bottle.

it dries very fast, about 15 minutes or less, and produces perfect irregular scratches. it is excellent excellent stuff.

if you do choose to use it, i'd recommend picking up some cheapo brushes. because the masking fluid is liquid latex it will dry on the bristles of your good brushes and ruin them. Micheal's also sells a pack of 12 cheap brushes for 99 cents. that is what i used for almost all of my helmet. i started out on the testor's model brushes which work well too. they are just more expensive.
 
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