Noob: Weathering ??

[Wes]

Any veteran advice on weathering ROTJ gloves, pouches & jumpsuit other than misting with an airbrush?

Thanks,
Wes

 

[never risk fett]

use some charcol...just kinda brush it on there (alot will come off if u ever wash it) also, wrinkle the soft parts up...make it looks like youve had it one for a long time- crouched down in trees, chased after speeder bikes, use your imagina ation....heck, take a walk in the woods on a reaning day and shoulder dive in the mud.
-Andrew

 

[Wes]

What about airbrushing with a dirt or earth color? Does it give the desired effect?

I'll try the shoulder dive if the brush doesn't work Andrew..lol Thanks!

 

[superjedi]

I did some additional weathering on a pre-weathered jumpsuit I bought. (Some of the original weathering came out in the wash)
If you decide to go this route, make sure your paints are specifically designed for fabric. I used Createx fabric paints with really good results. They're pre-mixed for airbrush use, and your airbrush cleans up with water.
I mixed up a dirty brownish-reddish shade, just as you mentioned, and misted it on the more heavily worn areas. Turned out pretty good!
If you use the Createx paints, you have to "set" them once they are dry. I just used a dry iron, set on the cotton setting, with a thin cloth in between the iron and the jumpsuit.
Hope that helps!
Eric

 

[Tension113]

What exactly does the iron do? Does the paint become cracked and flake off otherwise? Glad I checked this out.. I have a few bottles of the Createx paints and want to do a little bit more weathering.. Just never heard about putting an iron to it afterwards..

 

[Wes]

Yea, glad you added that info superjedi.

Thanks everyone.

 

[superjedi]

Well, here are the instructions right off the side of a bottle of Createx:

"For washfastness on textiles heatset with
either a hot iron, 2 mins. or shirt press 15
secs. at 325 (degrees). May be diluted with water.
All other surfaces permanent when dry."

So if you're using these paints on textiles (fabric), they have to be "set" or they can wash out.

 

[Tension113]

Well that makes sense.. Probably would have made sense If I just read the bottles too.. :rolleyes Thanks Eric

 

[freakengine]

You also want to LIGHTLY sand the areas of the fabric that would have received the most abuse over the years, i.e. - knees, elbows, pouch/pocket edges. This will both lighten the color slightly and give it that lived-in look.

 

[electric jay]

What exactly does the iron do? Does the paint become cracked and flake off otherwise? Glad I checked this out.. I have a few bottles of the Createx paints and want to do a little bit more weathering.. Just never heard about putting an iron to it afterwards..

I believe the Createx paints have the same kind of bonding agent that copier toner has...it only sticks once it is heat-fused on a molecular level. One it's heat-fused, it's permanent.
Copier toner doesn't stain clothing unless you heat it up..and most toners require such low heat levels to fuse that even the friction caused by brushing at it with your hands will fuse it to your white shirt!
Yeah...I used to work for Xerox.:rolleyes

 

[Pavespawn]

I used dark grey primer. It comes out looking like soot.

 

[GCNgamer128]

I had the natural weathering going on, but mom washed it. Woo!

She said that it took out ALL of the stains.

 

[evan4218]

I found that a combo pack of methods gives the best results. I went out and purchased charcole... cheap-o acrylic paints (water based) and airbrush fabric paints as well.

On my BN Vest I used a grey acrylic wash to tone down the shine... and just a tad of charcole to put that blend of suit on it with just a tad of brown. The vest was never that wethered in terms of dark colors, it just looked old and used.

The jumpsuit is the same idea... I found that if you water down your acrilic color and run it through your airbush it alows you to gradulay wether some base colors on it and you can go back once its dry with a scotbrite sos pad and wear some of this off. It seems to give it a very "True" look to me. Then of course your fabric airbrush paints work well for some of the darker blend areas... but I like the acrylic wash becase it lasts but it also gos on slow, makeing it harder to mess up!

Coffee, and axle grease work well too!! The more blending the better! When you blend it makes it hard to tell how you got it to look that way... i.e. it looks more real!

 

[Boba Fett]

I would really like to own an airbrush, sadly I lack the talent and the funding.

 

[Buckeye 01]

I used 3 cans of spray paint. Flat black, nutmeg brown, and hunter green. I held the can about 30 inches away from my gear, then I misted very lightly until I had the desired effect. If it was to black, I would hit it with the green and brown. It looks like I crawled out of the sheet heap. If you do it this way, please make sure you ger under the flaps of your pouches, inside the pockets for the shin tools, and under the sleeves. I did all of my soft parts that way including the gloves. I weathered the fingers and palms a little more to make them look used. Such a shame, TRG gloves are sooooo nice!

 

[evan4218]

I would really like to own an airbrush, sadly I lack the talent and the funding.

Yup, there pricy! And if you use them as much as I do and with different paints you need multiples.

But its a priceless tool for some of the more advanced painting. Cans are just as good if you use them correctly. A trick if your going for a soft edge effect in a conrtoled area.... cust a stencil out of paper that is about an eight of an inch smaller then you want your shape of weathering to be and hold it about a quarter inch from the object and lightly spray like you would normaly to mist it. Works like a champ!

 

[Boba Fett]

Quick question. My helmet is a noticeably lighter color of green than my armor. Well the problem is that my helmet is completely finished and I wanted to know if there was a way that I could amke it a bit darker without completely ruining it?

 

[GCNgamer128]

Give it a mist in black? That's what I usually do. You could also do a black acrylic wash on it.

 

[Boba Fett]

I think I will try the black mist to darken it up some. So do I just use black spray paint?

 

[Ripcode]

I think I will try the black mist to darken it up some. So do I just use black spray paint?

You really need an airbrush. Canned spray paint doesn't give fine enough mist. It will look more like droplets.

You can experiment with an old t-shirt or cardboard to see how it will look with canned spray paint.