Painting / weathering tips please

[Nocturne]

Hi all.
I'm a bit of a newbie here, but have just bought some bits and bobs to make me a set of Mandalorian armour (yay) for use in a SW themed LARP.

Only problem is that I have to paint the lot.

I don't want to turn up as Boba Fett Or Jango for that matter (although if I painted it as a Fett it'd be easier to sell the gear on at a later date) so I was thinking a few minor changes and doing it as a Jodo Kast armour (which should still be salable later on).

ANyways, I digress.
I don't want the armour to look all shiney, spangly, and new, it needs to look used and beat up, so how do I paint the armour to make it look scratched and dented, and shotup, and generally used and abused?

Many thanks

Noc

 

[RBF]

1.make it a basic colour (dark green), then wash on some lighter and brighter and darker greens, accompanied by some black... very even... so colours fading into eachother. You wash colours on by mixing the right colour and thin it, then rubb it on with a handcerchif or whatever (towels leave tiny hairs.. don't do that).


then, mist it with spray cans from a distance, and kind of use 3 or more colours to do this. don't overkill it though.
for my helmet I used pearl grey, some brown and satin black finish (matt).

then wash on some spots of the basic colour again over the misting, and add the silver scratches (or mustard first when doing something like Boba's armor).

2. layering techniques with mustard...
give it a metal coat, thenuse mustard to "draw" the scratches on. Let the mustard (or liqued mask) drie untill its hard. Then spray on the correct colour, tape off parts that need to become a different colour, and the spray that on...

then finally mist and wash around the mustard bubles, and then when it's all drie, grab a knife of somesort and scratch of the mustard...

I am NOT fammiliar with the "mustard" method... but others here can tell you all about it...

 

[Nocturne]

Mustard?
I've heard ofpeople using wax based crayons to do that (I think), but mustard ... as in what I put on my steak?

 

[BobaN00b]

Mustard?
I've heard ofpeople using wax based crayons to do that (I think), but mustard ... as in what I put on my steak?

yes, mustard, lol. I tried it once, but I hate the smell of mustard, so it wasn't too fun and I washed it off. Anyway, if you can get your hands on Windsor and Newtons art masking fluid you will be thanking the stars. You brush it on top of the silver base coat, let it dry fully, paint the rest of your armor, then, once it's all done and dry, pull the liquid mask off and you now have a true layered paint job.

 

[Nocturne]

Cool, cheers for the tip.
(now I'm gonna be a REAL n00b and ask more dumb layering questions)

So I base coat in chrome, then 'mustard' the scratch areas, then spray in grey, then mustard a lttle on the outisde of the already masked areas (to simulate the primer seen around a scratch) then spray the top coat (be it green or red or yello), then remove the masking liquid / mustard and it'll look all spiffy and scratched, ready to suffer a thin black wash?

 

[Nutcore]

Cool, cheers for the tip.
(now I'm gonna be a REAL n00b and ask more dumb layering questions)

So I base coat in chrome, then 'mustard' the scratch areas, then spray in grey, then mustard a lttle on the outisde of the already masked areas (to simulate the primer seen around a scratch) then spray the top coat (be it green or red or yello), then remove the masking liquid / mustard and it'll look all spiffy and scratched, ready to suffer a thin black wash?

Yup, that is how its done. although youre probably better off doing the grey topical with a brush after you spray the color(or brush the color). I gave mine like 10 coats, letting them dry completely between coats which gave it a nice thick layered appearence and then did the grey with about 3 coats so it appeared not as thick as the actually colors.

 

[Nocturne]

Thanks -
If it's OK I'll post up costume progress on the Boba Fett boards
(Or do you guys get sick of those threads?)

 

[Rednave]

Thanks -
If it's OK I'll post up costume progress on the Boba Fett boards
(Or do you guys get sick of those threads?)

I like progress threads