Gary,
would you be so kind and share your version of the hairspray technique with us? I tried it more then once (using AK chipping fluid) and I never achieved such subtle and fine effects as you did on the fuselage and wings. I switched to the sponge technique now, as I always got just some few but realy big aeras, where the paint chipped off.
As all the others have said, congrats to this wonderful progress!
Borsos
Hi Borsos, glad to help with an explanation of the technique.
The base colour is airbrushed on, and in this case it was Tamiya's Buff for the fuselage, and Alclad II Duraluminum for the cowling and other metal parts. Over this I spray a protective coat of Future gloss.
I decanted a small amount of Textureline "texturesprayfirm" hair spray into a jar, and airbrush a thin coat onto the areas that will need the weathering technique. After the hairspray is nice and dry, I'll airbrush on the finish coat using the appropriate Tamiya acrylic. In this case it was the XF61 dark green. Using Tamiya acrylics, I know this technique will work - I've never tried enamels or Vallejo paints.
The thing to remember - the paint will lift from the surface that is dampened, dissolving the hair spray, so care is needed to only dampen it a slight amount. I take a wide, stiff paint brush and dip it in water, then wipe most of the water off on a cloth. I then lightly scrub the surface until I see the paint JUST start to lift. It is easy to do it too much - then you have big chunks coming off. It is not easy, and takes a fair bit of patience. I possibly took too much off the panels on the lower wing, but a wash of oil paint helped it look better :-) I try to protect the finished surface when I'm happy with the result with another thin coat of Future gloss.
If too much paint comes off, it can also be helped by re-spraying the area (which could resemble a repair on a real aircraft).
Hope this helps!
Gary
