Paint Finish

[Pete Nottingham]

A bit of a controversial debate, now we are all obsessed with a perfect paint finish whether it is with an airbrush or a brush, but apart from the planes that were straight out of the factory did any planes ever have a perfect finish again, surely after only possibly a few days at the front they were being touched up with any old brush and pot of paint, even a slightly different colour, that came to hand out of the stores.  Now I'm not trying to cover up for a bad finish on a model because we all strive to get a good finish on a model, then we go and cover it up with dust, grime, rust and mud.
What do you guys think?

Cheers

Pete.   

[bobs_buckles]

Hi Pete,
 Modellers make models. We try to replicate a subject in a smaller scale, but let's not be disillusioned, it's a model. We will never be able to truly replicate a 1.1 Aircraft.
Aircraft at the front (if they lasted more than 8 weeks) would have weathered depending on local conditions. Some fairing better than others. It's up to us, as modellers, to decide the level of weathering/fading we input into our models. That's what make this a great hobby. Some like subtle weathering (ME ME ME!) while other like the aircraft to resemble a skip on wheels.
There are no hard and fast rules. Just paint the aircraft as you envision that aircraft in the field. Be it just out of the spray/paint shop or  up to 6 months old - You get to choose... and best of all... No one can judge you for it!!!

Von SubtleDude 

[Pete Nottingham]

Bob I agree with you completely, we do what we like best, I just wondered what others thought.

Cheers

Pete.

[lcarroll]

Pete,
   Like von Buckle states beauty is in the eye of the Builder IMHO. I like a reasonably weathered finish however I still very much appreciate a subtle weathering or even "factory" finish when done well. As Bob points out, no one can say you are wrong; every subject represents a different stage of it's service life, and thus wear and tear can (accurately) run the full spectrum. That's one of the great beauties of the Hobby, there's room for everyone's interpretation and presentation of the "real thing".
Cheers,
Lance

[Pete Nottingham]

Thanks for your input Lance.

Cheers

Pete.

[uncletony]

The Fokker D.IIs and D.IIIs (my current obsession) seemed to have the paint come off the metal parts almost immediately -- whatever paint they were using seemed to be very allergic to all the nasty stuff the Oberursels were spewing. And of course the fabric became soaked with oil almost immediately too. So for these particular birds, it's pretty hard to overdo it!

A pretty nice representation of said weathering (no idea who built this, btw:)

[WarrenD]

Great thread!  As Bo pointed out, different a/c & manufacturers will weather differently due to many factors. Rotary-engined a/c, particularly on CDL-covered a/c tend to look like grubby little boys pretty quickly. (Anyone spy that series of photos published recently of that Bristol Scout that has taken to the air?  In just one flight it looks a mess!) Also, a lot of these a/c didn't last long enough to weather much. Some did. BLUF (bottom  line up front) model what you see in the images.

As for me and my house, I tend to fall down on the side of "less is more". These a/c weren't stationed outside in the North African desert for a few months, or on a coral atoll in the Pacific. They shouldn't look like faded out, gunpowder residue-encrusted trash cans, but that's just me. In the words of Monty Python's Holy Grail:

Camelot,
Camelot!,
CAMELOT!
It's only a model. 

[Pete Nottingham]

Great replies guys, we all know the effect the caster oil had on both a/c and pilots 

Cheers

Pete.

[drdave]

I try to weather mine quite a bit based on photos of original aircraft. Not the ones with a wistful ace posing in front... They've just been painted. I like some of the in service shots on the WNW site as you can blow them up.

When I remember I usually finish wings Matt and cowlings, spinner etc gloss.