Rib shading and Black Paint

[rhallinger]

I need some advice.  In spare moments from the Group Build project, I am working on a WNW Pup for my daughter (she requested it  ) and she has chosen one of the night trainers from Rowan Broadbent's wonderful sheet.  How does one make the uniform black wing surfaces not so monotone (aside from the cool star decals from Rowan's sheet  )?  I have three different shades of black paint, two of which are varying shades of very dark grey.  Is it advisable to preshade the ribs or the fabric between the ribs?  Should the ribs be darker or lighter than the fabric between?  I could also use some pastela after painting.  I would be interested in hearing about whatever techniques might be useful for this situation.  Thanks.

Regards,

Bob

[pepperman42]

I  agree with RB. Black is particularly difficult to "shade" I would use black, your dark grey and maybe black with some navy blue mixed in. Overspaying the entire model in black variations might end up just looking "muddy". I would pick complete panels and paint them one of the tones. Be careful you dont end up with a patch work quilt though.

Steve

[Ian from Doncaster]

For what it is worth, the few aircraft I have seen in museums with painted wing surfaces (albeit reproduced PC10) have an effect where the fabric over the ribs looks more glossy than the fabric between the ribs, but with more or less even colour.

If it was me, I would use one of the colours (perhaps matt - always looks less black to me due to the relative roughness of the matt effect) as a base coat, then overspray with a satin effect black.  Sand back between the rib areas with fine material - I use micromesh - to reveal some of the underlying colour and to give a slightly non-uniform colour.  Leave the ribs as they are, to remain slightly glossier which gives a darker appearance.  If you are satisfied, leave as it is.  You can further affect the inter-rib material with weathering powder/pastels if required.

If you want a sharper edge between the ribs and the fabric in between, use thin strips of tape to mask the ribs before sanding and pastels, or spray the glossier paint first, mask the ribs then overpaint with matt colour and sand back as before.  The effects can be toned down further with varnishes or washes as you prefer.

I would love to see the pics of this build Bob.  Here's some pics from my late Fee build, but have a look at Przemol's build (and others) on here too.

Here's a before and after pic (or after and before looking left to right!)


Wings painted:


Finished:

[rhallinger]

Thanks for all of the great tips guys!  All of it seems sound advice to me.  Ian, the Fee really looks great.  I have one in the stash, but it is a little daunting to me, and it is a bit down my build list anyway, although I'm looking forward to it, albeit with a small measure of trepidation.  I've never built a lattice-tail before.

I'll post some pics of the Pup when I actually have something interesting to look at.  It's just parts off the sprue at this point, although the cockpit bits are nearly painted and ready to assemble.  However, the wings are ready to paint anytime now, so . . .

Regards,

Bob

[Ian from Doncaster]

You will have a breeze with the Fee Bob.  The booms were straightforward, and a relatively quick part of the build.

[ALBATROS1234]

what ive always done in this case is paint base coat with a slightly ligthened black then drybrush with a panzer grey to pick up raised areas recently ive experimented with pc-10 by painting a ligtened coat first then a darker coat over it after ward use a 3000 to 4000 grit sanding pad or micro mesh type product and lightly rub on the raise areas revealing the lighter undercoat on the raised ribs. just never paint black full strength on large areas in scale modelling due to the scale effect it should be lightened a bit.

[gcn]

For black I tend to either mix some Tamiya black with a little buff or use something like nato black. You can then use the black to crate a shadow.