Author Topic: Gun finishing tips  (Read 5658 times)

Offline petrov27

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Gun finishing tips
« on: March 20, 2015, 03:03:54 AM »
Heya,

I am not hugely thrilled with my results on finishing Spandau/vickers etc - just wondering if folks can share what techniques work for them?

I have been airbrushing black then drybrushing with a dark metallic paint but this tends to look somewhat too contrasty (if that is a word?) for the extremely fine detail now on the Gaspatch and Master barrel options we have.

Any suggestions/tips are most appreciated!
-Patrick

Offline coyotemagic

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Re: Gun finishing tips
« Reply #1 on: March 20, 2015, 03:20:20 AM »
Hey, Patrick!  There are others here that are far better at finishing guns than I am, but I have a very simple technique that I'm quite happy with.  I simply spray the gun with NATO Black, then run a #2 pencil over it to pick out the details and give it a more metallic look.



Cheers,
Bud
"All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream in the dark recesses of the night awake in the day to find all was vanity. But the dreamers of day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, and make it possible." -T. E. Lawrence

Offline Pgtaylorart

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Re: Gun finishing tips
« Reply #2 on: March 20, 2015, 06:16:40 AM »
Ok, where's Bo when we need him. He painted a Spandau that has very nice color variations of gunmetals, warm browns, and cool blues that you don't usually see on models. I think it's for his Albie. Ask the master, maybe he will share his secrets.

George

Offline Umlaufmotor

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Re: Gun finishing tips
« Reply #3 on: March 20, 2015, 06:38:14 AM »
I usually use Tamiya semi gloss black, mixed with a small drop of Tamiya dark brown.
This results in a warm black-brown tone. In this pictures the Hansa Brandenburg W.29 Guns, the PE part is chemically blackened and not painted.
Over all an extremely highly diluted dark brown oil paint with an airbrush. If this paint step is dried, again a very thin coating with extremely highly dilute medium gray oil paint. Seal with Tamiya matt-clear or semi gloss clear.












Offline uncletony

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Re: Gun finishing tips
« Reply #4 on: March 20, 2015, 06:39:10 AM »
Ok, where's Bo when we need him. He painted a Spandau that has very nice color variations of gunmetals, warm browns, and cool blues that you don't usually see on models. I think it's for his Albie. Ask the master, maybe he will share his secrets.

George

Do you mean these (WIP)?


Alclad aluminum base coat / alclad trans. blue / alclad trans. red / topped w/ custom mix of tamiya nato black, smoke & gloss black. Still need a little graphite to pick out the deets.

Offline petrov27

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Re: Gun finishing tips
« Reply #5 on: March 20, 2015, 07:02:13 AM »
Thanks gents for all the fine suggestions - I will aim to try a few here shortly! :)

On the 1:1 guns of this era, were they blued metal or coated/painted?
-Patrick

Offline Pgtaylorart

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Re: Gun finishing tips
« Reply #6 on: March 20, 2015, 09:14:18 AM »
Yes Bo. I guess I don't know the difference between an Albatros and a Fokker...

Offline Dave in Dubai

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Re: Gun finishing tips
« Reply #7 on: March 20, 2015, 11:02:14 PM »
This is what the guns look like in Le Musee de L'air at Le Bourget, Paris.







The Spandau was displayed in the Museum of Flight Seattle.Please keep in mind that this is all inside in a darkened display area, whereas the first two pictures show the guns with a high degree of natural daylight falling on the exhibit cases.

This Spandau was seen in Munich last year.




I have not tinkered about with the settings on the camera, ie saturation etc.

Having spent some time looking at them, this is what the actual weapons look like.

Hope this is of help?
« Last Edit: March 20, 2015, 11:15:06 PM by Dave in Dubai »

Offline jknaus

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Re: Gun finishing tips
« Reply #8 on: March 21, 2015, 04:38:19 AM »
I know a lot of people use Alclad metallic colours but they make my skin crawl. So is there an acrylic alternative? Right now I use Tamiya Aluminum or steel and then hand paint with vallejo.
James

Offline uncletony

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Re: Gun finishing tips
« Reply #9 on: March 21, 2015, 05:01:14 AM »
small world Dave -- I've seen all those displays in person too :)

WarrenD

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Re: Gun finishing tips
« Reply #10 on: March 21, 2015, 09:38:53 AM »
Long, long ago, before the dark times, in the days of the old Republic, I used to collect firearms from both world wars. As a result, the finish of weapons was of interest to me.

- I'm still puzzled by Vickers MG's. I've got the Mini-DF, but I can't recall that it goes into the finish. I've seen some that appear to have been blued, some that appear to have been browned, and then some that appear to have been painted. Granted, most of what I've been able to see in person were those used by ground troops, and none that were, or were intended to be, mounted on a/c. Any help here folks?

- When looking at originals, realize that the bluing (in many cases a chemically controlled rusting) can change in color over time.

- I really appreciate the special recipes posted by the forumites here, BUT: you say "I start with X, and a drop of Y".  I can guesstimate a drop of Y pretty well, but it really does matter if we know just how much of X you're starting with. Is it an airbrush cup? A whole bottle? A few drops?

- Bo, when you say that you start with an Alclad aluminum base coat, do you apply that coat straight on to the part, or do you undercoat it first with black or some other color?  I've got a bottle, haven't used it yet, but IF memory serves, this paint is supposed to be painted over some kind of base coat, right?

Warren

Offline uncletony

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Re: Gun finishing tips
« Reply #11 on: March 21, 2015, 11:13:42 AM »
- Bo, when you say that you start with an Alclad aluminum base coat, do you apply that coat straight on to the part, or do you undercoat it first with black or some other color?  I've got a bottle, haven't used it yet, but IF memory serves, this paint is supposed to be painted over some kind of base coat, right?

Warren

Nah, it's just lacquer, you can spray it directly on the part -- but the usual precautions with spraying lacquer on styrene apply! Let it pool on wet and it will melt or at least eat into your work. So -- adjust pressure and distance so the paint is drying just as it hits. Not hard. Black undercoat is only imperative if you are trying to achieve a chrome-like finish.

However the guns shown in my photo above are Gaspatch and made from something new age (some kind of photopolymer is my guess) -- seems impervious to lacquer as far as I can tell.

As far as ratios etc goes, when it comes to mixing colors and painting, I just go by instinct. I usually test spray a couple of analogs first if I'm not sure where I'm going- in the case of machine guns, WNW thoughtfully includes a set of styrene jacketed spares that are perfect for the task.

Offline davecww1

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Re: Gun finishing tips
« Reply #12 on: March 21, 2015, 11:52:30 AM »
Since I do 1/48 scale I try to use more artistic licence, I know that the actual guns were painted black but try to make mine look more three dimensional.  i start by painting the overall gun a dark gray, Model Master Gunship Gray works nicely.  When dry I give it an overall black wash, this shows a lot of details in the recessed areas,  To finish it off I take a soft artists pencil and rub it on sandpaper to get a small pile of graphite powder, then I brush this over the raised edges to give it a metallic sheen.  Pretty simple but the 3 different colors/textures give the guns more of a 3 dimensional look than painting them black or gunmetal.  Here is one of the GasPatch Lewis guns on my 1/48 scale Nieuport 11 done with this method.

And here is an Eduard Lewis for use on my Nieuport triplane.

WarrenD

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Re: Gun finishing tips
« Reply #13 on: March 21, 2015, 10:51:44 PM »
Thanks Bo for the clarity on that. I do plan on some experimenting with Alclad on my next build, utilizing various undercoats to see what I can create.

Warren

Offline uncletony

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Re: Gun finishing tips
« Reply #14 on: March 21, 2015, 11:19:19 PM »
I know a lot of people use Alclad metallic colours but they make my skin crawl. So is there an acrylic alternative? Right now I use Tamiya Aluminum or steel and then hand paint with vallejo.
James

You mean they physically make you sick?

I haven't found a water-based paint that looks as good as Alclad metallics. It's all down to the particle size.