I have Marcus Nicholls' "Realistic armor Finishing Techniques" and I tried making paint chips by painting them on.. but the problem is that they look PAINTED ON!

I was wondering what methods some of you guys use.

Do you use the old SALT method I've read about? If so, is it easy? Does it look convincing?

I've also read about using liquid mask for chipping.. does anyone here use that method? And does it look good after you remove the mask?

I hope some of you will share you experiences in making paint chips.

Thanks
Hisham

One method that has been talked about a lot around here recently is the "hairspray method."

Tim Sloan used this method on his PzIVF2. His thread is HERE. More pics HERE.

You can also try a Google search on this site for "hairspray method." That should give you some helpful information.

HTH
Samuel

i use a different based painty to paint on the chips. i use acrylics for normal and tamiya acrylics(which arent actually acylics) for the chips. works a treat make sure to thin thwe paint a little first though

I've heard of the "Hair Spray" technique, but I never understood what kind of hair spray I'm supposed to use. I see so many at the store.. I don't know which to use. I don't mean the commercial name, but what is the spray used for.. to hold the hair?

Thanks
Hisham

yes, the spray to hold women's long hair

For small paint chips showing the bare metal underneath, you can used a silver pencil
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/tnt1/001-100/TNT015_Silver_paint%20_pen/TnT015.htm

Frenchy

Hisham,

One of the finest practitioners of weathering on these forums, Ron Goins (aka "Biffa"), has a simple yet very effective method for rendering chips that I've 'borrowed' off him and tried out with reasonable success.

Simply take a piece of the rough scouring pad torn off a kitchen sponge, gently dab the ends of it into Van Dyke oil paint (not TOO much) and then gently dab / touch it on parts of the kit where you'd expect to find chips - and there you go!

I've also tried it out with other dark brownish shades of oil paint, but always end up returning to Van Dyke brown because that seems to give the most realistic effect once dry.

- Steve

I used the sponge technique described by Nicola COrtese. It consists in a piece of sponge diiped into the base colour and used as a print for the chips. Very effective, but you need a little practice.

Some people actually chip the paint with a hobby knife. But I don´t like this method nor the masking. Other method is chipping wit a sponge. Cut a small piece -not a bath sponge but some protective foam- dip into the desired chip colour, then rub down the excess like in dry brushing and gently apply to the desired area. Less is more with this technique and works best with painted chips, not by its own.
The salt or hairspray techniques is, IMHO, better suited to heavily worn finishes like not so good winter or desert camouflages, and works best also complimented with painted chips. Chipping with hairspray is more controlled that with the salt.

My primary method of choice is hand paint them with a fine pointed brush (kolinsky sable) and Vallejo paints. I apply Vallejo satin varnish which lets me remove some undesired chips with a soft brush moistened in alcohol without lifting the acrylic base coat, but you can also enamels, but I prefer Vallejo as they shrink somewhat for the surface tension of the acrylic and are cleaner to apply and quicker.

Some rules to hand paint chips are:
-First and most important: be irregular. The worst thing when talking about chipping is an uniform look. Our brain unconsciounsly try to arrange things evenly so we need to make an effort to avoid this.
-Keep´em small and if want a larger chip, make it from various small ones and maybe sorrounded by smaller chips.
-Use logic and paint them in areas more likely to chip, ie angles and corners, areas of friction between metals, crew transit, etc, less in flat surfaces an nothing in recessed areas.

Here are two models I made with chips brush painted:

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x34/Cesar158/KVI_10.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x34/Cesar158/detalle1.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x34/Cesar158/cesar2.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x34/Cesar158/cesar3.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x34/Cesar158/detalle1-1.jpg

Nice examples to show there Cesar, showing understated and restrained weathering. My kind of modelling. So often people like the effect but spoil it by going too far. Well done.

Alan

Oops, Here are the direct links. I always mix up those photobucket links. Hope this works now

Regards

Thank you for all your input, guys! I'll have to try that sponge method sometime.

Thank you for the explanation, Cesar. I'll try thining the paint more. Maybe that was the problem.

And your work looks great. I, too, don't like going overboard with the chipping on vehicles.

Hisham

Hi Hisham,

Now i use mostly the painted on chips...What i do is to mix red brown + flat black, the paint need to be slightly thinned down (not too much), so that it doesn't look "Painted On"

The areas to concentrate on would be on edges where there is most wear & tear...dip the brush in the mixture, apply sparingly & irregularly around the edges...

Here are some pics of the chipping done...
M1A1 from Dragon's M1A1 AIM





You can view more details in the other models at

http://community.webshots.com/user/cavalryMODELS?vhost=community

Cheers!
Brandon

Hi all, I am amazed, I learn somthing new almost everytime I come on to this site, now I just have to apply it to my modeling. thanks for all the tips and how too;s. milvehfan

Here's one way I chip paint...

Chipping Paint with Rubber Cement

Happy Modeling,
Joe

I use hair gel to make a mask for paint chips. It's kind of a combination of the hairspray technique, liquid mask and the scotch brite/sponge method.

I have a two part article on my website that explains the technique.
Mike

Thanks for all the input, guys. You've been very helpful

I have another related question. What are the various base coats that would show in scratches based on various vehicles..

WW II German
WW II US
Modern US (Whether top coat is Olive Drab or Sand)
Modern Soviet/Russian (Whether top coat is Green or sand)
etc...

Thanks in advance for any help given

Hisham

Whatever method you use, keep in mind the axiom---"A little bit goes a long way". Tanks were these guys homes, you don't want them all rusted out. There was always significant down time to do a bit of maintaineence and cleanup, Invariably they would paint over some of the chips. So whiole you rust chip, you might put a darker shade of your original paint color on as well.