Hi guys,
Just a couple of questions for you...
1. What in your opinion will give you the most realistic colour of wood on a rifle etc?
2. When applying decals do you coat the model with future/ klear first?
3. When cleaning future from your airbrush what do you use? Is thinners good for this?
4. After applying decals what do you then coat your model with?
Thanks

Hi Martin,
In answer!
1. I have found Tamiya XF-64 Brown thinly brushed over an enamel Humbrol 33 Matt Black base to be quite realistic for rifle butts etc. However, for pioneer tools I use XF-64 diluted 50/50 with XF-19 to give that 'sun-bleached' look.

2. A very light spraying with Tamiya X-22, slide decal on, position exactly, then absorb moisture with corner of tissue paper and paint over decal with 'Micro Sol' leaving it 'wet'. Decal will probably wrinkle but leave it over night and it will sort itself out, haven't had one yet that didn't. (Fingers crossed!)

3. Get some ordinary hand-washing soap from your wash basin, where it's gone soft underneath, a small amount on your brush, work it into the bristles with your finger tips, then rinse thoroughly.

4. After leaving a day I always use a q-tip moistened with washing-up liquid and water to remove any decal adhesive that has gone astray, and then spray with Humbrol Matt Cote if looking for a completely flat surface.

Hope these help, you'll get loasd of answers to your questions, try them all and see which works for you!

Teacher.

Hi Martin

Here we go in order:

1. For an incredible wood effect, I'm amazed by what the figure modellers do using oils... :-) I think they use an acrylic undercoat of tan colour, then Raw Umber applied lightly and streaked with a dry brush to create grain... it takes a while to dry, but the effect is awesome!! :-)

2. Yes always... you can airbrush it, or apply it by brush. This is much less hassle. See Holdfast's great Feature on his Bf110G - he explains the technique in detail. I also polish it when it's dry to get a high gloss ready for the decals.

3. You can use isopropyl alchohol, but Klear does tend to "gum up the works" so I usually give my airbrush a proper strip-down and clean it with cellulose thinners. (Hence the attraction of hand-brushing...!)

4.As Teacher says, make sure you wash off any decal solutions... then I give another coat, or two of Klear to even the decals out, and then a finishing sprayed coat of Micro Flat if appropriate.

Hope that makes sense...

All the best

Rowan