Hello All,

This is a multi-pronged question.
I just bought some paints to finish off my Ju-88, primer, licht blu, licht grun, und dunkle grun.
I sprayed the Ju-88 with a coat of primer and and once it dried I taped up the plane for painting. I am using Model MAster enamels and have ti use a brush since i dont own an airbrush. I started "drybrushing", wiping the paint off the brush and applying in very small amounts. Is this the only way to go about this? or an i crazy for trying to dry brush an entire model? Any help and or suggestions?

Thanks,
Sean

The purpose of drybrushing is twofold. One is to show wear and tear and that would be done in high traffic areas. The other is to highlight raised detail to emphasize texture and and give the feel of more depth, to replicate the effect you see when you look at someones shirt. There are shadows and highlights. Drybrushing tries to replicate that and give more dimension to your model.
Drybrushing uses lightened shades of the base color and in the very highest points may even use a touch of white.
So, to answer your question, if there is a lot of raised detail, drybrushing will help. If you're trying to weather, I'd do this only in area where you'd expect to see al ot of wear, leading edges of the props, entry points, etc.
If you must mask while brush painting, make sure you burnish your tape down very securely. The lilquid will tend to seep under the tape and make a holy mess along the demarcation lines.

Hmmm,
So drybrushing is the term used "show raised detail", I'm looking for how to paint the base coats using a brush. I guess I'm using the wrong word (dry brushing) for what I am trying to do. I saw some posts and read that I should thin the paint and use a wide brush. Do thinning help prevent brush strokes?

Sean

if u just want to hand paint the plane.
make sure you have a nice brush.
and make sure you go the same way iwth the paint and try to over lap each pass.
cause i just bult a 1/72 scale donier 217 and i hand painted the whole plane.
i used the model master light blu and dark green and brown volit,
it came out ok.
but if u can afford spray cans get the spray cans.
cause i picked up the tamyia sprya paint in german light blue and german dark green for planes, they cam out with it a month ago.
the tamyia spray paints are the best they spray on 100 times better then testos spray paint,
the only bad thing is that it smells really bad,
i spray out side or in the garge.
but check out the tamyia
if u need stock numbers i can get the number for u.
but i did see the the spray paint at http://www.squadron.com/Index.htm
so if u need any more hlpe just ask.
and dry brushing is done for detail it .
you would dry brush raies stuff like bolts and stuff like that

Used to do alot of brush painting, BA (Before Airbrush). Definitally thin your paint. When I do brush work now I thin the paint almost the same as when I spray, let the paint do the work not the brush (something my Dad taught me). If you get it too thin and it takes more than one coat so what. And yes use a wide brush for coverage, narrow for detail, "sketch in" (light color of paint) the edge of a pattern and paint from the middle out. only refill your brush when it stops giving you coverage.

A "mistake" many people make is when they stop with a certain color they "square off" the edge", you are better off to feather it, if you are going to come back to it or paint another color over that edge, keeps the "seam" from showing.

If you must mask okay, but if you are doing a camo pattern try not to freehand it, as AJLaFleche said the paint tends to creep under the masking. Your edges may not be as soft/feathered as with an airbrush, but that's why I bought one. Practice, practice , practice I never really got the hang of feathering well with a brush, but I've seen it done well.

Good Luck, look forward to seeing your results

PS - A coat of rattle can Lusterless/Dull Coat covers a mulitude of sins.

Sounds good everybody, I forgot to look at the Tamiya spray cans becuase I would prefer to spray than use a brush. Thanks for the tips, I'll be sure to post pics when I am close to finishing.

Thanks again,
Sean

any time sean... we help each other here

Yeah, post those pics, I am looking forward to seeing a great JU-88!

~Chip :-)