Advice on Mottling needed

[dirkpitt289]

I am looking for some advice on painting Mottling. I'm working on a 1/72 scale Hs 129 and as you can see below completed the base coat and applied the RLM 80 Mottle. As it stands now the mottle spots are a bit hard and needs to be softened up a bit. What would be the best method to do this.

1 - The method I was/ am planning to do was to use a brush and dry brushing over them with RLM79. Not having ever done this before I'm not sure it is the best way.

2 - Could I airbrush them over using a thinned RLM79?

3 - Will applying a final matt cote be sufficient after the decals are added?

Here is how it looks right now. I have to say I was a bit intimidated at starting this but once I was going I had a blast. I'm very happy how it has turned out so far.

Thanks in advance

 

[piet]

I am looking for some advice on painting Mottling. I'm working on a 1/72 scale Hs 129 and as you can see below completed the base coat and applied the RLM 80 Mottle. As it stands now the mottle spots are a bit hard and needs to be softened up a bit. What would be the best method to do this.

1 - The method I was/ am planning to do was to use a brush and dry brushing over them with RLM79. Not having ever done this before I'm not sure it is the best way.

2 - Could I airbrush them over using a thinned RLM79?

3 - Will applying a final matt cote be sufficient after the decals are added?

Here is how it looks right now. I have to say I was a bit intimidated at starting this but once I was going I had a blast. I'm very happy how it has turned out so far.

Thanks in advance

(Could I airbrush them over using a thinned RLM79?) yes why not always use airbrush when you do mottle
Piet.

 

[Airframes]

Dirk, I think you mentioned in your other post that you thought your airbrush might not be fine enough for a mottle in this scale. If so, have a look at the Brush Painting Guide I posted, as IIRC, there's a bit in there on how to get an effective mottle in smaller scales without an airbrush. Might help a bit.

 

[dirkpitt289]

Dirk, I think you mentioned in your other post that you thought your airbrush might not be fine enough for a mottle in this scale. If so, have a look at the Brush Painting Guide I posted, as IIRC, there's a bit in there on how to get an effective mottle in smaller scales without an airbrush. Might help a bit.

Was that the one where you talked about using a Q-Tip? If so I tried that but even without thinning the paint it seemed too light. Not to mention I didn't have the control like I did with the brush. In that article it said to follow up with the dry brush method. I think I would have issues using the AB on the mottle itself. but I have no problem doing an over all coat if the consensus is in agreement. Other wise I'll stick to the original plan

 

[Airframes]

That's the one Dirk. It could be a bit light for the type of 'blotchy' North African mottle, but could be used for softening the edges. However, many of the schemes using 'blotches' weren't a mottle in the way, say, a FW190 in the ETO would be painted, but literally that - blotches of paint often applied by brush. So perhaps diffusing by dry-brushing the base colour, very lightly, will give what you're looking for. The only way to be sure of course is to paint some scrap and try it.

 

[dirkpitt289]

Thanks for the advice, I'll give it a try

 

[Crimea_River]

When I used to do mottling with a brush, I got an old brush and cut the bristles off to just a few millimeters beyond the metal part on the handle. Then dipped the brush in the paint, scrubbed a lot of the paint off, and dabbed it (no strokes) onto a surface off the model to test it, then tapping the brush onto the model, much like dry brushing but dabbing instead of brushing. You can control the transparency of the mottle by just applying more paint as needed. The key is to start with a very dry brush and add more paint until you get the effect you want. The other bonus is that the edges of the spots look like they are airbrushed, if that's the effect you want.

It might be possible to try this with a lighter green over the spots you already did. Like Terry says, try it on a sample off the model first and adjust your technique until you're happy with the results. You may need to go with a much lighter green so that the dark green underneath evens out to the colour you want. This will definitely be a trail and error process.

Desert machines were often very faded from the sun and covered with dust. A thin, transparent coat of a dust colour over everything will also tone these down but you need to start very thin so you don't overdo it.

 

[dirkpitt289]

I would guess that the dust would be one of the lost things to be don. Would it be before or after the matt cote but after the decals? I will need to make a trip to the LHS for the dust. Is it a regular paint or something special?

 

[lesofprimus]

Any tan/beige or yellow will work Dirk...

 

[parsifal]

I'd be very interested to learn about mottling, but as a novice I dont follow half this stuff. Where could i go to start to learn the basics???

 

[Crimea_River]

There's a bit of info here
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7U1YqqybY8 but take a look through the whole series of Testors Workshop videos by Brett Green. IIRC there are some tips on mottling in some of his projects.

Note how thin the paint is that these guys use for this - more thinner than paint.

 

[parsifal]

thanks CR, I will try that avenue

 

[FlexiBull]

Eduard made a stencil in 1/72 and 1/48th scale for mottling, not sure if it's still available. Designed to be used with an airbrush. Lifting it from the surface would soften the edges. If I remember there was a variety of shapes to produce a "random" pattern. I guess you could always try making one out of yoghurt top foil!

Blotch - Mask set - etch

 

[Crimea_River]

True but if you want to safe some money and eeli ery time, you can do make these yourself from plastic card or paper. Roll up some masking tape under the mask to raise it and get a soft edge.

 

[selrach]

Dear Dirk, The best mottling technique I have found is to get a piece of paper about the thickness of those magazine order forms. Trace the outline of a wing, then with a ball point pen draw the outlines of the mottle blobs you want, where you want. Press hard, carefully trace several times. Carefully remove the paper centers of these blobs so that you create a stencil with rough/torn edged holes. Make small loops of masking tape, attach to undersid of stencil. Place the stencil onto the wing. The small tape loops will keep the stencil in place and suspend the stencil about.5 to 1 mm above the wing surface.
Now mix some thinned out green paint in the airbrush. Spray over the holes briefly and in several coats letting the paint set between coats. For best results build up the paint gradually with several light coats, start the spray off the stencil, then move the spray accross the mottle holes. Use perhaps a wavy or circular motion with the spray. The results I found are better than I have seen anybody do free hand -including any master modeler you can name. Good luck!