German Mottles Question

[prem895]

I seem to have a hard time getting these things right. I have used the Q-Tip method,but I was wondering if anyone has tried this? You know those little sponge makeup applicators that women use,well I took one and just tore off little pieces in various sizes and what ever shape came out. Then I used tweezers to hold it,dipped the piece in paint(not too much) and then pressed it on some paper to see how it looked.Well low and behold preliminary testing seems to look pretty good. Now to try this on my 1/24 Trump bf109g-2 Black 13 Rall's bird. Have any of you tried this? and do you think that it will work on the model as well as it worked on paper? Maybe I am onto something. Let me know

 

[Wurger]

Yes I have tried the technique. To be honest the way is similar to the "dry brush" one. It works very good. But it should be remembered that the sponge "brush" can't be soaked too much with the paint.

 

[prem895]

Ya, I will dab it in some paper to get the excess paint off before applying to the plane. And to think I was the 1st person to think of this I will post results after I remove the mess(and what a mess) I made with my airbrush. Not good enough with the airbrush yet to attempt this technique. Not a lesson I wanted to learn on a $100 model

 

[Airframes]

The method is described in full in the 'Brush Painting Guide' I posted some time ago. The trick is to use the cotton bud variety, rather than the foam sponge type, and dab it on to a piece of paper before use, in order to remove some of the paint.
Read the guide and it'll show you how to go about it, including a final diffusing process.
Here's a pic of a 1/48th scale '109 I did this way about 20 years ago. However, if you have an air brush, you'll get a much better result - use a low pressure, get in close, and build up light mottles.

 

[Wurger]

 

[T Bolt]

Have a look at post #52 in the link below. Its from Karl's (Rochie) Battle of Britain group build entry showing when he did a test run of the sponge method for Helmut Wick's 109
http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/7-battle-britain/done-bf-109-e-4-helmut-wick-jg-2-oct-1940-bob-group-build-25738-4.html

 

[Airframes]

But bear in mind that Wick's aircraft had a dense, coarse mottle, applied in a close pattern either by rag, sponge or stipple brush to the real aircraft. It is very different from the soft, open, sprayed mottle of 'standard' Luftwaffe camouflage schemes.

 

[Crimea_River]

I've done this technique many moons ago but using a cut off paint brush rather than cotton swabs. Get it really dry a it's easier to build up the mottle with multiple dabs rather than undo a big wet paint splotch.