Painting 2 tone with an airbrush

[Robert Porter]

I have always read/heard that the best way to blend a lighter color with a darker color is to paint the darker first and then the lighter color. In my case I am doing an upcoming build of an F6F which will be a light blue underside faded into a much darker upper surface and most of the sides.

Anyone have any tips or tricks on how to get the best look where the two colors meet? I have had limited success with using post it notes to obscure part of the spray pattern etc. But I have honestly never been happy with where the colors join, it just does not look like the photos I see of real aircraft.

 

[fubar57]

Light first, then dark is the general rule but someone will say they do it the opposite way. There's a great thread on the britmodeller web site about spray pattern widths. I'm still two days from home and will post the link Wednesday morning

 

[Robert Porter]

Thanks! Have a safe trip!

 

[fubar57]

Thanks Robert. Digger just came back up so it's off to work

 

[stona]

To represent sprayed and unmasked demarcations in scale is very difficult. People will suggest all sorts of methods, including the raised mask system to which I think you are alluding above.
For me the only way is to spray freehand with as tightly a controlled line as I can muster. It takes practice, and you really have to understand the paint system and airbrush which you are using.

The demarcations, and everything else, seen in this image of a 1/32 scale model of Theo Nibel's famous Fw 190 D were all sprayed freehand.

The demarcations on German aircraft do not appear to have been as tightly controlled as those on some others. The British in particular laid down stringent rules about paint demarcations.
A British aircraft re-finished post production, like this large scale Spitfire floatplane (Greymatters conversion using the Trumpeter kit) might not be quite so tightly finished, something I have again attempted to represent freehand in this 'work in progress' diorama image.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Robert Porter]

I bought a bunch of "For Sale" signs for 5USD that I am going to practice on the backs with. I bent them around a 2 liter soda bottle and used a hair dryer on them to induce a curve into the plastic just so I won't get too accustomed to a flat surface and then try to move to a curved on for real. Have to see how I do. But I am open to any and all suggestions.

 

[stona]

I don't know which airbrush you have, I do most of my spraying, certainly that above, with Iwata brushes with nozzles sizes around 0.3/0.35 mm, using enamel paints. Other brushes and paint systems can do just as well.

My number one tip is not to drop your air pressure for detail work, a suggestion I see and hear time and time again on model forums and at shows. Once you have worked out which pressure works best with your brush and paint combination stick with it, why change it? Drop the pressure, increase the thinning, whatever else, and you will be trying to get the paint to work properly rather than concentrating on the job in hand. Some people reckon they drop their pressure down to 10 psi or less to do some work (Lufwaffe mottle is frequently mentioned) but I seem to manage alright at 35-40 psi Those models above were sprayed at that sort of pressure.

Second, slightly obviously, is to get in close to minimise the width of the line you spray and consequently the over spray at what will become the merge between the colours. I have never got the demarcation line exactly right at the first attempt, but one of the advantages of airbrushing is that a little touch up is easily done.

I think you are doing the right thing in practicing on something other than a model in which you have already invested much time and effort !

Cheers

Steve

 

[Crimea_River]

The only thing I can add here is to hold the airbrush at an angle and spray AWAY from your demarcation line. This makes the demarcation line tighter than spraying perpendicular. I always spray dark over light unless touching up.

 

[Robert Porter]

I don't know which airbrush you have, I do most of my spraying, certainly that above, with Iwata brushes with nozzles sizes around 0.3/0.35 mm, using enamel paints. Other brushes and paint systems can do just as well.

My number one tip is not to drop your air pressure for detail work, a suggestion I see and hear time and time again on model forums and at shows. Once you have worked out which pressure works best with your brush and paint combination stick with it, why change it? Drop the pressure, increase the thinning, whatever else, and you will be trying to get the paint to work properly rather than concentrating on the job in hand. Some people reckon they drop their pressure down to 10 psi or less to do some work (Lufwaffe mottle is frequently mentioned) but I seem to manage alright at 35-40 psi Those models above were sprayed at that sort of pressure.

Second, slightly obviously, is to get in close to minimise the width of the line you spray and consequently the over spray at what will become the merge between the colours. I have never got the demarcation line exactly right at the first attempt, but one of the advantages of airbrushing is that a little touch up is easily done.

I think you are doing the right thing in practicing on something other than a model in which you have already invested much time and effort !

Cheers

Steve

Thanks for both the advice and encouragement, I will give it a go. I have an Iwata as well as an Harbor Freight which works surprisingly well so with some practice I will see which one turns in the best results for me. I typically spray at 30 PSI with enamels thinned to the proverbial 2% Milk consistency and have had good luck so far at that setting.

 

[Robert Porter]

The only thing I can add here is to hold the airbrush at an angle and spray AWAY from your demarcation line. This makes the demarcation line tighter than spraying perpendicular. I always spray dark over light unless touching up.

I wondered about that, my natural instinct is to spray lengthwise but I think at least near the demarcation line I will need to go perpendicular to the demarcation, and as you said, away from it.

 

[stona]

The only thing I can add here is to hold the airbrush at an angle and spray AWAY from your demarcation line. This makes the demarcation line tighter than spraying perpendicular. I always spray dark over light unless touching up.

Yep, me too.

I typically spray at 30 PSI with enamels thinned to the proverbial 2% Milk consistency and have had good luck so far at that setting.

I'm glad to hear it. So many people try to spray at much lower pressures, the modelling forums are filled with their tales of woe!
I only started to use the relatively high pressure after some lessons, now many years ago, from an airbrush artist who was, frankly, scornful of the low pressures adopted by many modellers. Her attitude was essentially that airbrushes don't work properly at such low pressures and mine certainly do work better at higher pressures.

Cheers

Steve

 

[michaelmaltby]

Let me introduce you all to my favorite web diva, dog breeder and air brush artist: Ms Kate MacMillan of Delisle Sask.

The Art Of The Airbrush

 

[Robert Porter]

Let me introduce you all to my favorite web diva, dog breeder and air brush artist: Ms Kate MacMillan of Delisle Sask.

The Art Of The Airbrush

WOW! She is quite the artist! Thanks for the link!

 

[Crimea_River]

I think this is actually a pretty good tutorial. Pretty much sums up the way I do it.

Antrvm Ratvs - Airbrushing tight camouflage colors

 

[stona]

What's with the bubbles in the paint cup? Acrylics blocking the nozzle? Avoiding that hassle is why I still use enamels, it never happens.
Cheers
Steve

 

[Wayne Little]

Higher pressure, same as Steve properly thinned freehand preferred...acrylics instead of enamels steve...

 

[JKim]

I usually go light to dark since coverage is easier that way. Unless you are an airbrush master, I think it is advantageous to utilize different methods including masks to achieve the effect that you are after. I personally find it difficult to create an acceptable demarcation in 1/48 scale work using freehand airbrush.

For example, on my 1/48 N1K1 Shiden build, I wanted a sprayed but very tight demarcation between the IJN Green and Natural Metal.

I'm not skilled enough to get that type of tight spray using an airbrush freehanded so I used masks cut from paper and attached using little blobs of Blu Tack. This raises the mask slightly off the surface to be painted and can create a very tight demarcation which I find to be very convincing at this scale.

 

[Robert Porter]

I usually go light to dark since coverage is easier that way. Unless you are an airbrush master, I think it is advantageous to utilize different methods including masks to achieve the effect that you are after. I personally find it difficult to create an acceptable demarcation in 1/48 scale work using freehand airbrush.

For example, on my 1/48 N1K1 Shiden build, I wanted a sprayed but very tight demarcation between the IJN Green and Natural Metal.

I'm not skilled enough to get that type of tight spray using an airbrush freehanded so I used masks cut from paper and attached using little blobs of Blu Tack. This raises the mask slightly off the surface to be painted and can create a very tight demarcation which I find to be very convincing at this scale.

That is an awesome method! Thanks will give that a try, your results look like exactly what I wanted.