Designing a shadowbox diorama

[Hauk]

All the input is much appreciated!

Volker, I have concidered using an airbrush instead of a wash, but I think the wash collects more in th right areas, all the nooks and crannies and in between all the gears and stuff. I fear that the airrbrushing will affect the higer spots, and end up in places that rather should be higlighted instead of darkened. 

NK, you are more spot on than you possible could realize! They actually did have some severe leakages around the skylights. It seems like they never fixed those leaks, because in my reference pictures from the late thirties they have been roofed over. It is no big surprise that the skylights leaked, the design was rather primitive.

Unfortunately, it seems that my crane was not affected by the leaks, I think it was installed at  later date.
But some curren images shows that it indeed has collected a fair amount of dust. The images are taken by me a couple of years back, so it it is possble not entirely prototypical to have them sp dirty in a scene from nearly 100 years ago. But it is a good reference, nevertheless.

[nk]

It's nice for ignorance to be right once every so often!

With complicated weathering like this, I am tempted to think that you can't get it right straight away. I think of the John Singer Sargent/Alberto Giacometti school of painting -  put it on, take it off, put it on, take some off is the way to go. Back and forth, and maybe with things you don't normally use like pencils and erasers, watercolour pencils etc. Its an amazing opportunity to experiment. I can't wait to see the next iteration

[Hauk]

I weathered the rest of the crane today, and I'm not entirely happy.

The problems with the wash marks were even more visible this time, and I tried to smooth things out with pigments and remove the worst edges with a paper pencil.

But as NK writes, you have to practice! I mean, I have hardly done any serious weathering in my modelling career.

Make no mistake, think the results are passable, but with practice I should be able to do better.

What I really would like some comments on is the choice of base layer paints, the best thinner/paint for making washes and the best technique for applying the was. I suspect that my X20A/XF paints combo really is not the ideal one. A main drawback is that you can not soften the edges with straight thinner after the paint have set.

[Hydrostat]

Hauk,

I think the lower example is a really good start. Maybe you may try some enamel / oil based colors and a solvent. It gives your work a special odour, but may eliminate the problems of water or alcohol based thinners. Whenever I try to achieve very softly outfading washes I prefer changing to those oil industry based products gone out of fashion. Some people even go so far as to use expressions like "Humbrol rules"  (Hi there, Barney).

Volker

[Hauk]

Is it generally agreed that acrylics like Tamiya XF series diluted with isopropanol (X20A) is a poor choice for washes?

[Bill Gill]

I haven't done washes with Tamiya XF paint, but a modeller I know really likes thinning Tamiya with 70% isopropanol and says even later he can easily remove the paint with 90% isopropanol even after it has been on a model for a long time, so it seems like it should work for thin washes.

[Stuart]

Hauk -- you may want to check out a master modeler named Michael Rinaldi who uses artists oils to create some absolutely stunning weathering and aging effects on his models. I have a couple of his books which describes the process he uses. He is also available on YouTube and hosts regular podcasts where he demonstrates his methods on different projects he is working on.



Stuart