Weathering 101: Masking

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Hello and welcome to our first painting tutorial.  I am planning on having at least 1 per week, although I'm going to do 3 this week: this weathering tutorial and then a couple tutorials for the Tomb Kings. In this tutorial, I'll be going over how to accomplish one of the best looking weathering techniques.  Like most weathering, it's deceptively easy, and just requires having the right tools.  This is just the first step to making a fantastically weathered model.  After this initial coat, I will be doing a pin wash, then a bit more rust effects, some tinting, layering, streaking and staining, following by a bit of wet dusting and finally some dry powder weathering.  I'll be posting a tutorial for each step, so be sure to come back every week for more!

Supplies:

  • Liquid Masking Medium
  • Water
  • Spray Paint or Airbrush
  • Testors dull coat

Step 1:

Basecoat the model you want to show through, I used Krylon's Ruddy Brown automotive primer.

Step 2:

Go over the base coat with a brighter orange color (I used Montana Gold Sh. Brown Light), and then a light layer of Testors Dull Coat.

Step 3:

Apply liquid masking medium with a sponge, makeup sponges and pluck foam sponges work best.

Step 4:

Spray top coat of paint onto your model.  Do this light and evenly, you are only trying to color it, not drown it.

Step 5:

Under gentle running water, lightly use a toothbrush to remove the masking medium.  If the medium is not coming off easily, soak the model for a few minutes and try again.

After scrubbing it with a tooth brush, the top coat will flake away, revealing the rust colored paint that you applied first.  You'll notice that I didn't use anything that you can't buy at most hobby stores, you could do this with an airbrush and probably get nicer results, but living in an urban area, I don't really want to set up an air compressor in my tiny apartment.  I only used spray from cans, so anyone should be able to accomplish the same thing I did.

Hope you enjoyed our first tutorial.  If you follow these instructions, I'd love to see your results, go ahead and post them in the comments!