Weathering tips for Rubies

[Rat[TK]]

So I picked up a Rubies E-11 yesterday. I'm keeping it sort of basic and just brought down the T rails that I could, drilled the cooling vents and the barrel. I have primer and two coats of silver with two coats of satin black for now.<br><br>

I also picked up a pack of sharpie metallics for small details later. So my big question is what are some different techniques for weathering? Also how do I post pics? I know those are helpful as well as good for showing progress.<br><br>

Thanks.

[charlesnarles]

I use a 3M fine sanding sponge really lightly. I'll post an example soon. I found it better to do many light sandings each followed by a wipe down from a damp and then dry paper towel for dust. And if you take too much black off (very easy to do) just sand it evenly and do another coat of black and try again. Another method is to do black and then dry-brush some silver over that, to simulate weathering. As for posting pics, try uploading to photobucket and posting from a PC with updated Flash and flip the little switch to enable basic text mode. Hope this helps

Edited September 28, 2015 by charlesnarles

[Rat[TK]]

It does as I said I've already layered black on silver. I also went with some sharpie metallics for some small details. This is also going to be my first foray into any of this. So I have elected to gi simple and easy in this one. I may do a more detailed blaster later.

[Rat[TK]]

So I decided to keep a little of the overly stylized look, but I may change that later. I may just keep this one as is and do another one with more detail Later.Hello!<br>

jimferrell1 shared an album with you.----------

Does anyone know if there anyone know if there are resin mod pieces for the Rubies?

Edited August 4, 2022 by gmrhodes13
link removed no longer working

[Strongbow[501st]]

2 things happen to items as they are used:  wear and dirt. Decide if you want your item to be worn and dirty, or just worn.  I've never seen a military weapon that has seen any kind of use that is not at least a little worn.  Sometimes they are a LOT worn, even in a really squared away unit.  Dirty is most appropriate for items in the field.... Sandtroopers, rebels, etc. 

 

4 area things to keep in mind when weathering:  Corners, edges, creases, and high areas.  Corners get the most wear, so you'll want to simulate wear on corners in proportion to just HOW worn you want the item to look. Edges are pretty much the same, though they tend to wear  more based on exposure.  The center of a long exposed area will wear first, for example.  An edge near an area that gets handled a lot will wear more than one which is not.  Handle the blaster and see where you tend to touch.  See what part is likely to wear in the holster, or by getting banged into stuff.  High areas are the last to get worn, so you'll want to be careful there.  I'll discuss a couple techniques below.  Creases don't wear but they gather grime and dirt.  I'll talk about dirt weathering below too.

 

Techniques:

 

For wear, you basically have a couple wear techniques

 

1: Drybush.  This is the easiest in theory, but kinda hard to do really well. The idea is to use a paint brush dipped in a color meant to represent the base material, and create the impression of wear by adding the color over the top coat..  There are two keys to this.  First, learn how to actually drybrush, and not just streak on paint.  there are a bunch of decent videos on Youtube, so pick your favorite.  Done correctly, it take some time to actually build up the effect.  most people are impatient and just slap on paint.  The important thing is to NOT just radomly apply the effect.  Look at what I wrote above, and apply the paint to the areas that would actually get wear.  LOTS of folks don't do that.  

 

2.  Undercoat and distress.  With this technique, you apply an undercoat paint layer that represents the base material (assuming the item is not actually made of the proper material... if it is, then yay!!!).  Let the undercoat cure COMPLETELY before applying the top coat.  Before applying the top coat, you can apply masks to represent paint chips, but that technique is not really useful for weapons.  So after the top coat is applied and dired (or even MOSTLY dry), you can distress it with sanding.  Use a FINE texture sand paper (or I use a sanding sponge) and lightly sand the wear areas.  You goal is to JUST burn through the outer paint layer and leave the undercoat visible.  If you accidentally burn through the base coat, you can either touch it up with paint by hand, or even use a sharpie pen (I use a silver sharpie pen for this all the time).  You can also lightly sand large exposed areas and high areas WITHOUT burning all the way through to make the paint look worn and a bit tired.   That's very effective for aging an item.

 

For dirt, you want a layered effect. Apply dirt AFTER wear effects. Use darker colors first. I tend to avoid pure black, but a dark gray or brown works well as an initial color. Apply in a wash (paint mixed with water or thinner), allow to sit a few seconds, then wipe it off. it'll leave remnant of paint in the corners, creases, and scratches.  Apply light colors over top.... how much you wipe off depends on how dirty you want it. The wash, wipe, repeat cycle helps build a believable layered look.  Again, I tend to NOT dirty up weapons too much, as they tend to get handled.  But a little grim in the corners can be effective in some cases. If you want to get fancy, you can experiment with talcum powder mixed with paint to represent dust or sand in the corners too.  Again... dirt, should be appropriate for the weapon. A death star trooper will not have sand in their blaster. 

 

There are a gazzilion other techniques too, though  these are the basic ones I have used for years in modelling, miniatures, and prop making. Hope that helps!