Ruining a perfectly good Cross Demon SG4

[smog]

Looks great! So. So far you have only used a highly diluted brown acrylic?

I recently picked up an airbrush while on a road trip in the US. My plan is to start bu using it on my body weathering. I gather you can get a very fine misting out of them

[TooOldForThis]

Originally Posted by smog

Looks great! So. So far you have only used a highly diluted brown acrylic?

I recently picked up an airbrush while on a road trip in the US. My plan is to start bu using it on my body weathering. I gather you can get a very fine misting out of them

Thanks! Yes, highly diluted, but I've used gray and black on the bed as well as brown. Altogether for this truck I have 3 shades of brown/tan, 2 shades of gray, one black, one dark orange, one dark green. "Earth tones" I guess you could say. When you also mix them together and/or dilute them in water, it gives you surprising flexibility in different things you can do. At less than a dollar each, it's not expensive either.

You're really going to have fun with that airbrush. The main difference compared to spray paint is the fine mist and much better control. I just wish I tried one sooner.

[TooOldForThis]

Hello tree.



I can has branch?



Chop chop chop.



Cargo!

I'm embarrassed by how much I paid for that RC4WD chainsaw but it was the only one I could find that wasn't 3D printed. The little beer cans were cheap though!

[smog]

Originally Posted by TooOldForThis

Hello tree.



I can has branch?



Chop chop chop.



Cargo!

I'm embarrassed by how much I paid for that RC4WD chainsaw but it was the only one I could find that wasn't 3D printed. The little beer cans were cheap though!

At least you didn't pay for the tree

[PoorManRC]

Just found this, and definitely following!!!
Were/are you also a Model Railroader? I ask because you've used a few Weathering tricks that have been in that Hobby since the early 1990's. The Hood looks GREAT!! The misfit end, just adds to the effect.

Since you've already added some stains to the Bed (which is also nice and creative), if you really want to crap it up, give the Wood a few mists with any common household spray bottle, fill with about 3oz of 91% Isopropyl Alcohol, and 3-4 drops of India Ink..... Or 8-10 drops of very dark Black Acrylic Paint.
Shake bottle well, mist until damp, leave it to soak and dry. You can also spray one or two of the Branches, to look like their from another, older Tree.

The Alcohol mix has to be THIN! Keep up the good fantastic Weathering!!!

[TooOldForThis]

Originally Posted by PoorManRC

Just found this, and definitely following!!!
Were/are you also a Model Railroader? I ask because you've used a few Weathering tricks that have been in that Hobby since the early 1990's. The Hood looks GREAT!! The misfit end, just adds to the effect.

Since you've already added some stains to the Bed (which is also nice and creative), if you really want to crap it up, give the Wood a few mists with any common household spray bottle, fill with about 3oz of 91% Isopropyl Alcohol, and 3-4 drops of India Ink..... Or 8-10 drops of very dark Black Acrylic Paint.
Shake bottle well, mist until damp, leave it to soak and dry. You can also spray one or two of the Branches, to look like their from another, older Tree.

The Alcohol mix has to be THIN! Keep up the good fantastic Weathering!!!

Wow, thank you. I'm not a railroader but I've definitely stolen some of their ideas for this truck. Same goes for static models; there are some excellent how-to Youtube videos for weathering models using multi-step techniques. It's an art that could take a long time to really master but it's still fun when you've got training wheels on like I do.

I'll look into the Isopropyl Alcohol technique. I'm all about crapping it up!

[Shinchu]

Really nice work showing the potential of the cross truck.
Hard body trucks with full interior are great aren't they?!
I'm doing something similar with my son's ascender, cut an rc4wd blazer to make a k10 cab. We want to run a caged rear and the ascender doesn't really work. The cross cage is stupid cheap but I need measurements.
Care to help out?
Need overall length, height from top to bottom, and top to center deck. Oh and width.
Thank ya!
And if it's too much trouble now that you have it built into the wood, no worries.

Great job on this! I have always wanted an airbrush! Looks so fun!!!

[PoorManRC]

Thanks for the kind words! It doesn't matter which Hobby we're in.... It's all really about caring, sharing and helping each other, at whatever level we can!

[Topher Builds]

Great build thread and lots of good information!

Love the detai, especially the gas spot on the wood under the gas tank. Very cool and impressive truck!

[JatoTheRipper]

This is awesome! I aspire to ruin a perfectly good truck one day. Threads like this are great sources of information and inspiration.

[smog]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

This is awesome! I aspire to ruin a perfectly good truck one day. Threads like this are great sources of information and inspiration.

There is something preciously satisfying in perfectly ruining a thing. I felt this with a set of headlamp housings last week. I need more...

[TooOldForThis]

Thanks for the kind words everyone, it's much appreciated. My intention for this thread (besides self-amusement) was to give people some ideas so its good to see the interest. Anyone thinking about trying it needs to stop thinking and dive in!

Originally Posted by Shinchu

The cross cage is stupid cheap but I need measurements.
Care to help out?
Need overall length, height from top to bottom, and top to center deck. Oh and width.

Sure, the rear rollbar is 6 3/8" wide between the centers of the mounting holes on the bottom, and it tapers down to about 5 1/2" wide at the top. It stands 3 3/4" high overall. Total length is about 4" but that's hard for me to measure because of the wood.

[Shinchu]

Oh wow thats a little small. Hmm... Well thanks for taking the time to measure that for us!

I will stay tuned to this build fore sure. Cant wait to see what's next!

[TooOldForThis]

Assembly complete! Not a lot of progress to report on but this is the first time it's been all bolted together so I'm sharing the milestone. Its getting close to finished but there are still two weathering steps left:

1. Apply rust effects all over. Same stuff I used on the hood. When I say "all over", I mean use it sparingly but in a bunch of different places. Detail work.
2. Break out the airbrush and shoot some brown on for more dirty goodness.

This has been a lot of fun and weathering is pretty forgiving, but parts of this build have been surprisingly time-consuming. Besides losing one week waiting for a part to arrive, this is the only truck I've been working on since starting this thread. Whew! (granted, a lot of the non-toy-truck-building parts of life got in the way too, but you get what I'm saying)

[smog]

Looks perfectly ruined! Nice work. Am I correct in seeing that you also aged the shocks and axle housings? Everything looks spot-on man. Is the roll cage weathered solely with the airbrush?

[TooOldForThis]

Originally Posted by smog

Looks perfectly ruined! Nice work. Am I correct in seeing that you also aged the shocks and axle housings? Everything looks spot-on man. Is the roll cage weathered solely with the airbrush?

Thanks! Yes, I paid some attention to the shocks and axles but so far it's only been watered-down browns painted over everything. The roll bar comes painted black so all I did was lightly sand through to the metal. Unfortunately it's aluminum so it won't rust on it's own.

[Bananaclip]

Looks spot on..... Nice details

[TooOldForThis]

After adding some minor rust details, it was time for Mr. airbrush again to add more "dirt". The only thing I masked off was the windshield because it already had dirt and windshield wiper marks on it. Here's some before and after.

Before:


After:


Before:


After:


Before:


After:


At this point the truck was looking really dirty but the tires still looked new. I wasn't sure about painting them but it was a big mismatch and something had to be done. I did a really light coat of the matte acrylic before airbrushing to give it a better chance of sticking. Also I didn't want to paint the wheels too much so I used a spare wheel to block some of the spray. I only painted the sides, not the tread. I have no clue if this was a good idea or how well it will hold up over time. Here's to trying new things.

[TooOldForThis]

I think it's sufficiently ruined. Calling it done.

Thanks for following along, NOW GO RUIN SOMETHING YOURSELF .

Photo dump!

[TooOldForThis]

Just in case there was still any doubt about what a poser I am after watching me paint dirt on the tires, here's some paint can flex shots on a desk