3 Stages of Hardbody Paint Weathering

[R|M|D Photography]

I have had many people ask how I got my rigs looking so life like so I thought I would show people one way to get the "trail ridden" and "weathered" look to your hard body scale rig. Cause lets face it, you don't see many nice shiny rigs with perfect paint out on the trails, especially on extreme rigs or expedition vehicles.

This particular rig means a lot to me as it came from my best friend Andy Curran(Altered-Images on here) who took his own life a short while ago. He and I grew up together since about kindergarten and have been into various forms of RC as long as I can remember. After college he moved to Grand Rapids and had plates that said "BADANDY'.

The start of the project as I got it...at this point just a roller.


Stage 1: Grime

Read ENTIRE article before starting any projects!

So to start off I put a fresh coat of pumpkin orange on the body.


After removing the masking


For the weathering part this is my supplies.

3 mixing cups
1 jar burnt red paint
1 jar dark green paint
1 jar black paint
water
soft rag
paint brush
sophisticated finishes rust effect


First I start by squeezing about a quarter sized dollop of paint into one of the mixing cups and then adding water until it was watery thinned.




!!!From this point on you have to be prepared to work fairly quick.!!!

I start by dabbing the brush in the thinned paint and painting it over the whole body. You really want to make sure to get it into all the lil crevices and nooks and crannies. Apply very generously so it pools up on the body panels. I usually start off with the green paint, but as long as you use black last it will be fine.



Now I keep going back to the areas I started with and lightly brushing more on. Once I can see that when I am brushing that some of the pigment is staying on the body then it is time to start blotting and wiping. I usually use a wiping motion to get most of the liquid off and then go back and blot to create more random grime and funk patterns.



after the green is blotted and wiped


You can see how after wiping it will leave a very grimy look around all the details on the body, and then areas I didn't blot as much when I was wiping it down.


Now to Red, you can't see much because of the orange body but you start seeing it after looking like water stains.


after wiping


Now to do the black wash, this one you really want to set into the cracks to give the element of depth.


after wiping




Stage 2: Rust

At this point I like to use a thick bristle stiff brush as posted in the photo above. with the right motions it will look like rusted scratched surfaces.

I first apply the iron paint in areas likely to have rust on a real vehicle. Be mindful of things that are fiberglass or plastic in real life as they wouldn't rust of course. But I like to do things like under hinges, under body molding lines, quarter panels...etc. Use as little or as much as you want.






Now you just apply the rusting solution and wait. Then reapply and wait some more. Then repeat until those grey spots of iron paint are nice and rusty.




Stage 3: Wind Dusting

Unfortunately this is a part I really couldn't take photos of me doing. But basicly you use an airbrush and mist some brown, tan, or even grey paint onto the rig from the front angle as it would get on it from driving down the road. Before you do this you may want to take the time to make some wiper templates out of tape and put on your windshield.

Here are the results. (I halfassed my wiper templates but will be putting clear glass on soon and redoing it.)


And with my Yota I did with the same 3 stage weathering technique.


Notes....

I would suggest going fairly thin with watering down the paints. If you wipe it down and don't see as much "grime" as you want then repeat the process.

If one wash color completely overtakes your previous one just go back and do the previous one again.

Change the colors up, these work well for me, but you may try different shades and colors altogether.

Rust and dusting can get out of hand quick, do a little then look it over after it drys and if ya want more go back and do more.

When you do the dusting get it straight on and at a slight angle to the side as well so it travels down the sides a bit.

Do multiple colors of dustings just like your grime colors.

[sixshooterstang]

Very well written sir. Shouldve invited me over and I would have worked you up a video while doing it too

[R|M|D Photography]

Originally Posted by sixshooterstang

Very well written sir. Shouldve invited me over and I would have worked you up a video while doing it too

I did, you said you were busy! lol

But yeah, next one we can.

[Kylar]

Awesome write up!! Thanks for the tips!!

[sickcivic95]

Nice writeup, the final product looks great. I tried this once and like you said it can get out of control very quickly!!! The thinner the better as you can always add more and its a lot easier to add vs removing all the paint and starting over. I may have to give it a shot again on the next build in line. Its going to be an old clod crew cab, I'm thinking of going more for the daily driven, expedition type look and the weathering would just kill it.

-Dan

[crawlhog]

i like to use my wifes eye liner stuff to make it look aged, comes in alot of good colors for that weathered looks and stays on well

[stevem50]

great info! im going to try this on my hilux

[viper6171]

maybe caleb can shoot a video of you doing the weathering on my yota .... ought to be interesting since i am going to paint the yota ......white

[R|M|D Photography]

Originally Posted by viper6171

maybe caleb can shoot a video of you doing the weathering on my yota .... ought to be interesting since i am going to paint the yota ......white

Will be nice and grungy looking when done.

[R|M|D Photography]

Most recent of my rigs I used this method on. Being a D90 Expedition rig I went pretty heavy as it would be in real life.

[racin707]

What paint do you use in the air brush? Just the model color?

[R|M|D Photography]

Originally Posted by racin707

What paint do you use in the air brush? Just the model color?

I pick different Browns and tans of like Tamiya paint.

[racin707]

Originally Posted by R|M|D Photography

I pick different Browns and tans of like Tamiya paint.

Ok, just wondering, I haven't been airbrushing long and all I have is water based laying around and don't want to get some thing that's gonna run if it gets into water, I know if won't just run off but will hold up better. And thanks for the right up, it's allot simpler than my attack plan.

[1BadJeepBruiser]

Quality thread, stickied for all to see

[seanmnew]

Question, has anyone attempted this with wheels? Or have any thoughts on it? May try my RC42D TF2 wheels like this...

[bob1961]

it would be the same I think....

[R|M|D Photography]

Originally Posted by seanmnew

Question, has anyone attempted this with wheels? Or have any thoughts on it? May try my RC42D TF2 wheels like this...

If you look on the wheels on my TF2 I did them as well in the same method.

[Frank Fox]

Great thread this is definitely on the list of things to do on my current build

[joe122]

Great write up, very well done. Will give it a try on my next build.

[doubleoipunk]

Very well written, makes even an idiot like me be able to understand. When I am ready to make my scx10 look real scale then I will refer back to this article for sure.