Easy spaceship weathering with oils

Finally got round to painting this Star Wars Y-Wing model by Bandai, but without actually needing to paint much at all. With the plastic already coloured to suit the official colour scheme all I have done is given the model a spray with gloss varnish to protect some of the decals and those spot painted areas. Then I have achieved pretty much the entire effect with oil paints to add plenty of grunge and grime picking out all the details and giving the model plenty of life. Very easy to do and a nice effect - if you are happy with grimy spaceships!
#starwars #bandai #weathering

[@burtpanzer]

It came out real nice with that effect giving the model a very authentic look, particularly with a heavier application it seemed to me. Good idea using oils, I like that they won't dry too fast. So, yellow ocre, burnt sienna, burnt umber, something like that? This kit has so many little pipes and pieces that add such great detail. I added pink flickering led's to the thrusters... looks awesome.

[@CaptainSkyhawkHobbies]

Yeah I used a bit of Payne's Grey also so as not to end up with only rusty looking colours. That dark grey seems to bring out a touch of cooler or slightly green tone which is really nice. I think if I had just used the ocres or siennas things could be too red rusty perhaps or muddy? Also it does take it out of the brush working the paint into the details, so I'll be using old brushes for this. The idea of the flickering LEDs in the thrusters would be very cool, would certainly enhance the overall look!

[@MakinHicks]

Gunk wash for the win. Love this technique. Was the gloss coat acrylic?

[@CaptainSkyhawkHobbies]

Thanks, yeah I do like gunky spaceships - seems to suit these Star Wars models at least. Yes it was an acrylic gloss spray by PlastiKote as it happens.

[@MK-Ray]

It looks awesome, but a bit of a warning is in order when it comes to Bandai kits and weathering,... NEVER soak the model with white spirit/turpentine! A usual process with oil paint weathering would be to use these kinds of solvents to work back the oil paints but the Bandai plastic reacts badly to this. It will get brittle like chalk and could crumble at the slightest pressure, sometime even through the tension that's present in the plastics itself or the connection points. And it doesn't take long, the effect is quite immediate. I have read the tragic stories, I have seen the horrific pictures and on the AT-ST I experienced it myself (luckily on a small part I managed to repair.) I was lucky I saw the tutorial series by Modelmaking Guru while doing research into how to build and paint the 1/72 Falcon, and still it happened to me. The way around this is by using water based primer, water based paints or Tamiya (airbrush) acrylics, a good clear coat/varnish before weathering and making sure never to soak the model, always using brushes damp with white spirit, never wet. So should you (or anyone reading this) decide on doing (more) Bandai kits, keep this in the back of your mind.

[@CaptainSkyhawkHobbies]

Yeah thanks for highlighting the potential problems with these products. I agree it would be a bad idea to use lots of white spirit on these plastic models kits. In my models I’ve used Artists Painting Medium to thin the oil paint, which is largely a linseed oil product, and I’ve not had problems. When I remove the oil paint from the model I then just use a dry cloth, paper towel and cotton bud so no white spirits there. Hopefully that will work ok, and I’ve not noticed any problems with my older models. But always worth checking and doing research before trying any methods. I’ll need to get that Falcon kit at some point, hopefully doesn’t sell out.