Question for you pastel weatherers

[JNSekas]

Hi Guys,

I have not yet tried pastel weathering on my projects and have a question(s) for you experienced users. I have read you mix up a kind of slurry/loose paste with water, pastel, and dish soap. That this needs to be applied to a gloss coat, the excess removed after it has dried, and then sealed with a flat coat. However, I read that the flat coat kind of negates the effects of the pastels. What does one do? Just apply it over final flat coat or does the flat coat application really not affect the weathering.

Other than a little rust, I have not weathered my projects because I am afraid of making it look like an AFV! Some of the more monochromatic schemes out there e.g. IJN subjects demand some sort of application to provide the necessary depth.

Thanks for any assistance and for help Jose and Ric have given me.

John

[mike mccabe]

I use pastels but just on the hull for streaking, rust etc. I don't do anything like you say but use a combination of ground up pastel and pastel pencil. The ground up pastel is for a general dusting which softens the colours and creates a patchy effect on the hull replicated worn and faded areas. Pencil I use for streaking, just a light run vertically then brushed out, same for rust streaks. The pastel doesn't adhere well to gloss surfaces, you need the graininess of the matt paint to make it stick. Generally when I get to this stage I will do the weathering over the basic paint job, then seal with a flat coat.

Mike

[johndon]

I do pretty much the same as Mike.

You are correct in that a dull coat does does diminish the effect of the pastels so you either don't use a flat coat after the pastels (I don't) or you have to put the pastels on a bit heavier than you think you need to to allow for the effect of the dull coat.

John

[JNSekas]

Thanks for your help Mike and John!

Mike, I took a look over on the BFM website at the fine job you did on that C-2. Beautiful work and an example of the weathering effect I want to achieve.

John

[mike mccabe]

Thanks for your help Mike and John!

Mike, I took a look over on the BFM website at the fine job you did on that C-2. Beautiful work and an example of the weathering effect I want to achieve.

John

Thanks John, most of that was done with pastels, John D is also right that the flat coat tones down the pastel effect. In fact you can leave out the extra flat coat, just as long as the model is always covered and you don't touch it after you have put on the pastels!

Mike

[Dave Stone]

Is there a step by step guid to doing this as it is a trick I am wanting to do on my next two builds?