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[FreemanBanana]

Hey guys, just doing a couple trial pieces to see how the paint works together. If I need to sand it more before I paint, sand the primer better, see if it peels when it bends, ect. Anyway, here are some photos of one of the chest pieces painted and weathered. I learned quite a bit from it, but I would like some feedback. Feel free to edit it in paint, circle major flaws, ect.

Left is filler primer, right is painted. I used Rustoleum products. I used the toothpaste method for weathering. I will say I did not water down my black wash (acrylic paint+water) enough and it dried too fast, I was not able to remove as much as I was aiming for. So it is a little darker than I expected. Also, I did some sanding on the edges of the white and it gave the black wash something to dig into.













I think some of the weathering could stand to be improved. The major ding in the middle looks goofy to me personally. Critiques are welcomed.

Thanks

[Niabi]

Its not bad vod

What i would recommend is :

have some smaller bits of weathering + maybe some very thin sliver showing on the edges

 Looking at your plate it looks like there are some scratches around the paint chips but none anywhere else  to fix that I would Hit the pates with some light passes of sand paper to give them some "life lived" scratches before the black / brown wash.

your black wash looks a bit heavy in places and a bit streaky. i would water down your paint just a bit  OR put the paint on with out water BUT keep some water to hand and when wiping off if it starts ti dry out add some water

[FreemanBanana]

Its not bad vod

What i would recommend is :

have some smaller bits of weathering + maybe some very thin sliver showing on the edges

 Looking at your plate it looks like there are some scratches around the paint chips but none anywhere else  to fix that I would Hit the pates with some light passes of sand paper to give them some "life lived" scratches before the black / brown wash.

your black wash looks a bit heavy in places and a bit streaky. i would water down your paint just a bit  OR put the paint on with out water BUT keep some water to hand and when wiping off if it starts ti dry out add some water

Affirmative.

I went heavy than I thought with the weathering. It was my first time with this. I do think I could use some more 'small' weathering around the edges. So I'll take that advice with me for next time.

I tried the scratch method you mentioned one time. I think I will try to apply the past in a thin line and see how that looks. I will attempt more of the life like sanding scratches.

As for the black wash: I will try the black paint +water separate. It's been a long time since I've done black wash. I was going to try to hit it with some brown for the dirt look too.

I'll give the other side a shot this evening and see how it turns out. As I said, this is my first time trying to weather anything like this. So I'm sure there is plenty of room for improvement.

[Tesvalo]

Have you tried using window cleaner (Windex or any off brand really) instead of water? It keeps it from setting up too fast, yet still lets you work and get a dirty, grimy look.

[FreemanBanana]

Have you tried using window cleaner (Windex or any off brand really) instead of water? It keeps it from setting up too fast, yet still lets you work and get a dirty, grimy look.

Nope. Have not thought about it. I forget how I use to do it. I just remembered the general idea. I will give that a shot this afternoon. I primed, painted, masked, and painted the other side.  This afternoon I'll clean it up, scuff it up, and black wash it. Then post photos of it all to see if there was any improvement. If not, I'll probably just hold off on it for awhile and come back to it.

[FreemanBanana]

An update. Did my second chest plate and tried to document it better so I could get some more opinions. It was pre primed, so I just sanded it down.



First coat of metallic silver



Second coat of metallic silver



My masking fluid of choice



Toothpaste masking



First coat of white



Second coat of white



Dried over night and time to wipe off and rinse the piece



Masking removed



Sand paper weathering in small spots



Started to black wash



Then a little more black wash. Can't see it much, but it is there around the weathering and I was happy with that.

[Echo Darklighter]

Varying levels of black and brown washes will give it a more natural, dirt-like feel.  Food for thought.

Other than that, it looks good.

[Ronin Tavic]

Hey! I remember when my armor looked that white! 
It could use some more scratches. Make more flicking scratches, less control with it. Let the random marks guide you if you wanna see what it looks like filthy check out my build. I like my armor well lived in

[FreemanBanana]

I will try more black wash and use brown when I paint my actual armor. These pieces were just for fun. The shape and backing isn't quite right. Plus they were never trimmed to fit, so I'm scraping them. Anyways, onto the critiques.

-Yes, will do more grime.

-I want my armor more clean than most. The boots and shins will be dirty from walking and such, but not a ton of battle damage. The concept of my Mando is more of a long range fighter. So my idea was that it shouldn't be as worn as a veteran or a close combat mando. Just my thoughts.

But thanks. I will try some more stuff on some scraps and such. Then I'll work on my actual plates.

[steveh9080]

I like it

[FreemanBanana]

Appreciate it!  The hardest part for me is getting the black wash the right consistency.

[theisaac]

My 2 cents. I'm not official yet so take it with a grain of salt.

The 2nd plate looks great and the scratches you planned out look real. I learned from weathering my helmet that it's easy to make some of the weathering look like cheetah spots. The smaller paint peels on the edges and scratches in the middle look more realistic to the eye.

I would suggest over weathering a bit because it looks better in pictures. The smaller detailed weathering looks great when you are standing 2 feet away but most of the memories people will have meeting you in person are with photos and people tend to stand back 5-10 feet for those.

If I could go back and re design my weathering, I would approach it from that mindset. Look at the details from a distance and see if they translate into what you have in your head for your kit.



There are some great video tutorials on using black and tan paint to weather sandtroopers online. http://www.youtube.com/user/panda86dk/videos has some really good ones.

In the end, this is your build and make it exactly how you want it to be. That's the beauty of this club. I really like what you have done so far and I'm excited to see where you take it. Keep it up and have fun!
-Isaac

[FreemanBanana]

Man! Thanks for the reply. I completely understand where you are coming from though. Pictures tend to leave out a lot of the finer details. I am going to over black wash it more than likely. But like I said, these are just some test pieces since they are the wrong size. I am just experimenting with them. I think the second piece came out much better.

Also, and I posted this on your thread, good luck with approval.

I'm still working on some parts of my build. I will probably start a WIP thread before too long. But I'd like to have all my pieces at least thought of before I do.

[imm0rtal reaper]

The only real suggestion I have is to add a "base coat" colour. A colour between the silver and white so that when you remove the toothpaste, it gives it a more layered and interesting look.

If you look at one of my plates you'll see what I mean:

http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp23/imm0rtalreaper/Mando%20Armour/SAM_5035.jpg

You can see that underneath the red there is a layer of green. It makes it look like the green is the primer applied over the metal, with the red over that.

But other than that, everyone else has already said what I would have

[FreemanBanana]

I had thought about the black middle layer myself, but I skimped on it this time. My black paint takes 48 hours to cure, the silver only takes 30 minutes. So I went with just one underlayer. I may go with a red 'primer' coat.

[imm0rtal reaper]

For my "primer" layer, I didn't spray on a solid layer. I put some toothpaste down, painted around it with a green, than put more toothpast over that green, then sprayed my main colour.

[FreemanBanana]

For my "primer" layer, I didn't spray on a solid layer. I put some toothpaste down, painted around it with a green, than put more toothpast over that green, then sprayed my main colour.

That's not a bad idea. I thought about only painting the needed areas. So I may do that. I was thinking of doing a copper layer to appear almost like rust.