WEW Gizmos .. Paint and Weathering

WEW Gizmos vrs Greebles

The following SBS was from Gizmos printed by Shapeways some years back. Cleanup of prints from resin printers is easier than what was required with prints from Shapeways but the painting is surely applicable. The name change was simply me discovering that there WERE Gizmos which Hollywood and I suppose the stage called Greebles.

Cleaned

The (Shapeways printed) Gizmos cleaned. I sloshed them around in some Bestine to remove any oils then used a tooth brush and Dawn Dish Soap .. finally .. ran through my Ultrasonic Cleaner.

Greebles printed on my Prusa SL1 resin printer are much easier to process. The prints are first cleaned in alcohol and then rinsed in warm water.

Rusting

I sprayed American Accents Terra Cotta Fine Textured spray paint as a base. I followed up with other red brown colors and vallejo Rust and Dark Gray washes.

There is no exact method to this madness .. a base color of a red oxide primer or dark brown will work since we come back with various reds browns and washes in any case. What we want is old rust which is a dark red .. mostly .. the color can be almost blue black .. it depends in part on the chemical makeup of each steel.

Which Technique?

I had to decide which technique I would use …
(1) Hairspray Technique
(2) Salt Technique
(3) Sponge Technique

(1) The Hairspray Technique takes more work. You spray on a couple of thin coats of a cheap hairspray. Then the top coat of paint which will be chipped. What paint you use is important. To some extent all paint brands will work since the water used in chipping is dissolving the HS not the paint. It DOES make a difference though.

Tamiya – works probably best (since I have not used every paint I can only say ‘probably’). Tamiya acrylics do not dry to a solid vinyl layer of a shell. That means the chips are finer.
Vallejo – this is a vinyl acrylic. That means you get a vinyl shell and the chips are larger.
Lifecolor – somewhere in between Tamiya and Vallejo.

Since Tamiya are preferred it requires cranking up the airbrush etc.

(2) The Salt Technique is simpler. The rust undercoat is the same. With that dry you dampen the surface of the model, sift salt over it and when dry you spray the top coat on .. even rattle can will work.

The main difference for the modeler then is that with the Hairspray Technique you have total control over removal of paint exposing the rust underneath .. the chipping. The Salt Technique has much less control … you are sifting salt on a wet surface .. somewhat at random. When the salt dries you can go back with a brush and remove salt before you paint.

(3) Sponge Technique simply uses a sponge to apply the top color. A grout sponge purchased from Lowes works well. Cut of a piece small enough to hold in your fingers (roll it so a curved surface not a flat edge is presented), dip in paint then dab on newsprint until you see a textured effect. This is then applied to the model. The irregular/splotchy painting with the sponge works great.

I went with the Hairspray Technique just because of the control over the chipping. I would be just as happy probably using a sponge to be honest.

Paint

Paint .. Tamiya white and khaki – thinned with 50% water .. sprayed on a little too thick probably .. but that is fine since the surface is supposed to be heavily weathered

I wanted something that would contrast with the rust underneath. I also used water to thin the Tamiya paint as the Tamiya thinner would make the paint more likely to adhere to the model .. which I did not want.

Chipped

Chipped without any other weathering. I would use a dark wash as well as rust washes. Then I would use OPR (Oil Paint Rendering) to enhance the rusty spots and stains.

Remember .. there is no right or wrong way to do this ..

Washes

I used Vallejo Dark Grey and Rust washes. I would then use a bit of brown oils .. OPR (Oil Paint Rendering) .. perhaps the best way to finish up a weathering as you have a lot of control.

OPR

OPR .. or .. Oil Paint Rendering. I used some Mig ‘Wash Brown’ to add a little brown .. both darker and stains here and there across the Gizmos.

Oil Paint Rendering is using common oil paint to weather a model. It does seem that a better quality paint gives better results. You put some paint on corrugated cardboard and let the cardboard suck the oils out .. you just want the pigments. You can then place a very small bit of pigment on the surface and use a brush and thinner to add color, streaks and such exactly where you want.

I thought that I would call this “Good Nuff” and work on adding the piping next.

Piping

The various pipes were glued on. I made a jig to drill holes in the structure for the piping. I had to be really careful as working with FUD is more like working with week old cake frosting rather than styrene.

Resin prints are a bit more forgiving.

Mounted

Gizmos mounted. Talking to my friend Patrick Welch we tossed ideas. I beams sticking out of the building under the Gizmos .. supports buried in the internals .. screw jacks added later to help support the weight .. stairs and walkways to give access etc.

This would all add interest.