Removing the smoothness

[Mindstorm]

So i’ve been watching a few videos of some very talented artists.
I saw one where he used “agressive” liquid adhesives to soften up the plastic so he could than use an old brush to create some texture to the flat surfaces of a tank to give it that wartime metal look.
Would this work on a pre-painted HL Panther, or should i first clear all the paint?
Asking this because im very much a novice on painting and dont own an airbrush etc.
Id like to try some weathering effects on it, but its certainly not going to be a museum piece, i still want to be able to just play with it with no worries.

Thx for reading,

Casper

[Jofaur86]

Hello, it is called textured, to obtain, like a foundry effect, on certain tanks (not all) the product used, being an aggressive diluent, like Acetone? your existing paints will be diluted and the desired effect will be, in my opinion, not great, I don't know this method? on the other hand, it is (personal opinion) easier to use putty (like Tamiya, or others) by applying a thin layer on the parts concerned, which you then (before drying, above all) tap (delicately) with a large used brush , has short hair, so he , this effect of raw, irregular foundry metal, let it dry and then paint in the colors concerned. Some also use a Dremel solution with a mini milling cutter, directly on the plastic? Personally I prefer the solution with mastic. If you look for a can on this forum, there are many explanations, in different realizations

[Ecam]

I agree, I'd rather add a product like Mr. Surfacer 500 and work it to the desired effect opposed to softening the plastic/ABS enough to add that texture. I have been using thinned down automotive body filler applied with a stiff small brush then sand it for the finish I'm looking for.

An exaggerated example:



After sanding and primer:



Super cheap (like me) dries fast and sands easy. To be clear thin the filler with acetone before adding the hardener. Smaller batches are important because working time after mixing in the hardener is short.

[Marco Peter]

"thinned down automotive body filler"

I have the Motop stuff... But how to thin it down?

[Ecam]

The brand I use in the States is Bondo. It is a polyester automotive body filler and used as it should from the can it has about a five minute work life (literally sanding in 10-15 minutes). It comes in a variety of sizes and the hardener is a separate tube (usually colored to help with complete mixing). I put a small amount of the filler in a plastic cup, add acetone and stir with a popsicle (craft) stick until I get it thinned down (heavy cream for texture work). Then add the hardener and mix. Dab it on with a small brush leaving that aggressive look in the first picture. With the acetone it usually takes an hour or two to dry, but it sands really easy - in fact easy to remove if you want to tone it down or take it off.

This was my latest job on my M32:



By the way the hand sanding on the M4A1 in the above post took about an hour for the hull and turret.

[ColemanCollector]

I've seen some of those videos and I'm thinking they're more effective on the 1/35th styrene kits than on our 1/16 abs tanks. I tried them on a KV-2 and while I got some surface roughness it was far too subdued.

Ecam and I have the same cheapaucity genome (Ancestry.com proved it), and I like the acetone/spot and glaze auto putty mix. He uses 2 part bondo, but then he's a bit Neanderthal to my Cromagnon. I'm told the more upright walkers use Tamiya putty and acetone. I mix it up to a toothpastish consistency, and dab away with various short, coarse bristle brushes.

Regardless the method, it's fun!

Mike.

[Marco Peter]

So acetone is my answer!

Could anything I already have in the house work too? Terpentine?

[Ecam]

Look to see what the product calls for clean up, that is what I typically use to thin whatever. Though I buy acetone by the gallon (3.754 liters) and do use it in much of my thinning, brush cleaning and reducer for enamel paints.

Edit: I just read up on turpentine, looks like it would probably work! Mix a small batch and experiment!

[Marco Peter]

Edit: I just read up on turpentine, looks like it would probably work! Mix a small batch and experiment!

Well, just tried, it doesn't haha!

[Mindstorm]

Thanks for your answers, i guess ill have to look into it.

Cheers