TOOLS OF THE TRADE

As we approach weathering, my goal is to “simulate, not replicate.” That’s the best we can do since we’re not going to operate our models in the salty sea air for years on end. Ultimately, the best weathering process is the one that provides you with the results you’re looking for and there’s no one way to simulate weathering. It’s a process of employing different techniques and tools and there can be different ways to accomplish the same result even. For me, I like to use a selection of acrylic pigments along with Tamiya Acrylic thinner for washes and oil streaks (you could conceivably use tamiya acrylic paint too) and a Grex airbrush for fading and shading, and a fine Scotch-Brite pad for blending it all together.

STEP 1: WASHES AND OIL STAINS

The weathering process starts with the application of oil stains and streaks across the entire airframe. The Tomcats of the late 90’s were extremely weathered and worn resulting from their long career and the continuous maintenance required to keep them operating. To apply oil streaks/stains, I use a combination of FolkArt Raw Umber and Black acrylic pigments. The Raw Umber being a nice dark brown was the primary color leveraged with the black used for accents, etc. (the black can be a bit overpowering on its own) To make the stains/streaks, some pigment was applied to the surface in a desired location along a panel line using a paint brush and a paper towel was used to lightly streak/rub the applied pigment back in the direction of the airflow (vertically for fuselage surfaces). This was repeated as necessary to get the desired look with different applications of paint put down. With the F-14 Tomcat, pictures revealed a good assortment of streaking along the underside of the engine nacelles. Additionally, there was quite a bit of collection along the wings and even the upper fuselage. Using a little artistic license, the streaks were applied until achieving the desired overall look. The nice thing with the acrylics is that, if the desired look isn’t attained the first time, simply soak a paper towel with Tamiya Acrylic thinner and wipe it over the area and it will clean it right up. When going through this process, having some reference pictures is quite helpful as that reveals the typical collection areas along the aircraft where you can focus heavier and/or lighter as needed.

STEP 2: PANEL LINE SHADING

With all of the oil stains and streaks applied, using some very thinned down Enamel “Flat Black,” a quick airbrush shading was applied over all of the panel lines on the model. A light shading is applied and once dry burnished down with a fine Scotch-Brite pad. Burnishing the model down is critical to help even out and blend the layers together because otherwise the black shading will likely come across too harsh. The end result provides the illusion of accumulated grime along the panels and adds some color variation as well.

While spraying the black, the wing glove interfacing areas along the wing were shaded. The wings were inserted onto the fuselage and with the top wing glove hatch in place, the wings were swept and taped off along the wing glove interface. From there, the area was lightly shaded to create the grease area that collected from the wing sweep. Once shaded, the tape was removed and the wing glove was pressed down onto the wing and the wing was rotated in and out to create streaks that occur from the seals rubbing along the wings while they sweep.

STEP 3: PANEL FADING

In researching Tomcat pictures, it’s apparent that there was quite a bit of surface fading that occurred along the Tomcat as a whole. The salt air environment is quite harsh and panels were also regularly touched up as well. The result is color variation along panels as well as mottling (uneven fading) along the aircraft as a whole. To simulate this, the Dark Ghost Gray base color was lightened with white and thinned way down and the centers of the panels were airbrushed with that in a couple different ways. First off, the centers of most of the panels were lightly faded using the airbrush. Not all panels had this applied just to provide a little more color variation.

STEP 4: BLENDING IT ALL TOGETHER

Once happy with it all, a final flat clear coat was sprayed over the entire airframe using Rustoleum 2x matte clear and she was done! Stepping back and looking at the finished Tomcat, I’m super stoked with the result. All of the work put in really pays off in the finish and the combination of the washes and the shading really portray a realistic finish. You’d never know the airplane was foam to look at it.



FINAL THOUGHTS

At last, this F-14 Tomcat project is completed, now all that’s left is to get her flown in her final colors. The weathering process really is what brings a scale project to life and is a process that I thoroughly enjoy. This Tomcat project took a bit longer than anticipated, but life happens as they say. No matter how long a project though, they’re always completed with a sigh of relief and satisfaction. Now that the airplane is done, to finish up this series, we’ll give a flight and talk through the final setup and tweaks that were made in the programing since my review of a few years ago. So, until then, I’ll see you at the field!