From the Resin Car Works Blog. I’m thinking I’m glad I’ve kept a bunch of old Tyco kits lying around so that I can practice this. Anyone else try anything like this? http://blog.resincarworks.com/salt-weathering/
Chris I have tried it some. It first started showing up 20 years or so ago in the military modeling crowd. It is easy to do. I have tried it on a few projects. In my attempts the upside is simple, the down side is the texture it leaves. Which is heavy for small scale (read HO). Now this could fully be pilot error on my part. I have seen it done on armor models that was convincing but still leaves some texture and that's in 1/35th. Now I would not say don't do it. I think it is worth trying. Maybe you will have better luck than I have. I have also used hairspray and a couple brands of chipping fluid. Hairspray works well enough but is inconsistent by brand and one can to the next. Chipping fluid seems to be more consistent, but more expensive. For what it is worth I prefer the MIG ammo brand over AK interactive. No matter the technique I have found acrylics easier to chip, BUT Vallejo has a hardening agent in it which is designed to prevent chipping. (normally a good thing). So it can be tough to chip. For the actual chipping I use toothpicks soaked in water so they do not scratch the base coat or go through the base coat. Hope the info helps. Steve Here is one of my salt projects from a few years ago.
Steve, that's extremely helpful and illustrative. Really appreciate it. Yeah, the heaviness for HO Scale concerns me a bit. However, we seem to have more varieties of salt than the normal household. I was already eyeing the fine Morton Popcorn Salt that my daughter and her significant other prefer. Your model brings back memories: looks like one that used to sit out behind the house at my great Aunt Mary's in Bollinger County in the 70s. We kids used to spend a lot of time climbing around it and sitting in the rumble seat.
Thanks Chris glad it helped. Funny my wife is a salt coni suer so we are well stocked too. Ha If you (or anyone) are trying to make peeling paint on a car roof I would suggest using rubber cement. With careful toothpick work it leaves a great effect and very controllable. Like the salt method above. Put a metallic base color down first, clear that, once dry add thin spots of rubber cement randomly. Once dry add your exterior color over it. That will dry and with a sharp damp toothpick pull spots of the cement back up off the base color. It’s an old technique but still works and looks good. Steve
It’s worth a try and sounds a little less messy. I remember and old MR article by Lee Vande Visse on using a similar technique for peeling wooden siding. Seems like the type of article I would have kept - will have to look for it.
