HOW TO: Panel Line and Weather with Oil Paint Gunk Washes 

+koolaid5684 Cool! You are a new convert! Now you just need to develop the patience to sit on your hands for five days whilst it dries ^_^

+Modelmaking Guru haha...thats the hard part, especially since i have more weathering techniques in store for my Zaku. thanks

+kairus1 Nice and simple, that's the way I like things :)

helgan35 Anemenemenemenemenemone

do doooo di doo-doo...

helgan35 Oh man you have put that earworm in my GRATE BRANE now. I hate you.

+Modelmaking Guru mwuhahahahahahaaaaaaaa!!!

Tony Blackwell Good luck, and have fun, and send pictures!

Hey,awesome, congrats! make sure to join and show off your stuff in the Modelmaker's Boomhut too, you'll be more than welcome and there's a great bunch of folks in there: facebook.com/groups/modelboomhut/

RobinHoodUKIP That's the only down side to slow drying oils - the slow drying part :) It's usually about 5 days or basically as soon as you can touch it without paint coming off on your fingers. Drying time is faster for things like dry brush coats and actual washes, it's only because so much paint is going in during a gunk wash that it takes so long. But then , so much of modelmaking is patience. That. or having another model to work on whilst something else dries :)

+Danny Stclair Glad I could help!

There are other methods, but this is super fun to do :)

@@gurufoxxstarship filth just arrived!! Shenlong is almost ready for it. 😊

+kairus1 I guess you haven't heard about Bandai kits in the EU/US market? Short answer, sadly no I won't be, unless I can find someone who doesn't want to charge me twice as much :( Here's the reason: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BXGAVpnCF38.html

Cool, glad it was helpful! If you have weathering to go on after a gunk wash, you want to seal the model with an acrylic varnish first to protect it. Make sure the gunk wash has had AT LEAST five days to cure, apply a varnish and you should be fine with most weathering techniques and products then :)

I just use Humbrol 49 Acrylic matt varnish (in a rattle can), so I can at least vouch for acrylic top coats. As long as the gunk was oil paint has had at least a week or more to dry, it should be fine ^_^

TheCrumb74 Sure! In this case I simply airbrushed it on, neat, straight from the bottle. One mist coat, then a blast of air from the brush to dry it, and then one proper coat (the mist coat makes it adhere better). However, the Pledge is good at self-levelling so you can even brush it on as a thin coat, and it will still work fine and be nice and smooth.

Mark Dunmore Have fun!

To do a gunk wash you need a paint that has a long cure time, so either oil paints or enamel paints - other paint types dry too fast and will just become permanent far too fast.

superjedidude24 The oil paint should dry to a matte finish, or at worst ever so slightly satin (more often than not, matte). Although some say you should not, I have had no problems at all varnishing over oils with either Humbrol Matt 49 rattle can varnish (it's acrylic) or Pledge Multi Surface Wax. Just make sure the oils are utterly utterly dry (you should be good to go after around 5 days,. but leave it longer for extra safety if you are not sure. As long as you can rub it and nothing comes off on your finger, you are good to go. If you have any super thick areas, leave it a little longer until they no longer transfer to your finger. The waiting is a pain but the end results more than outweigh the inconvenience. Besides, that's why you have two models on the go at once :)

+Modelmaking Guru thanks for the reply, I will definitely give it a try! keep up the great work :)

No worries, have fun!

The Accent liner is just a thinned enamel colour for pin-washing, same as the Ammo Panel Line Washes and other similar products. Ideally they are used for a different purpose - the pin wash - where you are just putting the colour into the panel line only or around the edge of a raised detail - which is absolutely fine, and I showed that in the Mega Size RX-78-2 build. A gunk wash is more for doing both a panel line effect and tinting the surface around the panel lines as well, to give a bit of shading and a feel of general grime and dirt. You can, however, thin the oil paint and apply it just exactly the same as a pin wash, i.e. making your own panel line wash. The only thing I would say is if you are building gunpla, be very careful with thinned enamel and oil pin washes (or ANY thinned paint) as if they creep into joints and unprimed areas, they can weakened the Bandai plastic (especially ABS parts) and may cause joints and parts under stress to crack or break.

Modelmaking Guru Modelmaking Guru awesome, thank you man. Your videos are dope and help me out a shit ton !

+Bimo D Prakoso Thanks! After the oil paint has FULLY dried (at least five days) then ideally yes, you should add a final matt coat to protect the oil paint layer and everything else underneath it. The gunk wash may leave a slight satin sheen anyway, which the matt varnish would get rid of. It's not absolutely necessary, for example if your model will never be handled again and will live in a display case and you are happy with the finish it has it would probably be fine without, but if you want to matt it all down then yes - it never harms to add an extra layer of protection.

+Modelmaking Guru thank you very much for the tips! will try it really soon.

No worres, my pleasure, let us know how you get on :)

+Rivyn Daniel You certainly can, they are just regular oil paints, but a little smoother and less oily than artist's oils. Apparently I am told that Mig's website has the Starship Filth back in stock again (at least, for the moment). However, if you want a quick and easy solution, you can mix together some artist's oil paint colours - Payne's Grey and colours like Burnt Sienna/Burnt Umber - to make a colour kinda similar. The only thing to do differently with artist's oil paints is to sit your blob of paint on a piece of porous card or cartidge paper for 5-10 mins before using it - the card will suck out some of the oils from the paint, making them a little dryer and quicker-drying.

Tron Sure, I tend to use Humbrol 49 Matt (it's a rattlecan). It's pretty much the only decent product Humbrol make - don't even bother with their gloss.

^_^

I may have missed it, but what oil paint do you suggest using for this?

I used Mig 502 Abteilung Starship Filth, but you can gunk was with any oil paint colours you like :)

Call me a copy cat, but I like to use what I know works before I get daring and start experimenting hahahaa!! Thanks! I'll be ordering a bottle soon enough!

Copy away, these are tutorials so it's not a problem :)

+Greg Hegeman Sure, I will add it to the to-do list, thanks for the suggestion ^_^

THE FILTH works with any colour paint (apart from black, because you won't see it) - it's supposed to represent grime and dank dirt so doesn't matter what colour is underneath it, it always look top notch :)

Nope, that's pretty much spot on! Although you can save yourself some work by doing gloss>decals and chipping>gloss :)

Thanks. I've gotten so much out of these videos. It's time to donate. Thanks!

Wow, thank you :)

+Tron Well, I have found over the years that really it's best to clean the brush out as soon as you have finished. With paints, you don't have to do a full strip-down or anything, just clean it out as if you were changing paint colour. The strip-down and clean when using paints is really an end of day thing. HOWEVER...Pledge MSW/Future/Klear is a completely different animal. The one downside to airbrushing it is that is very quickly gunks up your airbrush, even whilst you are painting. SO, basically, as soon as you have finished, even if you are going back to do another coat later, you have to do a full strip-down and clean. It's a pain. It being a varnish, it gums up the brush and basically varnishes the inside where it remains. If you leave it for a little while in the brush, you are basically varnishing your airbrush. It can also get a bit lumpy in there, and sometimes I find if I am spraying for a long period - say 45 mins to an hour or more - it actually starts blocking up the brush as I am painting. My basic advice would be: 1)Always have the lid on the cup 2)Don't rush the job, but don't hang about, just get on with it 3)If you session will be more than, say half an hour/45 mins and you start to get splattery spray or the airbrush starts to struggle and go all wheezy, you'll need to stop half way through and strip down/clean the brush 4) every 10 mins or so VERY carefully remove the crown cap and gently rub any excess build-up of the needle tip (just between finger and thumb). This will help keep the airflow clear. Just take care not to stab yourself or damage the needle tip (it is very delicate at the pointy end). Always remember to replace the crown cap after doing this. Helgan35 shows this technique in his Speeder Bike build videos. 5) Your first coat should be a very light mist coat, just to give the next proper coat a good grip. You can dry this quickly with just air from the airbrush for a minute or two before adding the next proper coat. 6)) When you have finished a coat (not the first mist coat), leave if for an hour or so to cure enough that you can spray another coat on top, if you are spraying more. If you are not, leave it 24 hours or more if you wish before you handle or paint over it. 7) Unlike paint, if you are leaving the part to cure for an hour, do a full strip-down and clean of the airbrush. You don't want to leave any varnish in the brush at all otherwise as above it will coat the brush insides and get real messy. 8) When you have finished all the gloss coat, again, do a full strip down. It sounds complex but it isn't really, don't be put off by it. Basically, golden rule, if you are not sure, strip the brush down anyway.

D'oh! Schoolboy error! You would probably be fine just applying the decals over the gunk wash, but for the best results and least chance of silvering If you give the oils enough time to fully cure - say 5-7 days to be safe - you should be able to go over with a gloss varnish and then get your decals on there. Once on, give it another gloss and then remember to do a mini gunk wash over the decalled areas, just so they can be tinted and discoloured so that they look like they are under the dirt and grime layer ;)

Ok..Guru..thanks,I will do just as You suggest.

No worries, have fun!

Yay! And thank you , I appreciate that, you are more than welcome :)

+Acadow s Yeah, getting hold of Starship Filth seems to be quite hard at the moment, and this seems to have started all around the time I started shouting about Starship Filth. But clearly there is no connection, on no! ^_^ Pretty much the only place you can grab it unless you are lucky is from MIG themselves, here: migproductionswebshop.com/index.php?cPath=25_97 I'd probably recommend getting a few tubes to make the shipping worth it, or picking up some Engine Grease and German Grey Highlight at the same time - two or three tubes will last you YEARS! I'm not aware of any other modelmaking-specific brands to be honest, so the only other alternative would be traditional artists' oils. They can range from cheap (usually terrible) to mid-price and then sill expensive, but anything that you can get in an art shop should be fine. The only difference is that artists' oils are usually a little grainier than MIG's super-fine paints, and are also more oily than MIG's paints (so you might want to use a piece of porous card as a palette for artists' oils to let the oils leech out for a few minutes, they will dry faster). As for similar colours, I can't really say. I haven't tried mixing something similar but Starship Filth is a dark grey with a browny tinge and a teeny hint of blue, so maybe adding some ochre/umber/sienna tones to a Payne's Grey (a standard artists' colour which is a blue grey) might work? Basically, go and look at a filthy engine block - you'll see light browny discolouration (which is like MIG's Engine Grease) and also in tighter areas real dark, thick gunky staining - that's Starship Filth :)

hi, just want to share. I tried gunk wash by using Payne's Grey mixed with Burnt Sienna with 3:1 ratio. Looks great.

Cool! Payne's Grey is a wonderful "universal colour" so I thought that might be a good place to start. Now you don't need to spend a fortune on Starship Filth! If you get time, please feel welcome to post up pics on my Facebook page, I'm sure others would like to know how to get he same result without Starship Filth :)

+Where's Your Cave? Yep, Pledge can be brushed as well as airbrushed. If you are not painting and are glossing over bare plastic and not paint then brushing is actually better, Pledge onto bare plastic via airbrush can give an orangepeely finish because of the already-smooth surface.

+Marco Rodan There's northing to stop you, but the problem is that the gunk wash will collect around edges and joins in the stickers and make them look like they have boxes around them. I think for this one you may just have to stick (no pun intended) to to other methods for panel lining and try gunk washing on the next one ^_^

+kairus1 Yeah, good luck with that...since I started shouting about it it seems to be sold out everywhere ^_^ The only place you can guarantee to get it is from MIG themselves: migproductionswebshop.com/index.php?cPath=25_97

+Oli Ball Thanks! I've just answered the same question for Acadow S below, but I know RU-vid comments can get out of order, so I'll pop it in here for you too :) Yeah, getting hold of Starship Filth seems to be quite hard at the moment, and this seems to have started all around the time I started shouting about Starship Filth. But clearly there is no connection, on no! ^_^ I usually got mine from www.emodels.co.uk but they are sold out - so the last batch I had to go to MIG direct - pretty much the only place you can grab it unless you are lucky at the moment: migproductionswebshop.com/index.php?cPath=25_97 I'd probably recommend getting a few tubes to make the shipping worth it, or picking up some Engine Grease and German Grey Highlight at the same time - two or three tubes will last you YEARS! I'm not aware of any other modelmaking-specific brands to be honest, so the only other alternative would be traditional artists' oils. They can range from cheap (usually terrible) to mid-price and then sill expensive, but anything that you can get in an art shop should be fine. The only difference is that artists' oils are usually a little grainier than MIG's super-fine paints, and are also more oily than MIG's paints (so you might want to use a piece of porous card as a palette for artists' oils to let the oils leech out for a few minutes, they will dry faster). As for similar colours, I can't really say. I haven't tried mixing something similar but Starship Filth is a dark grey with a browny tinge and a teeny hint of blue, so maybe adding some ochre/umber/sienna tones to a Payne's Grey (a standard artists' colour which is a blue grey) might work? Basically, go and look at a filthy engine block - you'll see light browny discolouration (which is like MIG's Engine Grease) and also in tighter areas real dark, thick gunky staining - that's Starship Filth :)

+Modelmaking Guru Thanks for answering again! I didn't realise -_- yeah I check emodels as I use them all the time, they seem to everyone accept starship filth haha So if I was to get some straight from mig productions are those the colours you would recommend? Also how long did it take to deliver of you don't mind me asking ?

For weathering, I find Starship Filth, Engine Grease and German Grey Highlight indispensable. Also if you need to do rust effects, Light Rust and Dark Rust are also a must-have! Any other colours I need I currently have artists oils for (primary colours etc). IIRC they got them to me within a few days :)

I don't advise dipping anything that has been painted with acrylics as the Pledge can re-activate the acrylic paint and make it run. It is best airbrushed and dipping left only for clear parts for unpainted parts (although be aware that dipping leaves a thicker coat of varnish and this can be problematic during assembly later ). After a gunk wash, if there is more weathering to do then I will lock it in with a varnish just to protect the oil paint. Make sure you have given it AT LEAST five days to cure though if not more. Sealing with a gloss or matte coat depends what weathering you plan on doing afterward. A gloss coat makes a smoother surface, ideal when you need your paint to flow easily i.e. when doing washes or pin washes. A matte coat makes the surface rougher and so paints will not flow as easily, which is good for pretty much any other kind of weathering such as filters, streaks, dot filters, pigments etc. And you do not necessarily need to apply varnishes between weathering stages - keep in mind the varnish is only really needed to either a) give a smooth surface for decals or washes 2) protect the paints and decals underneath from damage or iii) make shiny things matte (or matte things shiny) and protect the model once finished. If you think the next weathering step will be harmful to the previous step, a varnish coat between will help. For example, if you do an oil paint dot filter and then want to follow that up with an oil paint streaking layer on top - both steps use the same oil paint thinners and oil thinners can reactivate previous oil paint layers. Now, 99% of the time, if you leave 24 hours between the two steps, they should not affect each other at all because the first layer was very thin and will be fully cured. BUT...if you want to be absolutely sure that the oil paint thinners in the streaking step don't re-activate the oil paint dot filter layer, an acrylic varnish layer between would keep them separate because oil paint thinners have no effect at all on acrylic paints and varnishes. But note that in this example this is totally optional as 99% of the time the original filter layers will be cured enough not to be affected. Also note that if you are doing multiple dry brush layers, you don't need to varnish between them - you can just leave each layer 24 hours to cure as dry brushing does not require any thinners. Or, of course, you can leave no curing time at all and allow the separate dry brush layers to mix and create new colour variations :D Handy oil paint curing guide: * Gunk washes (neat oil paint) AT LEAST 5 days, if not more * Dry brush layers - no curing time (if you want dry brush layers to be able to mix) OR 24 hours between dry brush layers (if you don't want mixing) OR 24-48 hours if the next step involves oil paint thinners * filters, washes, streaking - 24 hours I hope that helps! I will be doing lots of oil weathering on the Perfect Grade Falcon build over the coming weeks, so stay tuned for that :)

Modelmaking Guru thank you for the help.I wasn’t sure if I was going to get a response seeing that the video was four years old.

@@roblo5391 Oh, you are more than welcome, I reply to EVERYTHING ^_^

In short, nope. X-20A is alcohol based and only works with water-based (like Vallejo, Citadel, AK, Ammo) or alochol-based (like Tamiya, Mr Hobby Aqueous, and some others) acrylic paints. Oil paints need a different thinner - you can use odorless oil paint thinners (that you can get from the art store), mineral spirits, turpentine or white spirits or even lighter fluid. However, of all of those, standard artist's odorless oil thinners are preferred as the others stink to high hell. The thinners you use for oil paints can also be used for enamel paints as they share the same thinners :) Oil thinners have no effect on dried acrylic paints, which is why you can use thinned enamel or oil washes directly over dried acrylic paints with no risk. Also be aware that lacquer paints also have their own thinners, lacquer thinners, which only work with lacquer paints. HOWEVER please be careful when using ANY kind of thinners with gunpla - Bandai uses unbaked polystyrene and ABS in their kits, both of which can be weakened, dissolved or crumbled by any kinds of thinners, so other than a careful pin wash in panel lines, I don;t recommend using any thinned paints on gunpla at all or gleefully washing thinners around on bare plastic (the only exception being water-based clay washes, which are just water, clay and pigment) or washes made by adding a thinning medium (such as Citadel's Lahmian Medium, which is just water-based paint without any colour) to a water-based paint.

Modelmaking Guru thank you for the great information! I plan to make/paint my very first model: a Bandai Star Wars. You said be careful when using any kind of thinners. Don't you need to use thinner when using the paint in an airbrush? I thought that was pretty much necessary. I was planning to use Tamiya acrylic paint, thinned with X-20A - two parts paint, one part thinner.

If you have thinned a paint down for airbrushing or even brushing, that's fine, because that is just paint with a little bit of thinner in it so you won't cause any damage or have any problems. What you want to avoid is using either a thinned paint wash (which is basically 90% thinner and 10% paint) or any product or technique that needs you to brush thinner on the model (like streaking with oil paints) because on both those cases, you are effectively brushing thinners all over it, and the risk is that the thinners will seep into joints and places where parts connect, and weaken them significantly. When I need to do washes on gunpla to tint the surface or collect around raised details, I tend to either use water/clay based washes (because you can slather them all over and remove them with a damp cloth or cotton bud) or pre-made enamel filters - AK and Ammo do filters (because you can apply them thinly enough that they do not flow all over the place and run into recesses) or, if I am feeling daring, use a pre-made enamel pane-line wash - again like those from Ammo or AK - because if the model is gloss-coated first you can rub them off without using any thinners at all (but you have to make sure they do not rtun into any joints or cracks, so they are still a bit risky). Or, if I am wanting to creating shading on an inner frame, say in recesses and to give a dirty look, I might use Citadel shades carefully as they are water based (although they cannot be rubbed off). You might want to go to my RU-vid homepage and check out the playlists section - the MG Freedom Gundam includes airbrushing and different methods of weathering, which sounds about the level you are working at :)

Thank you! You gained a fan.

My pleasure! And thanks :)

I never use stickers for precisely that reason ( I only ever use the shiny foil eye and lens stickers). These were waterslides.

+koolaid5684 NOPE! NOPE! NOPE! NOPE! NOPE! NOPE! Never! ^_^ You have to remember that with oils and enamels, even when the paint "feels" dry, it is still gassing off - that means the solvents in the paint are evaporating away leaving pigments behind. A paint may be DRY but that doesn't always mean it has CURED. If you seal it in with a varnish before it has all cured, you will end up with either tiny bubbles and imperfections in your varnish, or "crazy paving" like a dried-up lake bed where either the wet varnish has reacted with the paint underneath because it is still chemically active, or where the solvents have broken up the surface tension of the paint (or the varnish) because they can't escape and you ultimately end up with a model you have to strip and repaint or throw away. Golden rule: ALWAYS allow paints their full curing time (NOT drying time, those are two different things) before applying anything on top of them. As a rule of thumb, if you are applying varnishes, allow at least the following drying times to be safe: Acrylic or water based paints: Acrylics can actually be cured with a hairdryer or heat source to speed up the drying time, so there have been times when I have applied a colour, blown a warm hairdryer over it for a few minutes, and then applied a varnish an hour later. But that depends on the model - a model made of thin, delicate plastic may not do well under a hot hairdryer! So as a rule of thumb acrylics should be left for AT LEAST an hour (if airbrushed) or better yet, 24 hours to be super safe. If the paint has been brushed on, say 24 hours minimum. Oil paint drybrushing: if you have just done some light drybrushing on edges here and there, this should be fine to be varnished after 24 hours, 48 if possible. Oil paint: thick drybrushing or washes: if you have used a thinned oil paint wash, or perhaps painted on a blast mark or scorching by drybrushing, but used a thicker application of paint than a drybrushed edge, for example, then leave for 48 hours if you can. Oil Paint: Gunk Wash or neat unthinned painting: If you have done a gunk wash (covering the piece in unthinned oil paint then rubbing it off) or maybe painted a panel with unthinned paint from the tube (not drybrushing) then leave this for AT LEAST 5 days. It can be a pain in the ass, but that's the trade-off for the beautiful weathering effects oils give you. Make sure to also store the model in the box or covered up, so that the sticky paint doesn't collect dust whilst it dries). Also I would not recommend using a hairdryer to speed up the drying process of oils - that;s not how they work, so if you apply heat to speed up the drying process you'll most likely just end up with crazy paving again. However, I have hairdryer-dried oil paint dry-brush layers when I have been on a time-limit, and not had problems, but if you do that don;t assume it won;t get screwed up. I may have just been lucky. Enamels - If youare using thinnbed enamel washes, streaking fluids and so on, , allow 24 hours at least before applying varnishes or even further coats of enamel weatehring. If you are actually just painting a piece (like, an actual layer of the paint, not a thinned wash or tint or streaking fluid) then allow 24-48 hours. If you are doing a reverse-wash (where, for example, on a Sinanju you take a gold colour piece, paint it black, and then rub off the raised details so you end up with a black piece with gold raised detail) then again allow 24-48 hours before starting to rub away the paint from the raised details. Wow. That was long. I hope that helps!

+Modelmaking Guru Woah, what a wealth of information, you may have just saved my model kit from becoming ruined and i would of been devastated since it my largest kit I've built to date. Thanks again :)

+koolaid5684 Phew CRISIS AVERTED ^_^ When you say "largest" you have me intrigued - you can't leave us hanging! Spill the details and make sure to send lots of pics to the Facebook page for everyone to ogle ^_^

+Modelmaking Guru Its a zoids kit...Dark Horn Harry Special, this being a Gunpla channel i didnt know if it was a faux pas to mention Zoids lol

Well, I'm not really a Gunpla channel, I just seem to be in a Gunpla loop at the minute! Plus, there's nothing wrong with Zoids ^_^ Also technically Dark Horn Harry is kind of a dinosaur and as we all know, dinosaurs>everything.

+Ciradic K265 It should work fine on bare plastic. However, the paint may have trouble adhering well to smooth, bare plastic but will stick better to varnish (either gloss or matt), so if you have the option of a gloss varnish first, go for it.

+Modelmaking Guru All right I got it! Thanks :)

Of course, you could make it stick even better by priming and painting first ;)

Should have no effect at all as you will have gloss coated over the paint before doing the decals, and glossed again to seal the decals in, so it won't come in contact with the paint ^_^

Ah, that's very good to hear than. Very good indeed. Thank you very kindly for answering my question. =)

My pleasure :)

Yup, that's basically it :) 5 days AT LEAST, longer if you want to be extra sure :)

+koolaid5684 You can, but it doesn't really show up on black as the plastic is darker :( If you are painting the model, you could try painting the black parts a dark grey instead and then use Black oil paints as your gunk wash - meaning you had darker areas in the recesses or wherever you need them, with the dark grey paint acting as a sort of highlight. Or, you could try using a lighter colour, possibly, maybe a light grey, so that you had lighter panel lines and recesses - kind of like the silver panel lines you get in some Titanium plated kits on the black parts. It can look a little odd though so I would try that out on a spare piece or old kit first, to see if you like the effect.

Thanks for the help, cheers

My pleasure :)

Kuschelsack I accept all questions! Don't look at yours badly - ifr you have already painted it, you can still go ahead and gunk wash it, just make sure to gloss varnish it first. Your custom paint job will be no different to the paint job I gunk washed over on this kit - effectively you have just gotten to the same stage I did before I put the gunk wash on. If you didn't do any paint chipping, you may not be able to physically chip the paint with a blade like I did here, but you can still paint chipping on with a fine brush and a light frey or metallic shade - just do that before the gunk wash :)

Of course, it can be the first stage of weathering if you want it to be. Just make sure the decals have been applied beforehand and the model has been gloss coated. You can gunk wash unpainted gunpla too if you wish, but it's best to gloss coat those too before doing so as there is the very slim chance the oil paint may damage or weaken the plastic.

Yup, that would be fine, you only need a clear coat before and right after the decals :) Also you don't want to put a lacquer clear coat over acrylic, enamel or oil paints - it will quite possibly eat them alive. Stick to an acrylic clear coat to be safe!

Modelmaking Guru got it Foxx! Thanks a bunch :)

Modelmaking Guru got it Foxx! Thanks a bunch :)

A normal wash with thinned paints will either cover everything, recesses AND flat areas and totally change the colour of your model, or, if it is a pin-wash, only settle in the recesses. Also, as they are usually done with acrylics, so once it is on, cannot be removed. A gunk wash is designed to be easily removable. It will go into recesses and add shade there, but will also, once rubbed off, only impart a very slight tint to the model. More importantly, because you rub it off with a cloth, you will have areas where the cloth cannot reach, and this will give a shadow effect in corners and around raised areas. Essentially, doing a gunk wash can be like doing pre-shading, filters and pin-washes all in one go. sort of. It's just a different method to have at your disposal.

Jeroen Vantroyen He he, that's an old throwback to my dad :)

Starship Filth is back in production, but sometimes can be hard to find because I seem to have made sure THE ENTIRE WORLD wants it :) Smoke is very similar, not 100%, but close, or if you need to you can make a similar colour yourself with artist's oil paints - mix some Payne's Grey into Burnt Sienna or Burnt Umber and you can get similar colours :)

Modelmaking Guru so inbetween when I posted this in now the next day megahobby here in the states was sold out but got a brand new shipment in. I just ended up getting both and used the starship filth in a HGUC I'm working on and it looks great. I watch your tutorials all the time and it helps out tremendously! Thank you!

Ha ha, you are now hooked!

Yes sir!

Excellent! /rubs hands gleefully

Modelmaking Guru Ordered gundam 1/48 scale today.. Thinking bigger maybe be easier to start with regarding detailed work .. And some starship filth.. :) ding ding ding

^_^ Have fun!

+kairus1 LOL no need to apologize, questions are welcome, I have to do something with this huge pile of assorted answers that are sitting around! It depends on the gloss varnish. If you are using Pledge Multi-Surface Wax (aka Klear, Future) then it has excellent self-levelling properties and can be brushed on. Just apply in thin, light, slowly applied coats trying to avoid putting it on so thick that it runs. I find it best to use a soft, flat brush. Ideally you really want to airbrush it if you can, but of that's not possible brushing it is fine. Don't worry if you get tiny air bubbles when brushing, they will vanish. Just go a little slower. Brush coats can be thicker so give it longer to fully dry (around 24 hours) before you do anything on top, and also if you have any moving parts these may stick a little when it has dried, but don't worry, you will just have to move them to break the seal, Just wait till the varnish is fully dry. I can't say about Tamiya gloss as I have never used it, but on the side of caution I would say that Pledge/Future/Klear/whatever they are calling it this week is the only one I would be comfortable brushing. And I would never, EVER use Humbrol Clear, as it is terrible and in my experience gunked up when paints, thinners and MicroSol/MIcroSET were used on top. Bear in mind unless you are making a shiny model, don't worry about how exactly how glossy the finish will be - what's more important is that the surface it leaves is smooth for decals and washes. If it is super shiny, that's fine. If it is a little bit shiny, that's also fine, because ultimately it is still a smoother surface than the matte unvarnished paint :) If you are brushing pledge/future/klear then one or maybe two coats should be all you need. For branded varnishes from manufacturers, follow their recommendations. But, like I say, I can't say brushing them will be any good, as I do not know.

thank you very much.

sorry again , okay so for a kit with decals that i want to weather with star ship filth. after kit is build and decaled , put 1/2 light coats of plege surface cleaner, then i used starship filth and then ? for a matt clear finish? sorry i just want to make sure i get this right. i understand the periods of dry time for each. I'm doing the bandai 1/144 falcon. so your help is very appreciated. thanks

+kairus1 You are absolutely right, paint and decals, then the gloss coat, 1 or 2 light coats if you are brushing, then your gunk wash and any other weathering you fancy. It's also worth adding a gloss coat over the gunk wash once it is dry to the touch if you are planning more weathering on top of it, just to make sure there is no mixing with any of the gunk wash that might not be 100% cured. Once you have finished all the weathering and there is nothing else to do, you can go ahead and apply the matt varnish. I use rattle-can Humbrol 49 Matt but any acrylic matt modelling varnish will do, and they are generally applied by rattle can or airbruish (I don''t recommend brushing matt varnishes, they tend to come out semi gloss, lumpy and full of brush marks when brushed). Also, if you are using Pledge, make sure it is *Pledge Multi Surface Wax* (of Klear of Future, depending where you are in the world). Pledge Surface Cleaner is *NOT* the product you need to use - that's a cleaning product and degreaser and most likely would damage your paint. Pledge Multi-Surface Wax is a clear coat designed for wood flooring, tiles and that sort of thing - effectively an acrylic gloss varnish. Make sure you have the right thing!

+MrShotgunJoe As I showed in the film, it's Mig Productions 502 Abteilung Starship Filth (there's a link in the video somewhere around 3:20 I think). If youcan't get any you can apparently make something similar with Artists oil paints by mixing Payne's Grey and Burnt Sienna. It works well on ANY model ( I did a gunk wash on my VII C U-boat) , but try it out a a scrap model first to make sure you get the hang of the process first :)

+Modelmaking Guru to make it simple, would you reccomend one oil from mig that would give kind of the same effect? Would something like shadow brown work? I can't afford too mann paints, im only 16 ;)

+MrShotgunJoe I haven't tried other colours, although I have done some action bases with a gunk wash of Mig Engine Grease and then a gunk wash of Starship Filth right over the top, so Engine grease with a little black mixed in might work although Engine Grease is a much browner colour. Best to test it out first. But to be honest, it's most likely cheaper to pop down to your local hobby store and pick up a couple of cheap tubes of oil paint than it is to order Mig paints online, when you add in shipping costs (not many brick and mortar stores sell the 502 Abteilung paints, it's mostly online). Ideally you just need a warm, darkish colour, but not as dark as black. Paynes Grey is a dark blue-greym and Burnt Sienna is a warm brownish tone, so mixing the two should give a nice, dark mushroomy colour (think of the colour of a fried mushroom, under the cap, that kind of dark, warm not-quite black colour). And bear in mind too that you really don't use much, so a tube will last you at least a year or more.

+Modelmaking Guru would you reccomend this on the wooden deck too (not real wood). And can you send me some link? Thanks, sorry for Askin you so many questions, i just want it to turn out as good as yours ;)

+MrShotgunJoe I never have a problem being asked questions! That's what I am here for ^_^ The oil gunk wash would be fine on the wooden deck - it works on anything really - BUT I didn't do that, I used normal slurry washes of thinned black, green and brown acrylic paints instead because there were too many small, easily breakable things on the deck that I knew I would ping off whilst rubbing a gunk wash off. Bear in mind that the decks on old U-boats were wood coated in a black anti-fouling and anti-slip compound, so what you can do is paint the deck the wood colours, then dry brush dark greys and blacks over the top to suggest the black compound that has faded and rubbed away. For an absolutely indispensible guide to what U-boats ACTUALLY looked like, follow this link - you will have all the infomration you could possibly need, includingthe kinds of colours the Kriegsmarine used, and how U-boats weathered naturally (for example, where the scum-line would be, or that there was rarely rust under the waterline unless they were in dry-dock for a while). amp.rokket.biz/docs/u-boat_colours_with_photos_5.pdf A link for Mig paints is the Mig website, although you may find an online retailer in your country: migproductionswebshop.com/index.php?cPath=25 Let me know how your U-boat goes, I look forward to seeing it!

+kairus1 Right here: migproductionswebshop.com/index.php?cPath=25_97

thank you

No probs :)

+Hansen Jan If you can't get hold of Mig oil paints, they are available online: migproductionswebshop.com/index.php?cPath=25_97 Failing that, any artist's oil paints will be fine, they just may take a little longer to dry :)

+Modelmaking Guru ohh nice to hear that, thanks for the info m8!

Sure, you can do a gunk wash on anything. Starship Filth or a similar colour (the new version is called Smoke, Starship Filth no longer exists) is a nice colour because it is fairly neutral and is just sort of a dirty shade colour. so works well with anything.

Thanks for responding. I'll give it a go.

^_^

Bibi Fricot Afaid not, time and space limitations mean it is on a big ol' backburner right now :(

+paul wood HI Paul! Nope, you never dilute it, you can just use it neat whether you are brushing or airbrushing it :)

+Nerdboy456 If youmean my actual workbench, t's just a six foot long folding worktable I got from a DIY store (but not a cheap crappy one, it has to be said).

+Modelmaking Guru I mean the green grid thing.

OH right, any hobby shop or art shop shoulod have them, or just look up "cutting mat" on the Amazons and you'll be right as rain ^_^

I would not recommend it for two reasons: first, they'll shed fibres leave billions of little fluffies all over the model, and two ) they will have sharp edges and can risk scuffing up your paint. You want to use something soft, gentle and flumpy that will not shed fibres and will not damage your paint, like an old t-shirt (or a cotton bud/Q-tip for tiny areas). Old t-shirts are perfect for the job.

@@gurufoxx that makes sense! Would the shirt/rag used be washable you think? Or does oil kinda kill that option.

@@ForzaNinetails NAH! I've used the same t-shirt for years. It should be like a proper Chinese wok - never cleaned, always loved :) Just use it till it goes too crispy and then throw it away (that's why you sacrifice an old, soft t-shirt lol)

@@gurufoxx haha alright thank you for taking time out to answer me :)

@@gurufoxx OMG one more Q sorry. If wanted to do this without painting, would it be okay? Topcoat first yeah?

You certainly can, and it would most likely be fine, but I recommend gloss coating the plastic first to protect it from the paint (Bandai plastics are easily damaged by any kind of thinners and solvents, and although HIGHLY unlikely, there is always a very a slim chance the oil paints could weaken the plastic, especially in areas of high stress).

Modelmaking Guru great, thanks..

I would not recommend it. I would stick to Pledge/Future/Klear - that modellers have been using for decades without problems - or proper modelling gloss varnish.

@@gurufoxx will a Krylon UV-resistant gloss varnish do?

@@KKAkuoku Honestly I cannot say as I rarely use gloss varnishes and have only ever used Pledge or Alclad Aqua Gloss, and Krylon is not available over here. However, if you have used acrylic paints on the model, you should ideally only use acrylic varnishes and NOT lacquer or enamel varnishes because enamels and lacquers can potentially damage the acrylic paint finish.

@@gurufoxx The model I have is actually colored ABS plastic - no painting needed - and I’m using linseed oil paint for the gunk wash. Hopefully there won’t be trouble there. I only ask all of this because the specific type of Pledge you talk about isn’t available in the US and I don’t know if the ones we are are safe to use on the model.

@@KKAkuoku Ah, in that case you should not have any problems (although I cannot say if that Krylon is any good or not as I have not used it) ^_^

That's the one thing with Bandai plastics - they are weakened and damaged by ALL kinds of thinners and paints except water-based acrylics because they are not "baked" after they come out of the moulds. It can be a right PITA.

Ahhh, that makes sense. Thanks for replying! I've been learning a huge amount from your vids btw.. thank you for sharing your knowledge with the world!

My pleasure :)

Normally I have the head fully assembled (using the stickers for the eyes) and normally I will just be very careful and gunk only he white part of the face mask and the rest of the head, avoiding the eyes. I usually cover the eyes with liquid mask though once the head is build, if I am painting the head, so I don't airbrush over them by accident ^_^

+Modelmaking Guru nice. thanks. uh, what about the cameras? they seem so tiny, I'm not sure if a brush can reach inside. I didn't put the red stickers in cause I wanted it yellow or green. I have the RX 78-2 HGUC revive.

What, for gunking? I don't gunk them. For painting ,you would need to paint them before assembly of you are not using the stickers. You could use a reverse wash if you want solid metallic colour eyes, or if you want a clear colour then in the past I have painted the back of the clear piece white, then painted the whole front and sides a clear colour such as Tamiya Clear Green (the white behind the camera fronts helps brighten the green), then very carefully painted the black mask around them.

No, I mean the small squares above the antennas and behind the head. Where the cameras would be. How'd you paint them?

Well, the front crest camera at the top can be done the way I seaid with clear paints if it is a clear part, same for the back camera - I would normally just paint those Clear green (or whichever clear colour without white underneath. If they are solid plastic and not clear, then you could paint them white first and then go over with a clear colour. One trick is that when the model is finished, go back over the cameras with a fine brush and a little clear varnish and it will really bring the shine back to them, making them stand out from the not-shiny head ^_^

Stomping Freak Yeah. I prefer to think he just uses some kind of dark magic.

+Modelmaking Guru it's the Manchester blood line, a bit like joe, an Rico dredd, but with a bit more kick. Still, great educational video. Top banana!

+Stomping Freak ooh, can I be Rico please, cos he's all brokied and bionic and I got the brokied knees and bionic knee brace hinges an'that, and Foxx can sit there going "the lurrrr" in that really cool way...but I always imagined dredd to have a Joe pasquale voice, and not all gravelly like everyone thinks...

+helgan35 joe pasquale???? The toughest lawman in mega city one, sounds like joe pasquale...hmm I I'll re, re, reread the judge child, using that voice. That could explain why he's so tough. @Foxx/Tony could you do a video on smears, runs, and leaks? Have fun!

Smears, runs and leaks? OH MY! Daily Wizard of Oz quote done... I'll see what I can rustle up in September when I can get back to my bench me ol'fruit

hey model maker. i was wondering if this technique would work on oil painted models that have already been cured and dryed?

Yep, it certainly would. When I *fully* paint a model, all the basic painting and decals are done before the gunk wash. Usually, gunk washing would be the *first* stage of weathering, followed afterwards by the usual straking, drybrushing etc. If you have a model that is already built and painted, it's not a problem at all. You can either gunk wash over whatever matt varnish is already on the kit, or gloss varnish it first. What's the difference, I hear you ask? Simple. A matt varnish has a rough surface at the microscopic level, gloss a smoother one. Gunking over a matt surface traps more of the paint in the surface on flat areas, so you get a more grubby, discoloured tinting effect to your paint job. If you want to gunk into recesses and panel lines but not tint the main flat areas quite so much, apply a gloss varnish first and the smooth surface will trap less of the paint when you rub it off (it will still add a slight tint, but not as much as a matt varnish would).

+Modelmaking Guru Thank you so much for the support! i already subscribed to your channel. and to all the other gunpla makers if you dont have this channel added. subscribe now!

Any kind of kit markings are supposed to represent markings painted onto a vehicle, so you would always apply them before any kind of weathering. if you use waterslide decals or dry rubs, then you would apply dry rubs to the bare, matte paint, then apply a gloss coat, then apply your waterslides, and then add a final gloss coat to seal them all in. I would say if you are thinking about any kind of weathering or washes, avoid adhesive sticker markings completely. Your washes and weathering will simply collect around the raised edges of stickers and look terrible :( It;s always better to either see if you can find waterslide versions of the kit stickers, either from Bandai or third parties, and if you cannot, then just avoid them altogether.

Modelmaking Guru Thank you so much for the answer, I will keep that in mind. Keep up the good content!

+Voo Zhanli For a gunk wash with oils you need to leave it alone for at least 5 days to fully cure before you go over it was a varnish to protect it. That's the downside :)

+Rivyn Daniel Absolutely! All the paints I use for painting (apart from the oils for wathering) are acrylics. Just make sure to apply a gloss coat overall first to create a barrier between the acrylics and oils and to get a nice smooth finish. You can matt varnish it again once all your weathering is done :)

Nice, cant wait to try this ^__^

Yay! Let me know how you get on!

Oh I'll definitely putting a video or picture gallery of the kit Though I might do a practice run on a cheap kit first to see how I go with it, before I try it on the MG kit I really wanna do a custom build of,.^^;

That's something I always recommend, have fun!

If you can't get any of the Filth, you make make your own by mixing artist's oil paints - mixing some Payne's Grey into Burnt Sienna or Burnt Umber can get you quite close :)

Modelmaking Guru aight thank man

Modelmaking Guru I normally only using citadel color from game workshops

I ADORE Citadel paints. They are the only paints I like to brush with :)

If you can't find Starship Filth, you can make a very close colour with standard artist's oil paints by mixing some Burnt Umber or Burnt Sienna with Payne's Grey.

+Shannon Parker It's the Master Grade EW Wing Gundam XXXG-01W ^_^

Thanks ^_^

Yup, I always pimp for the lazy methods ^_^

If the intent is to do a panel line pin wash, yes. Except that’s not the point of a gunk wash, which is to add a tint and post-shading at the same time. It’s a method that has been used for decades in film and television miniature building ;)

I have no clue what methods that modeller used, but yes, gunk washing would be one of the methods you could use to replicate that :)

Thank you for the feedback bro , will try the methods to my gunpla kit :-)

+MrShotgunJoe Nope, a gunk wash is not really a wash, really. It needs the oil paint unthinned and straight from the tube. If you thin the paint, then that just becomes a regular wash (often called a slurry wash, which is not rubbed off) or a thin wash that is applied only to panel lines (usually called a pin wash).

+Modelmaking Guru should i spray varnish on Top of the "wash"??

I always varnish over a gunk wash layer, even if I plan on doing more weathering, just to protect that paint from whatever goes on top. You can do either gloss or matte, but gloss is usually better because it gives a smooth surface for inp washes and other effects. However, you MUST allow the oil paint gunk wash to dry and cure fully before painting or varnishing over it. Oil paints take longer to dry and if you put something on them whilst they are not fully cured you are in for a world of hurt. For a gunk wash leave the paint to dry for AT LEAST five days, if not a little longer. If you have dry-brushed with oil paints, these can usually be varnished over after 48 hours or so. Thinned oil paint washes (such as pin washes) can be varnished or over-painted after around 24 hours. Although it's not recommended, you can speed up oil paint drying with a hairdryer for a few minutes if you are careful, and ONLY if you have dry-brushed or pin-washed. Never hairdryer a gunk wash as this will make the paint dry like a cracked lake bed. HOWEVER as a rule of thumb if you intend to apply a different kind of paint over oil paints (i.e. acrylics, enamels) then ALWAYS but a layer of varnish between them to avoid any nasty reactions.

Honestly, I have no idea. I have only gunk washed with oils and enamels, to be honest.

Stomping Freak Damn, and I thought I was being all original and creative an' that. I have no knowledge of Games Workshop stuff but it's interesting to know :) Technically, of course, what they describe is just a wash like any other wash technique (I don't know where gunk comes into it), whereas this technique is less wash and more gunk. With rubbing, as well. I know there are other names for it but I haven't been able to find out what.

Which coat yo use depends on what particular finish you need. A gloss coat is smooth and so when you rub the gunk wash paint off, it will of course remain in the recesses but also be more easily removed from the flat areas - minimising how much the paint job is tinted and giving a cleaner look (it's like doing post-shading and a pin wash at the same time). On the other hand, matt coats are rough and have tiny microscopic pits and recesses in them. This uneven surface holds onto the gunk wash paint better so that when you rub the paint off, as well as paint remaining in the recesses a tiny amount remains on flat areas and the model will retain more of an overall tint from the oil paint - giving a dirtier look overall (working over a matt surface is like doing post-shading, a pin-wash and a filter at the same time) . It really depends how grubby you want the model to look :)

Modelmaking Guru Ah, yeah, I figured it was merely by preference due to results. I’ve already gone and glossed everything either way and your method seemed fine, so I’ll stick to the way you use. Thanks! I’ll definitely post an album here to show you the finished results of the project. It’s nearing completion once I redo gloss on some pieces I had to do secondary paint on. Then it’s only finishing chipping and this technique. :)

Sounds good! You should post pics up in the Boomhut for all to see: facebook.com/groups/modelboomhut/

+rick stevenson LOL D'oh! Yeah, artists acrylics are not that much use, they are not designed with model painting in mind. Some folks do use water colours for weathering though :)

Looks awesome, great work :)

Woah thanks! :D Wasn't expecting a reply. Added some dry brushing too. This too I learnt on your channel :) - instagram.com/p/BSeUXtCAhYo/

Sweet! Looks great :) I always reply to comment s^_^

+mailperson mmmm muffins. Although what you REALLY want is some crumpets.

Do we have crumpets in the USA?

I don't know, to be honest. If you don't then I'm pretty sure that's illegal or against the Geneva Convention or something and you should start hounding your Congressman or Governor or someone. Maybe it's a conspiracy by BIG CAKES & SNACKS. Although, we don't have biscuits & gravy, so maybe it all balances out. Damn, now I want biscuits and gravy.