Commander Cody - finished - weathering techniques

[Phrubruh]

I've finally gotten around to painting up my Cody. Right now he has all the coloring but needs weathering, chipping and his rank badge painted. Lets talk about weathering techniques. What is the best way to simulate scratches and chips? I want to have him look like he's been in a dusty environment. What colors should I use? How much of the body should be washed? Is a dry wash better and than a light wash?

[Joe]

what I'm doing is well on cody is just plain black w/scratches like in the movie.Drybrushing.(im pretty sure you know what that is)

[Phrubruh]

I know what dry brushing is but lets tell the studio audience so they know. I want this thread to be kind of a technique sharing thread. I'll apply techinques as they are talked about.

[Joe]

I thought you would but o.k. you get a color ( gray or black works good because this is best for armor damage.) and dip your paint brush in.Then get a paper towel and wipe most of the paint off and "dry brush" away.

Thats how most(if not all) people get damage for armor.

[In Rem]

Well... that's what I call a wash, NoMercyJoe. You wash the figure in a dark paint color (I personally like burnt umber - between brown and black) and wipe away the excess. The paint will stay in the grooves and otherwise stain the surface of the figure. Sometimes you need to do this 3 - 5 times to get the best look, and you might just glob paint into deep crevices and barely wipe it away...

Drybrushing is dipping the end of your brush in paint, then drying it almost completely by running it over a paper towel briskly. You then have a mostly dry brush, but there's still some paint there. You (also briskly) dust the figure with the bristles (and I use a longer-bristled brush for this) and the paint will be deposited only on rough or high areas. Smooth areas will usually stay relatively clean.

One of these techniques gets paint into grooves, nooks and crannies (washing) and the other gets paint onto raised surfaces. I tend to think of washing as dirt and drybrishing as multiple scratch and wear damage.

I would suggest, Phruby, that you wash Cody with a flat color that matches the general tone of the ground on the planet you think Cody was last on... Tatooine would be a reddish brown, a forest planet would be a dark, earthy brown and/or black, and a more alien planer presents a whole other set of issues . Then I would choose a dark, flat gray, pewter, or maybe silver and dry brush the raised areas on the shin, the armor strap on the foot, the thighs near the knee, the shoulderpads (heavily), the chest, and the forearm gauntlets. Dry brushing should be subtle, though. Even heavy drybrushing to show damage has to be somewhat subtle.

For more prominent paint defects (deflected debris), you might - before you wash the figure - scratch a small divot in an armor surface, fill the divot with silver paint, then lightly coat that base with a flat black, allowing some of the silver to show through. After you wash the figure, it should look like a nice, old dent.

Phew... I need to get back to work. I can't wait to see how you finish (abuse) Cody 

[hemble]

Hi M_P

Give him a wash of matt black wait 10 secs then wipe away the excess paint let it dry for about 10 min and once dry give it a dry of flat earth and dark brown and then a slight  drybrush of flat white. leave to dry again for 5 min.

Once dry get some sandpaper and go around the figure and until you get the desired look and then give it a spray of matt finnish. this is how I did my clone.

Ron

[darth_ripley]

well said InRem.

the best technique i have found for chipping/scratching the paint on clones is using an exacto that isn't quite as sharp as it used to be...you all know what i mean, the very tip of the blade broke off, that sort of thing. of course you have to be careful, but small strokes produce little scratches while scraping takes off a bit more, i think everyone gets the idea.

depending on how movie accurate you want to get Phruby, Cody had 2 pretty pronounced gouges/gashes on his chest armor, near his rank badge, you can see them in this photo below.

as far as weathering, i would do a brown/earth wash on his lower legs and a lighter wash as you move up the body. something to make the white not so white, but still more subtle and movie-like. i personally don't care for heavy washes and dry brushes on the clones, they were dirty sure, but not so flithy the armor was black/grey ALL over.  i guess i just don't care for over-weathered clones, it's kind of a pet peeve of mine.

i tend to use a type of dry brushing for the black "scratches and dings" for lack of a better term. i suppose they are more like blast-marks. anyhoo, i like to get the paint where it just starts to get gummy, not dry but not wet totally either. using an older brush, i push down and pull up to give random blast mark damage, some large, some small and some darker and more pronounced. i like the look of it, along with a few light brown marks done in the same manner for a little dirt here & there, but again more subtle. i think everyone saw how my clones turned out in my customs thread.  

i just got my Neyo & Cody kit from Bantha5 and am working on Neyo at the moment. i had to run to micheal's and get a new small detail brush, Neyo's visor is a bit of a pain to get straight  

[Smartypants1635]

depending on the grade of paitn im using sometimes i can just scratch away at it with my nails givin it that chipped look before i seal it.
or u can always use an exacto to chip his color away from the armor
and just do what everyone sugested above thats what i do i just havnt perfected the technique as the have 

[Phrubruh]

I've weathered my Commander Cody as suggested by you guys. I've tried to make more weathering lower on the figure and less up above. I've also worked on making some dents in the armor with some scratches and silver/ black paint.

[hemble]

Hi M_P

DAMN he looks great the weathering and the armour dents are very well done.

Ron

[rishakra]

It's amazing how different it looks pre and post weathering!  Both look great but the weathered one looks fantastic!!!  How do you make the visor?

[Glassman6]

I made these for a friend i trade with.

I prefer lighter weathering.  Not too dirty.

What i used here is some old art supplies i had. Its called Conte' Crayon. Its like a chalk, but not as powdery.
It smears really well when rubbed and its great for a slightly dirty look.









I basically just write on the clone where i want the dirt and use my finger to smear it.
It gives the effect of the dirt  mark and ground in dirt.


I used Black and Red.

[Phrubruh]

Your right Greg. The dirt is very understated on your Cody. I have in the works your Commander Fox helmet right now. I just need the body to go with it.

[blaster_e11]

I made these for a friend i trade with.

I prefer lighter weathering.  Not too dirty.

What i used here is some old art supplies i had. Its called Conte' Crayon. Its like a chalk, but not as powdery.
It smears really well when rubbed and its great for a slightly dirty look.

Conté crayons (Conté pencils) were created by the end of the XVIIIth century for drawers. They are like an oily mix of pastel and fusain and chalk. You can mix the colors but they are  hard to clean.

here is a link for NYU : http://www.nyu.edu/classes/miller/guide/contcr.html

In 1795, Nicolas Jacques Conté, responding to the shortage of graphite caused by the Napoleonic Wars, invented the crayon that is still known by his name. It consisted of a combination of powdered graphite and clay. In addition to using less clay, Conté's crayons could be manufactured in controlled grades of hardness. The sticks sold as conté crayon today are actually a variety of fabricated chalk.

[Glassman6]

Why do you know that Blaster??

I love the stuff for sketching and i had it laying around when i was about to weather a figure and I tried it and liked it...alot!