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Weathering plastic or wood to make it look like aged metal is an effect you can achieve in less steps than most people expect. The *most* basic weathering can be done with only two paints. Here, Ill show you how to weather and age using only
three paints. This technique is how I weathered, in less than 10 minutes, a 3Dprinted robot we made here at the MAKE offices.
PARTS
Spray paint for the basecoat; I choose Krylon's Fusion brand. Hobby paint, metallic I like Citadel's metallic paints; the color "Chainmail" is my favorite. Acrylic paint, black
TOOLS
Drybrushes like the ones from MicroMark. Alternately, you can take an old brush that has a lot of bristles and cut the end off so it's flat. Script brush or thin brush suitable for details
Print Project
STEPS
PROJECT STEPS
1. Pick a basecoat. 2. Pick a metallic paint for worn edges. 3. Start drybrushing over the piece. 4. Add bigger scrapes and chipped areas. 5. Add dirt and grunge easily. 6. That's it!
The white piece shown here is actually from the back of the robot. It was 3D-printed here at the MAKE office. I painted the robot bright red, to mimic our Maker Faire robot mascot. I choose Krylon's Fusion brand, with the right red I was looking for. It dries pretty quickly and adheres to plastic really well. I skipped the priming process, but you can put this paint over primer easily enough.
I like Citadel's metallic paints but any hobby metallic paint will do. Citadel's "Chainmail" is my favorite, and it's quite brilliant.
You need the right type of brush to get the right drybrushing results. Take an old brush that has a lot of bristles and cut the end off so it's flat. Or buy a specific brush that's already made for drybrushing, like MicroMark's Dry Brushes (shown here). Dab the brush into the paint, and then take the brush and remove most of the paint onto a paper towel. Drybrushing means exactly that: the brush should not be wet with paint, it
needs to have barely any paint on it. Practice on something other than your model to get the hang of it. Drybrushing correctly will leave just a little paint on the raised edges of your piece. Remember to keep a light hand and go slowly. For machined edges, I focus on adding a bit more paint around the main edges of a model. Imagine that those edges are what other objects come into contact with the most, and therefore, need to look more worn.
Using a very thin script brush with few bristles, I use the same Chainmail paint and add bigger spots where the metal has "flecked" off even more. Don't go overboard with this, using this technique everywhere will lose the effect.
Let's start adding some dirt and grime to make this look dirty. We'll start by making a wash. A wash is pretty simple, watered-down acrylic black paint. If you brush over newspaper and can still read the print, it's probably watered down enough. Another pro tip: don't buy wash mediums at the art store. Instead, just windshield washer fluid to thin acrylic paints. It dries quickly and will last you years. I generously apply the paint in all the nooks and crannies that dirt would normally gather in. If the paint is watery enough, it should run into all the valleys of your model quickly. Depending on how much of this effect you want, you can dab up the paint immediately, leaving only a little black grime, or paint generously over the model and leave the paint on to dry for a more dramatic effect.
It's pretty easy to get basic weathering effects, as you can see. There are more degrees of weathering you can expand upon: pigments, rusting agents, and other cool techniques are out there to find and invent!
BY JASON BABLER I'm the Creative Director MAKE magazine, and I love to sculpt!
Nice technique. Apparently Citadel has changed their paint lineup. Correct me if I am wrong, Chainmail is now in the Layer category and renamed Ironbreaker.
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