AIR: Pre-Shading of model a/c

Hi Simon, Pre-shading is the latest fashion in modelling finishes, and is really best done with airbrushing. The very good idea behind it is to vary the tones of the surface colour - a single colour can look toy-like and flat (in the dimensional rather than reflectivity sense), even well applied.

You can either vary the colour tone after the main colour is on, by adding extra lighter tints and darker tones in areas where these occur on real planes; or apply a very dark colour patches in certain areas, which will affect the reflective intensity of the main colour, when sprayed over them. A light primer colour and a darker pre-shade colour work best.

It needs to be done with subtlety - Phantoms for instance, have certain areas that are stained darker than surrounding panels, but panels round, say, the spine don't particularly stand out from the ones around them. Yet some modellers will accent every single panel with pre-shading, and you just think 'no Phantom ever looked like that'. You will see various interpretations looking round the modelling sites on the web - from well done to garish almost tiger-striped looks. But some people seem to like it that way, though I just think they're not that observant in life :)

On the subject of subtlety, the same apples to drybrushing. There is a fashion for highlighting raised details with white and ending up looking like arctic sugar frost more than anything realistic.

The best thing is to have some good colour images of your project, and try to replicate what you see there, rather than being directly influenced by other people's models. Hope this helps, Chek

Change' boos' to 'bos' in address to email directly

Personally I do not pre-shade, but do post shade. I sometimes weather the upper surfaces to represent chalking due to aircraft being in sunlight for extended periods of time. I do this by adding a medium grey to normal surface color and applying it after decals are on. This also fades decals.

Well said! Most of the kits I see I feel are overdone but the judges seem to like it. De riguer I guess.

The Keeper (of too much crap!)

Hi Guys, Many thanks for the excellent replies, will have to give it a go provided i can pluck enuff courage up to spray a dark colour all over the panel lines before I proceed with the main painting.

Regards Simon.

There are times that I like the preshading effect, but usually only when it results in a subtle effect. The extremes seem to be in the armor arena. A lot of it is way over the top and almost cartoonish. What really turned me off to the heavily weathered armor look was watching the WWII in Color shows on the History Channel. the shows with actual vintage color footage, not the colorized crap. Seeing many of the AFVs in color film revealed vehicles that were not nearly as beat up and weathered as the preshaded and paint chipped models represent.

Dan Hartz

Your best bit is to vary the darkness. Keep it darker where the shadows will be, and lighter where the full light falls. Also the dirtier parts of the airplane should be shaded a bit more fully than the cleaner bits :) Nothing looks worse than a cross-hatching done with micrometric precision and even colour saturation; it's just not right. Vary the width of the lines and keep it blotchy. Real weathering is random after all...