Alright, lets get this thing moving. These are the tools/ bits that you're gonna need.
You're also going to want to grab some sandpaper, paint brushes, and a paper towel or two. Keep in mind while you're using the Dremel bits that none of them were designed for use on plastics, and you're going to want to take your time, using the lowest possible speed setting that you can, especially with the wire brush.
First off take your blaster apart, setting any internals aside. Once it's in peaces put the shell back together with out screws. This is so that you can make the transitions from one half to the other as even as possible.
If you want to make dents like these, use the conical shaped grinding bit.
Apply very light pressure, slowly digging your way into the plastic. You don't need to worry about the small burs and flak just yet, but if you get a lot of build up gently rub the bit over the excess plastic to get rid of it. Look at the dents in the flat part of this gun. To get this effect use the tip of your bit and dig into the plastic. To make you dents seam more realistic, and not like you just randomly slammed your Dremel into your gun, try and make any of these dent/chip as multi-faceted as possible. Come at it from a variety of angles, and use controlled walking of the bit.
If you want deeper dents or chips use the flat grinding bit in the picture.
Press it in slowly at an angle to make what you see in the picture. Use these sparingly, they add a great look, but if you have them all over the place, it'll tend to look a bit sloppy.
If you want a big slash grab that little wire brush.
You don't necaseraly need to use the brush, but I find that it's much easier to control than the grinding bits that will walk all over the place and are hard to make a straight line. If you didn't already put them on, you're going to want to grab your safety glasses for this part. Trust me, you'll have flak flying all over the place.
Alright, now your nice new gun should be looking like you tossed it out the window of a car going 70MPH, go ahead and grab an X-Acto knife and start cleaning it up a bit. Once you've got it mostly cleaned up, get the rest with your sandpaper. You may even want to leave a little still on just for looks.
Once you've finished cleaning the excess off, grab a can of vinyl dye and spray that sucker down. Proceed to finish any detailed work/ extra coloring and stand back and marvel and the beauty you're about to reek havoc upon.
Now, on to the fun part, dry-brushing. This is what's really going to make your blaster stand out from the crowd.
I use three different colors to get my weathering effect; Antique Gold (alternatively you could use a copper or rust color), Silver, and Platinum.
Start out with your Antique Gold. This will represent any rusting that happened due to the damage sustained in the heat of battle. Stop when it starts to look kind of like this.
Now I should explain a bit about what dry-brushing actually is. At it's core, dry-brushing is a technique used to paint the raised texture, leaving the underlieing places unpainted. To do this you must use a very light paint load on your brushes. Hence the name Dry-Brushing. Using a small, stiff bristled brush (preferably not your best brush, dry-brushing is hell on brushes) dip it in the paint, and blot nearly all of your paint off on a paper towel. By the time you're done it'll look like this.
Make sure that you get as much of the paint out, you can always add more later on, where-as it's not so easy to remove if you put too much on.
Once your brush is nearly out of paint, rapidly flick it over the edges and any chip/dents you've made. I like to go all in one direction when doing this, it seams to lend a greater realism. Think before choosing your direction, follow the movements of your faux damage. If it a part that has something sliding across it, go in the direction of this movement.
Ok, so now you've got your base of rust, move on to the silver. Again, use a little paint as possible, and follow the contours of your gun, paying attention to any edges and faux damage. You should end up with this.
Continue on to the platinum. While not haveing any more on your brush that the last two colors, put a bit more into this color. The platinum is very bright, and light in color, making an excellent choice for exposed metal. Now you're going to have something a bit like these pictures.
And that's it for the paints!! Keep in mind that I've been painting for some time now (I'm 25, and have been painting models since I was a wee one), and have a lot of practice. But don't worry, most of the time your dye-brushing will look very nice, but as with anything, practice makes perfect.
Right now you're probably thinking to yourself, "Wow this looks pretty cool, but there's just something missing."
Well, you're right! That final piece is the clear coat. This is what is really going to make all your metallic dry-brushing pop out. Use some really shiny stuff, I'd recommend Krylon Triple Thick. Give that sucker like 3-4 coats, waiting at least 20 minutes between them.
Wait till the next day ( I know waiting sucks, but fingerprints all over your work sucks even more), and put it back together. Now congratulate yourself, and marvel at your work!!
Hope this helps you guys with your weathering attempts, and if you've got any questions, or anything to add please post here of PM me. I'll be happy to help
.Salindin
Edited by Salindin_Naz, 11 February 2009 - 11:36 PM.
