Modelmates weathering spray

[Weaver]

The LHS has just got some of this stuff in:

http://www.modelmates.co.uk/

Basically, it seems to be a spray-on wash. Quite expensive at £7.00-odd a tin, but potentially useful. I've got a tin of Soot Black and will report on results when I get a chance to use it (which may not be soon).

Note that they also do a snow spray.

There are lots of caveats on the website about staining porous surfaces of even dissolving them if puddled too deep, so read carefully.

Have a look at the figure painting video under "wargames": by spraying Oil Brown over silver, he gets some really nice "vintage metallic" effects, possibly of use for steampunk.

[beowulf]

very very interesting..............look forward to you letting us know if its any good

[Weaver]

I was about to use this stuff (soot black) on a model, when I re-read the website and noted all the caveats about this colour, namely that it's the most aggressive, most opaque and most difficult to swab off, and they recommend multiple coats of Slate Grey for a subtle black effect. I tested it on a spare piece and sure enough, it was much too dark, so I've gone out an bought a tin of Slate Grey today.

I'll be using it over the weekend on my AT-TS in the 1Wk.GB, so I'll report back then.

[Weaver]

Well I've just done some tests and I'm less than impressed. The model was sprayed light grey with a coat of matt acylic varnish over it. I applied Slate Grey Modelmates over a small area, left it to dry for the specified 1 min, and then found that I COULDN'T GET ANY OF IT OFF.

Found something else that was grey painted, sprayed it on and wiped it off immediately. This seemed to work, but it still stained the surface much darker than I'd have wanted.

Looking at their video again, I get the impression that the things they're spraying are either raw plastic (like train carriages and ready-made buildings) or have a heavy coat of gloss varnish. On anything else, the dye soaks right in,very aggressively.

Now this doesn't mean the stuff is useless (you can see it working in their videos), but you MUST test it first!

I'm NOT using in on the AT-TS because it's much too aggressive.

[beowulf]

thanks for the headsup............i will leave it on the shelf at the lhs then 

[Weaver]

Here's a sort of before and after:

The underside of the AT-TS's turret was this colour before I started (this is the topside):




This is the underside after one coat of Slate Grey, about 50 secs drying time, and rubbing with a wet kitchen towel as recommended:



Since I wanted a "Star Wars Grey" look, this was too dark and too blueish, so I gave up on it at that point. However, if you wanted dark and blueish, it would be fine: it's not an unattractive result in it's own right.

[Mossie]

Maybe try it over a coat of Klear?  I know with Promodellers washes, they 'etch' into matt surfaces & are more difficult to remove, although you can get some nicely grotty looking effects.