Ian McQue style diorama

[Weaver]

This is great.

Keeping tabs on it because I have some McQueish ideas of my own.

[kerick]

Thanks!
Life stuff in the way lately. I need some uninterrupted time to paint the colors.

[kerick]

It's more than one day later but, here we are. I went with Testors cromate yellow and I think it works just right.
Here's a couple of pics of the salt grain results.





I used kosher salt as the grains are much larger. Most of the small grains won't come off or are just yellow underneath. No problem, it just adds to the rusty look that's next. I'll hand paint some NATO black portions next.

[kerick]

Some Tamiya NATO black for contrast.







Some touch ups and then rust!

[Rick Lowe]

Starting to look the part! 

[NARSES2]

It's more than one day later but, here we are. I went with Testors cromate yellow and I think it works just right.
Here's a couple of pics of the salt grain results.

That could fool anybody into thinking it's real rather than a model. Tremendous work   

[PR19_Kit]

That could fool anybody into thinking it's real rather than a model. Tremendous work   

You mean it ISN'T?   

[su27rules]

  

[kerick]

Thanks mi amigos!

[Weaver]

That rusting looks terrific.

How do you get the salt grains to stick? I've heard of people using hairspray before now.

[Old Wombat]

1) How do you get the salt grains to stick?
2) I've head of people using hairspray before now.

1) Water - cold & not too much.
2) I've used both the salt & hairspray methods simultaneously, as the removal method is (almost) identical - requiring the breaking of the paint surface & the addition of (more) preferrably warm water to dissolve the salt & hairspray. A hard or medium toothbrush, or a toothpick, or similar, can then be used to remove loose paint.

[Note: Acrylic paint is your friend, here, as it allows water to penetrate through - just don't leave it too long after painting to remove the salt & chip over the hairspray. Neither method works well with enamels or lacquers.]

[kerick]

I used a wide, flat brush to apply the water. I applied just one area at a time. Then sprinkled on the salt. The kosher salt worked just right. I was afraid I over did it but some grains came off and had paint under them.
I used Testors enamel yellow chromate. You're right, the brush doesn't do much to it. I used a bamboo spear to pick off the large grains. They were stuck on pretty good. I rubbed the spear over the surface but the tiny grains wouldn't budge. It's ok, it looks like paint bubbling up and getting ready to flake off. When I put on the rust I'll take advantage of that. I did learn to not wait too long as then it's really hard to get the grains off.

[kerick]

I've applied two colors from the Vallejo rust set. I'm following the directions as best I can. Photos when get finished.

[kerick]

I received my Mileships book by Ian McQue the other day. Lots of great artwork and some little short stories to explain some of the situation. Here's a couple of pics of the art.





So you can see where I'm getting my inspiration from. Just trying to model all these different ships would keep a guy busy for a long time.

[Weaver]

Cheers for the tips guys.

Yeah, I got my Mileships book before Christmas. Gets you thinking, doesn't it, which might be why there's boxes and boxes of spares on my modelling bench at the moment.

Something that struck me a while ago was that although many of them "read" as ships, when you look at their hull forms in detail they really aren't boat hulls, and attwmpt to modle them by converting boat/ship kits never seem quite right. You get this a lot with artists: you look at a sci-fi spacecraft and say, "oh that's clearly a mashup of a Hueycobra and a Harrier" but when you offer the bits up, you realise that the ones in the artwork have been subtly changed in ways that are easy with a pencil but majorly difficult in plastic.

My intention is to build some craft inspired by the McQue ships that aren't based on ships. There are quite a few that seem to take inspiration from trains, trams, construction equipment etc... and it also need to be remembered that the Mileships world isn't the only one that he operates in.