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Painting Models with Qtips
As I have written in my earlier build
reviews, I have always somewhat dreaded painting the model aircraft that
I have built, more than building them. The main reason for this was I
could never the knack of airbrushing . I could never get the paint to
thinner ratio right, or the PSI from the compressor was not correct, or
if either of the above mentioned problems where fine, then the paint job
was not that good, and I would have to do it again, leading to paint
build up so thick that a real aircraft would never get off the ground
had I been doing the painting. In the summer of 2002, I decided to try a
method that was inspired by the Hot wheels brand of cars. The method
that I am now employ to paint aircraft is to use Qtip's.
I also collect Hotwheels 1:64 scale die cast cars, and Mattel usually
puts any graphics on the cars by a method call Tampo, which means that
the image is painted on the car by a succession of hits by a sponge or
some other similar device. I decide to try this same technique by using
the Qtip, but I modified it a little bit. The paint I use almost
exclusively is the Pollyscale line.
To paint using this method, you have to make sure that the Qtip that you
use is not to fluffy. Just pour some paint, unthinned, into a small dish
or cap, and dip in the Qtip. Gently tap the Qtip onto a blank sheet of
paper to get rid of any excess paint, and then holding the Q tip almost
parallel to the surface of the area that you are going to paint on the
model, roll the Qtip between your fingers, just as if you were using a
paint roller. The paint flow does not want to be too thick. Repeat the
above until you paint the section of the model that you want. This
usually takes about two coats to cover well. Oddly enough, I have found
that with the Polly Scale paints, the lighter shades used less paint
than the darker shades.
Always wait until one coast dries well before putting on another,
preferably 24 hours. I also like to use this method because you can also
do a wonderful tight demarcation line between two different colors, and
it will not be a hard edge like it would be if masking tape where used,
or like brush painting will leave. Doing a soft edge demarcation line is
a little bit trickier than paint the rest of the model, and takes a
little planning.
To paint a soft edge, make sure that you know where you want the
finished line to be on the aircraft, then dip the Qtip in the paint, and
then as described above, twirl and roll the Qtip on a blank sheet of
paper until most of the excess paint is gone, almost like a dry brush.
Hold the Qtip almost 90 degree to the surface that you are painting,
this is a little tricky, because most of the time, (if you making
aircraft), the area that you are putting a soft edge on is a fuselage or
engine mount area, and usually has a rounded or convex surface. Slowly
and carefully tap the paint line that you want just a few Millimeters
back from where you want the end line to be. Since you are in effect dry
rushing this line with a Qtip, you will have to work to the area on the
model that you want the final line to be on, usually overlapping the
whatever the other color might be a few millimeters or so. It takes some
practice, but I have been very successful with soft edge demarcation
lines.
Another great advantage to the Qtip method is clean up. There are no
tips or cups to clean, you just throw the Qtip away. The cost is minimal
as well, where as I bought over a year ago in a Dollar store a huge bag
of Qtip's for a dollar that I am not even 2/3rds of the way through yet
(I also use Qtip's to remove any putty that I have to use for seam
sealing).
But, as with any good advantage, there is often some sort of drawback.
In this case, it is the color of the paint that is used and, in some
respects, the paint jobs final look.
The major negative to this system is that sometimes the paint job looks
brush painted. Comparing two models side by side, one Qtip painted, and
one air brushed (one of my few success in air brushing), you will see a
difference. The good news about this though is that the Future Floor wax
gloss coat that I put on prior to decaling, and the Dullcote out of the
can that I spray on after I decal, hides a lot of the "non airbrush"
look of the paint that is done via the Qtip method. By and large, the
paint job is not bad, and if you do any weathering, you can hide a lot
of mistakes, especially seam work
Is the Qtip method for everyone? No, especially if you want to put your
aircraft in a contest. But, if you want to be able to paint a model
fairly fast, with no brush strokes, and you hate fiddling with the
airbrush, then it might be your cup of tea. If you also have about 150
models waiting in the wings, and you would like to get through a
majority of them before the Grim Reaper shows up, like me, then it is
the way to go, at least for now ;-).
Until next time...
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