Adding Age To Your Model Car
July 25, 2008
Many model car fans love to add detail to their cars. From adding custom paint jobs to adding or removing parts that they feel that the car may or may not need, the nice thing about models is being able to customize them as much or as little as you would like. One nice touch is to weather your car so that it looks as if it had actually come off the assembly line back in the forties, fifties or whatever model year it is based on.
One way to do this is to add damage. By doing this you can make your model car appear to have been through the mill and back. There are a few different ways to do this. By using a sharp pointed hobby knife or straight pin you can make simulated bullet holes in the car so it appears to have been shot up. You can also damage bits of the bumper, fender, or wheel wells with your hobby knife so that they appear to have been banged about a good deal. If you have added a cloth top to your model car you can then carefully peel just a little bit loose with the point of your hobby knife to add wear and tear to it. Remember, any damage you do to your vehicle such as this cannot just be undone. Make sure that you are ready for these changes to be permanent.
Another step to weathering your car is to simulate chipping of the paint job. To get this affect you should first paint your model car with a metallic silver color so that it appears to be an actual steel body. On top of this you would apply the paint that you are going to color your car. The only difference will be that you should make sure to miss spots so that the silver can show through. This will make it appear that your car’s paint job is chipping and fading with time. The best spots to do this are wherever dings and dents are most common on a car such as the door, bumper, and fender.
If you are wanting to texture your undercarriage and frame to show wear then you should sand it very lightly with a low grit sandpaper after it has been painted. If done properly you can dull the finish this way but if you apply too much pressure you can totally eat through the paint and damage your car. You can avoid this issue if you also apply several coats of paint to the model as well. A quick note, if you are using different colors of paint on a single area make sure that you let one layer dry before you add the next. By adding them too quickly you can end up with quite a mess and have to attempt to redo the work.
With some creativity you can add a good deal of aging to your model car. It will also make it a one of a kind since you were the one who came up with the changes that you made it. Soon you will have a fleet of antique and classic cars that look just like they rolled straight out of Detroit.
Victor Epand is an expert consultant for model cars, model trains, and model trucks. You will find excellent hobbying and trading resources here for model car tricks and tips, model trains, and model trucks.
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