I have the same problem for many Star Trek models. How should I paint the clear parts ??? I could take the clear parts of the warp nacelles (blue part) for example. Note that I will not put lights on the models.
Should I paint the parts from the back ??? First a clear blue coat, and then a white or silver coat ?? Just a blue coat ???
Or should I put the clear blue coat on the outside and the white or silver on the back of the parts ??
I have the same problem with all the clear parts that should be painted in blue or red.
I need some advice please !!!
The best way to paint clear parts...
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Lt. Z0mBe
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I have an important question as the answer will greatly impact the way the painting is done. Are you wanting the nacelles to look as though they're illuminated or not (i.e. powered down)?
IF they're small (small scale means the scale lighting effect is negligible), or you are wanting them to look powered down, do what I do for navigational lenses and signal lights on aircraft and aerospace fighters. Back the lens with nice shiny foil; I attach it to a notch in the model for the lens, or a revetment in the undercarriage with a bit of CA glue. If it's a bit to large for the opening, don't sweat it as it will get sanded or polished away (or you can just clip it down flush with nail clippers). In your case, you may have to attach the foil to the back of the clear piece using a thin coating of CA glue. As long as the clear piece is clear of fingerprints and debris, the CA will dry nice and clear.
In my case, I will color the back of the clear piece the appropriate color, or just leave it clear if it is a signal/undercarriage light. Remember, you may have to go ahead and do this a step earlier and do this prior to attaching the foil to the back of the clear piece. Then I attach the clear piece to the revetment and foil assembly with CA glue. Again, as long as the thing is clear of debris and fingerprints it will dry nice and clear. If you have to scratchbuild the piece, you may want to leave thck enough such that it sits aboove the opening just a bit to allow for final sanding and polishing.
Then, I allow the thing to sit at least overnight. The exception is any CA blobs that bubbled up. I'll sand or file and polish them as soon as they set, as 24 hours will make them set harder than the plastic and you never get them to feather. Then, I will begin sanding and polishing the piece. I do minor filling with thickened Future (let a mixing palette of Future sit out overnight and turn to syrup) and anything significant I do with CA glue. Let it set and it can be polished like the plastic. Sand/file, polish and Future. The Future levels the plastic and checks the surface for anything I missed. I then color the thing with Future and Winsor & Newton India Ink or Good Old Sharpies. Then, Another coat of Future.
When you polish, make sure you change water and clean the surface between grits.
When you're finished, your lenses should look like these:
wingtips
wing root and wingtip (Canopy was tinted with inks in the same way)
Clear pieces in the nose are probably 50-percent CA glue lol
As for getting panels to appear illuminated without lights, that requires a deft touch. The way to do it is largely the same as above. However, don't worry about backing the piece with silver. You'll need to make certain the clear areas have an absolutely flawless surface; fill, sand and polish them as though you were preparing them for a mirror stainless metallic finish.
Then, you have to preshade to show the subtle transitions form more illuminated areas of the piece (center) to the outer edges. Red areas would be preshaded in yellow or light orange colors (white will make them look pink); Green will need to be preshaded in yellow, light grey or light grey-blue depending upon what type of light source effect you're going for. Preshade blue areas with light grey; white provides too stark of a transition. Then, it's you and your airbrush versus the world. The center areas are the most luminous on a curved surface like a nacelle and the areas that curve away are relatively darker. Think of a neon light: the surface facing you on a red light in a pale yellow orange and the surfaces at relative 90-degrees to you are closer to true red. Do the same thing with your airbrush. Make the center (brightest) area yellow orange and then make a gradient to orange red at the outliying areas. Do the same for the other colors: Near center color in the center gradually shifting to near base color at the edges. Finally, it should be a flat finish. An illuminated area itself is not glossy. Stare at your lights and contrast that with a shiny piece of plastic of the same color. Illumination does not equal glossy and glossy kills the effect like a silver bullet.
There is a link John (onezero) posted to an article a while back demonstrating the effect perfectly. It was basically an ogre or something with the glowing axes...except the axes were, of course, just painted. The title of the thread was "Want to win a Gold at Wonderfest?" or something like that. I cannot find it. If you can find that article, you'll see the technique executed beautifully.
I hope this helps.
Kenny
IF they're small (small scale means the scale lighting effect is negligible), or you are wanting them to look powered down, do what I do for navigational lenses and signal lights on aircraft and aerospace fighters. Back the lens with nice shiny foil; I attach it to a notch in the model for the lens, or a revetment in the undercarriage with a bit of CA glue. If it's a bit to large for the opening, don't sweat it as it will get sanded or polished away (or you can just clip it down flush with nail clippers). In your case, you may have to attach the foil to the back of the clear piece using a thin coating of CA glue. As long as the clear piece is clear of fingerprints and debris, the CA will dry nice and clear.
In my case, I will color the back of the clear piece the appropriate color, or just leave it clear if it is a signal/undercarriage light. Remember, you may have to go ahead and do this a step earlier and do this prior to attaching the foil to the back of the clear piece. Then I attach the clear piece to the revetment and foil assembly with CA glue. Again, as long as the thing is clear of debris and fingerprints it will dry nice and clear. If you have to scratchbuild the piece, you may want to leave thck enough such that it sits aboove the opening just a bit to allow for final sanding and polishing.
Then, I allow the thing to sit at least overnight. The exception is any CA blobs that bubbled up. I'll sand or file and polish them as soon as they set, as 24 hours will make them set harder than the plastic and you never get them to feather. Then, I will begin sanding and polishing the piece. I do minor filling with thickened Future (let a mixing palette of Future sit out overnight and turn to syrup) and anything significant I do with CA glue. Let it set and it can be polished like the plastic. Sand/file, polish and Future. The Future levels the plastic and checks the surface for anything I missed. I then color the thing with Future and Winsor & Newton India Ink or Good Old Sharpies. Then, Another coat of Future.
When you polish, make sure you change water and clean the surface between grits.
When you're finished, your lenses should look like these:
wingtips
wing root and wingtip (Canopy was tinted with inks in the same way)
Clear pieces in the nose are probably 50-percent CA glue lol
As for getting panels to appear illuminated without lights, that requires a deft touch. The way to do it is largely the same as above. However, don't worry about backing the piece with silver. You'll need to make certain the clear areas have an absolutely flawless surface; fill, sand and polish them as though you were preparing them for a mirror stainless metallic finish.
Then, you have to preshade to show the subtle transitions form more illuminated areas of the piece (center) to the outer edges. Red areas would be preshaded in yellow or light orange colors (white will make them look pink); Green will need to be preshaded in yellow, light grey or light grey-blue depending upon what type of light source effect you're going for. Preshade blue areas with light grey; white provides too stark of a transition. Then, it's you and your airbrush versus the world. The center areas are the most luminous on a curved surface like a nacelle and the areas that curve away are relatively darker. Think of a neon light: the surface facing you on a red light in a pale yellow orange and the surfaces at relative 90-degrees to you are closer to true red. Do the same thing with your airbrush. Make the center (brightest) area yellow orange and then make a gradient to orange red at the outliying areas. Do the same for the other colors: Near center color in the center gradually shifting to near base color at the edges. Finally, it should be a flat finish. An illuminated area itself is not glossy. Stare at your lights and contrast that with a shiny piece of plastic of the same color. Illumination does not equal glossy and glossy kills the effect like a silver bullet.
There is a link John (onezero) posted to an article a while back demonstrating the effect perfectly. It was basically an ogre or something with the glowing axes...except the axes were, of course, just painted. The title of the thread was "Want to win a Gold at Wonderfest?" or something like that. I cannot find it. If you can find that article, you'll see the technique executed beautifully.
I hope this helps.
Kenny
I want the nacelles to look as though they're illuminated. I was thinking about painting the back of the clear parts with a coat of transparent blue (or transparent red for the impulse engines) and then a coat of silver. What do you think about it ??
And what about the little green and red lights ?? Since my model won't be illuminated from inside, can I paint these lights with opaque green and red ??? I can't do the same process (transparent paints) as the impulse engines and warp nacelles because these lights are soo tiny !!
And what about the little green and red lights ?? Since my model won't be illuminated from inside, can I paint these lights with opaque green and red ??? I can't do the same process (transparent paints) as the impulse engines and warp nacelles because these lights are soo tiny !!
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Lt. Z0mBe
- Posts: 7311
- Joined: Thu May 29, 2003 1:46 pm
- Location: Balltown Kentucky, by God!
- Contact:
I'd say it's a bad idea. Glossy does not equal illuminated. Take another gander at this:samusaran wrote:I want the nacelles to look as though they're illuminated. I was thinking about painting the back of the clear parts with a coat of transparent blue (or transparent red for the impulse engines) and then a coat of silver. What do you think about it ??
Lt.Z0mBe wrote: As for getting panels to appear illuminated without lights, that requires a deft touch. The way to do it is largely the same as above. However, don't worry about backing the piece with silver. You'll need to make certain the clear areas have an absolutely flawless surface; fill, sand and polish them as though you were preparing them for a mirror stainless metallic finish.
[all of this is on the surface, samusaran. I see the ambiguity in the way it's written now.]
Then, you have to preshade to show the subtle transitions form more illuminated areas of the piece (center) to the outer edges. Red areas would be preshaded in yellow or light orange colors (white will make them look pink); Green will need to be preshaded in yellow, light grey or light grey-blue depending upon what type of light source effect you're going for. Preshade blue areas with light grey; white provides too stark of a transition. Then, it's you and your airbrush versus the world. The center areas are the most luminous on a curved surface like a nacelle and the areas that curve away are relatively darker. Think of a neon light: the surface facing you on a red light in a pale yellow orange and the surfaces at relative 90-degrees to you are closer to true red. Do the same thing with your airbrush. Make the center (brightest) area yellow orange and then make a gradient to orange red at the outliying areas. Do the same for the other colors: Near center color in the center gradually shifting to near base color at the edges. Finally, it should be a flat finish. An illuminated area itself is not glossy. Stare at your lights and contrast that with a shiny piece of plastic of the same color. Illumination does not equal glossy and glossy kills the effect like a silver bullet.
There is a link John (onezero) posted to an article a while back demonstrating the effect perfectly. It was basically an ogre or something with the glowing axes...except the axes were, of course, just painted. The title of the thread was "Want to win a Gold at Wonderfest?" or something like that. I cannot find it. If you can find that article, you'll see the technique executed beautifully.
If they're that small, I would go with a variation on the above method. Since the lighting effect is going to be so small, you won't have much space to accomplish the gradient effect from light to dark in. What I would do, in that case, is paint the things in the base preshade color, maybe toned down a bit (yellow-orange instead of yellow and green-yellow instead of yellow). Then, I would glaze them (off of the model preferably), with the base of the light at its true bottom, not resting on its side or anything. Don't confuse a glaze with a wash. In your glaze, you will need a pigmentless ink (Winsor and Newton Red and Green, one for its respective light) mixed in Future floor polish. Apply light coats of your glaze, wicking away the excess with the torn edge of a paper towel and then allowing the coat to dry. Apply as many light coats are necessary to make it look like it's illuminated; what you will see happen is a subtle gradient develop from bright area to dark area just like that you see when looking at a real colored light. After all it looks right and has fully cured, hit the thing with an acrylic flat coat and you're good to go.samusaran wrote:And what about the little green and red lights ?? Since my model won't be illuminated from inside, can I paint these lights with opaque green and red ??? I can't do the same process (transparent paints) as the impulse engines and warp nacelles because these lights are soo tiny !!
I hope this helps.
Kenny