salt masking question

admiralcag · Post by **admiralcag** » Sat Apr 19, 2014 1:11 pm

Last night, I made my first attempt at salt masking. Didn't go well. The water didn't want to spread out.

So, what should I use to break the surface tension of the water? Flat finish? Dish soap? Any suggestions welcome.

Vern

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Sat Apr 19, 2014 7:59 pm

Salt masking is best in small areas. Along panel lines, etc.

But, when I need to salt a large area I just put some water on a finger and rub it where I need it to go. Sprinkle with salt and bake @ 350° until golden brown.

Mr. Badwrench · Post by **Mr. Badwrench** » Sat Apr 19, 2014 11:36 pm

I just add salt a little bit at a time. A few drops of water, a little salt. A few more drops of water, a little more salt, etc.

admiralcag · Post by **admiralcag** » Sun Apr 20, 2014 11:15 am

I will try both. Thanks, guys!

Vern

dizzyfugu · Post by **dizzyfugu** » Mon Apr 28, 2014 5:28 am

And add a drop of dish washer to the water you use to break surface tension.

TurkeyVolumeGuessingMan · Tue May 06, 2014 11:15 pm

I tried salt weathering only once, several years ago. It was on an Ertyl Snowspeeder and it turned out like this. The water melted the rock salt a bit, forming splotches around the salt. I was going for a paint chipped weathering scheme, but I ruined it. I was working exclusively with Tamiya acrylics, so maybe that was the problem. IIRC, I was using water to thin the paint instead of acrylic thinner or alcohol. I am not sure if the problem was with using water to airbrush the Tamiya acrylic paint, but I wonder if this was the problem. I was rather disheartened and stripped the paint off the model. Fortunately, all I had to do was soak the parts in Windex since it was just Tamiya acrylics.

zemjw · Post by **zemjw** » Wed May 07, 2014 6:15 am

Have you looked at chipping solutions from the likes of AK and MIG?

They're meant to replace the hairspray in the "hairspray technique", but may work instead of salt.

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Wed May 07, 2014 12:24 pm

The less water the better. It takes very little to dissolve the salt crystals. Too much and you'll end up with halo's. You can use a ruling pen, i.e. a bow pen or drafting pen, to apply it or if needing it over an area rub the water into the surface a bit with your finger, which will also remove some of the excess, then apply the salt.

dizzyfugu · Post by **dizzyfugu** » Thu May 08, 2014 7:24 am

I only used salt two or three times, basically on things that are in scale too small for it. But for me it worked fine - even though it would not be a "apply salt, add paint, rub off, be happy" process. It was rather messy, but worked perfect to achive a "NMF under chipped paint" look. I worked with acrylics as paint basis and enamels on top of the salt, and modified the look with wet sanding and washings. But the salt masking was a valuable method, I would not have achieved the result through simple brush painting (which I normally use, no airbrush).

Post by **TER-OR** » Tue May 13, 2014 8:42 pm

I usually make a paste of the salt, a little water and a tiny amount of dish soap. Then apply with a brush. Be careful not to get much salt water on your model, it likely will show up under the paint.

Here's a heavily salt-weathered model:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ter-or/se ... 704701438/

You can see my little cup of salt next to the Nell.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ter-or/22 ... 3704701438

What it looks like after painting and salt removal, note the panel shading.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ter-or/22 ... 704701438/