———————————————————————————————————

Part 4 : WEATHERING

———————————————————————————————————

4-1
These are the colors and brand I like to use for weathering figures.

———————————————————————————————————

4-2
You can apply your paints separately or mix them together. Before you start painting you need to really dilute the paint with paint thinner. You just want a very watery thin base coat. If your application is too dark, just wipe it off with a cotton swab.

———————————————————————————————————

4-3
Work over the whole piece with diluted brown/black paint. Be sure to get into the crevices until he looks something like this.

———————————————————————————————————

4-4
Next, we start working on our rust technique.
I used brown and a piece of sponge. Different sponges will give you different texture.

———————————————————————————————————

4-5
You’ll want to cut the sponge shape sharp.

———————————————————————————————————

4-6
Get a dab of your paint on the tip of the sponge. Wipe off the excess with a cloth. You won’t need a lot of paint.

———————————————————————————————————

4-7
Very lightly press the sponge to your figure using mainly the edge. The idea is to capture the tiny splotches on the sponge and not a solid mark.

———————————————————————————————————

4-8
Apply your “rust” as you see fit. Check out reference photos to see where rust my creep up on a robot or machine. Rusting near joints and grooves would be common as well as any are that might be consistently splashed from the ground.

———————————————————————————————————

4-9
Here’s bertie with just one layer of weathering complete. Not bad?

———————————————————————————————————

Next up the final piece of the puzzle!

Part 5 :Weathering-2

———————————————————————————————————

PART 3 : “PLACING DECALS!”
———————————————————————————————————

3-1

There’s a couple different ways I like to apply decals.

You can apply your decals directly to your bertie’s surface using printable fake tattoo seals. This works well, but requires a little guess work as to how your decal will actually look on the surface after it’s laid down. To make it a little easier to get the exact placement, you can put the tattoo seal on a clear decal sticker before you apply it.

Left : Tattoo seal pack front.
Center : Tattoo seal pack back.
Right : Clear decal sticker pack.

———————————————————————————————————

3-2

Since techniques can vary depending on the type of printable tattoo sheets and clear decal stickers you have, so read their instructions!
Make sure you print your tattoo decals in reverse – (words should read backwards on sheet) Left to right, right to left so that when you apply them they will read the correct way.

Left : Decals printed backwards on tattoo sheet.

Right: Clear Adhesive sheet

———————————————————————————————————

3-3
If you’re not worried about fine tuning or adjusting your decal after you place it, you can apply the tattoo decal directly to your figure.

Left : Cut the tattoo seal to the right size. In this case, the upper arm.
Right : I peel off the transparent sheet and apply the adhesive part decal down.

———————————————————————————————————

3-4
Left : Wet the base of the tattoo sheet with water.
Right : After a certain time (read tattoo sheet’s instructions) base sheet may be separated.
Your tattoo/decal is applied!

———————————————————————————————————

3-5
If you are unsure and want a little more flexibility in your decal placement you can use the clear sticker sheet to help out
Left : Cut the tattoo seal to size
Right : Put decal down on clear sticker sheet.

———————————————————————————————————

3-6
Left : Wet the tattoo sheets base with water.
Right : Remove the base sheet after a set time (read tattoo sheet’s instructions).

———————————————————————————————————

3-7
Left : Carefully cut the decal. Be careful as the surface is not protected.
Right : Apply your decal like a sticker.

Easy peasy.

———————————————————————————————————

3-8
Here are examples of the complete decals. I used a mix of direct and indirect application.

———————————————————————————————————

3-9
After all the decals are set, I used an airbrush to apply a clear gloss in order to protect the surface.

———————————————————————————————————

3-10
Now our mini bertie is ready for some weathering!

———————————————————————————————————

Continues to Part 4 : “Weathering-1”

———————————————————————————————————

———————————————————————————————————

1-4

At the center of the shaft of the shoulder joint (on both arms and body) drill a small hole.

———————————————————————————————————

1-5
To keep from making a mistake I gradually increase the drill bit size a step at a time to enlarge the hole.

1-6
The holes should line up and reach around 2.5mm at the body and shoulders.

———————————————————————————————————

1-7
Now you need some sort of rod to run through the holes in the body and attach the arms to. I use cuts of plastic model frames which measure out to 2.5mm.

———————————————————————————————————

1-8

While I used a model frame, it might not be a bad idea to measure what you have available to use as a rod before you start drilling the holes to size on your bertie, just in case you need slightly different sized holes to fit whatever rod have laying around.

Here’s the rod cut from the frame.

———————————————————————————————————

1-9

Left : When we measured the shoulder width it came out to 2.12mm.
Right : Cut a measure the rod so that it will fit the shoulder pieces. Adjust it a little at a time until you have the width at 2.12 mm.

———————————————————————————————————

1-10
Using a metal rasp and some fine grit sandpaper, shave off the chest putty and smooth out the plastic seams. (shown by a red line)

———————————————————————————————————

1-11
Insert the shaft into the body.

Check the position to ensure it’s properly centered and then bond the shaft to the body using super glue.

———————————————————————————————————

1-12
I’ve used more model frame scraps to create handles for each parts. This will be a huge help when painting.
For now, we’re finished with part 1!

———————————————————————————————————

Continues in Part 2 : “Paint body and create decals”!