Dr. Cranky

Yeah, my experience with H.F. tools is that they don't last!

A few more observations: You should not be afraid of covering up all the rust because in this kind of layered process once you ruboff the paint and show the rust throughs, they will be visible throughout the stages of paint . . . so you can use this as a guide to help you see where you want the further chipping. Also, I am hoping you can see the variations of texture on the paint now . . . this is what I mean by layering all the steps in this manner so that at the end, even if you have small, evenly controlled chipping, the technique will expose all your hard work, depending on how much paint you remove, from mild to wild! It's a matter of personal taste.

The beauty of using the airbrush is that you don't really get thick paint build up, and so you can put as many colors as you want, but I think in this case these will do: I hope the variety (and all the previous work that went into this) is visible . . . the longer the paint cures, the more obvious and beautiful (EYEGORE thinks so!) the chipping becomes. But we are not done . . . next step is to add the final colors, in this case I am opting for a two tone combination . . . stay tuned in for the final results of this process . . . Imagine this is all paint so far, and the chipping technique, no other weathering techniques or products have been applied . . . YET!

Okay, so I applied the "Heavy Chipping" to the model, dried it, and then applied the following colors: The process is the same, but the thicker chipping fluid needs to be ABd at about 35-40 (or possibly higher) PSI, one coat should be enough. Allow to dry, then back to the scrubbing . . . this is a great technique to do while listening to music.

Thanks, David . . . The one thing to remember is not to get concerned if the paint doesn't come off right away. It takes time. For some reason I think warm water helps cut the chipping liquids faster underneath the paint. Both "Worn Effects" and "Heavy Chipping" will require a bit of work to remove, but you have to do so slowly, depending of course on how much you want to break down to the rust coat . . . I find that a little bit of alcohol mixed with warm water works best. Then again, I am going beyond the mere 1 color coat. I am doing several so . . . stay tuned in for more progress.

Here's the final result of this stage of the build. Nicely and heavily chipped. Now the process will repeat itself as we apply more layers of colors . . . stay tuned in for more . . .

Step 9. Allow the basecoat color to dry. Again, use the hairdryer to speed up the process. Once dry, the chipping fun begins. Using a stiff old brush and water begin by saturating one panel at a time with water, and then let the brush do the heavy work. The "Worn Effects" is tough so you have to put some muscle into at first, but once the first few chips appear on the paint, it get easier. Keep a few paper towels handy to sop up the water and keep things neat and tidy. The first few chips appear and the excitement begins. Now, remember that the idea here is to have as little (subtle) or as much (CRANKYFIED) as you want. Also keep in mind that if you are using one final color and rust . . . then you can stop, but we are moving on . . . OF COURSE! You can see how lovely a process this is . . . again, go slow and enjoy it.

Step 8. Now comes the fun. Using the AB, spray a few light coats of the first color (this could be a final color for those who just want one color and the rust to show through), but we are making this a bit more complex (and Doctor Cranky feels like pushing it today!) In this case, I used a bit of a sand color mixed in with a little transparent white and beige+gray. Over this last year and since I love the technique so much, I went with a little color modulation to vary up the light and darker areas on the body . . . and I hope you can see how all the pre-shading is coming through.

Step 7: The new AK-INTERACTIVE chipping (light and heavy) acriylic liquids are really easy and wonderful to use. No more smelly, sticky, hairspray stolen from the wife! Besides, both liquids spray very well. The light goes on smooth at 20psi and the heavy goes on best at 35 or 40psi. (More on the difference shorlty.) Using the "Worn Effect" or light chipping fluid, I applied a light coat on the body. The idea here is to coat thoroughly but not too heavy. You can use the "Heavy Chipping" for that, but since I am going to be layering a few colors under the final color and basecoat, I am going with the lighter fluid for now . . . Use a hairdryer to speed up the process and make sure the body is dry before moving on to the next step.

The painting has begun. The wonderful folks over at AK-Interactive sent me some new products they want me to try, so here it goes . . . the painting process has begun . . . hope you stick around for the ride. Doctor Cranky's Lab-RAT-ory results for AK-INTERACTIVE new chipping liquids. I am working on a new build (I hope you will see it soon enough) and I thought I would use the body as a guinea pig to experiment and really put these new chipping lotions and potions to good use. All right, EYEGORE, fire up the machines, here comes the big lightning storm! Okay, here are the steps: 1. I used Plastiko grey primer 2. Used Vallejo black primer to pre-shade 3. For the rust basecoat, I used my Floquil Roof Brown/Rust mixture 4. Used Tamiya Hull red of some pre-shading And here are the results of that: 5. Using the sponge and pre-thinned Tamiya orange and AK-Interactive "light" and "medium" rust, I applied some stippling. I did a little bit too with the AB, but by hand with the sponge it goes much faster. At this stage you want to achieve heavy mottled results, heavy and random . . . 6. Next step I thinned some Vallejo rust and cam. black brown and stippled it around the lower edges of the panels. Again, more variety. Please keep in mind that most of this won't really be seen, but IN THE LAYERS, the final results will make a difference . . . This series of steps completes what I call the RUST BASECOAT . . . also at this point you can seal in the rust basecoat with Future or gloss varnish to preserve the work so far . . .

Nice find, Chuck.

Nice job, considering that's pretty hard to make BMF look so good.

Oh, I am loving it. Nice colors. This one is going to stand out.

Nice rusting on that panel, Adam. Nice build in progress.

Ah, Sunday, a new day and more possibilities! Stay tuned in for more . . .

Take your time, it's all about mocking it and getting it right. Looking good with that Challenger on its back.

Oh boy, this is really lots of LOVE! Amazing engines. And what a great variety too. Very inspirational. And thanks, Joe, for turning me on to CACKLEFEST! Keep 'em coming.

Gregg, the Cannon Powershot cameras are excellent, and this one is very good.

Yes, the same thing happened to me . . . it's all fun, buddy. Love the Nash. It's coming along!

Me likes it. Nice . . . Don't hold back on the pics, Mr. Most.

Looking real good. Love the color.

Dave, I love your work bench. It looks totally comfy and inviting. Chuck . . . is this another new build? You are on fire!

LOL!!! You cracked me up good!

Wow, you guys have been busy, that's for sure. Don't hold back, don't be shy . . . this is going to provide many hours of eye candy for someone one day soon..

Wow, Pat, thanks for the great eye candy. Some amazing models at the show. Those lowriders were incredible.