Hairspray weathering

[NWRMorpheus]

Hey everyone,

I have a quick question regarding hairspray weathering. I am in the process of weathering my first kit. I was planning on using the hairspray method but I am wondering, if I am using acrylic paint is the hairspray even needed?  Does the hairspray add any special effect that the acrylic paint wouldn't provide on its own? I have my assumptions but you know what they say about assuming lol. My rusty base coat is ready to go and sealed with flat clear Thanks for your time in reading this. 

Edited February 8, 2022 by NWRMorpheus
Being more specific

[Ace-Garageguy]

Are you wanting the hairspray to hold weathering chalks or pastels down, or are you going for a chipped paint effect, or something else?

You might find some model RR and military guys to have better insight on this...

https://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?threads/anyone-use-the-hairspray-technique.75192/

https://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/69619.aspx

Edited February 8, 2022 by Ace-Garageguy
typo

[Sandboarder]

Never used hairspray. Ive used water and salt.
 

The idea is to create a barrier so the top layer of paint won’t stick, therefore it will chip off. 
 

I think with the hairspray technique you use water to reactivate the hairspray and loosen the paint aiding in chipping. 

[NWRMorpheus]

I am going for a look that the car has been sitting in a field for 45 years and baking in the sun to where there isn't much paint left and the surface has rusted. The hairspray is supposed to be a layer that reacts to water and some agitation to cause the paint layer(s) above it to erode away. So Heres the question, does the hairspray add an effect that cant be achieved by just using water and acrylic paint? Lol this is easy to put into words in my head but not so much into text. So the first picture is what I would like to achieve and the second is the rusty looking base coat that I created and would spray the hairspray and acrylic paint onto.

Edited February 9, 2022 by NWRMorpheus

[Erik Smith]

You need the hairspray. The acrylic paint won't chip away without it. The hairspray becomes soluble when you expose it to water, acrylic paint, once dry, is dry. You will have to expose some of the hairspray from under the topcoat to start the chipping process - according to my experience - then brush and work the tip coat off as you go.

 

As Bill posted above, google the technique in train or military forums - tons of super good info on weathering.

Edited February 9, 2022 by Erik Smith

[EngineerBob]

Ditto that you need the hairspray between the top coat and the base coat to allow the top coat to be removable. This is the same thing that the salt method does as the salt dissolves with water taking some of the top coat with it. You can spray on the hairspray, thicker where you want more removal and you can also dab it on with a brush to get the more localized splotches such as on the side of your example car. I find that the hair spray provides a 'finer' effect and the salt provides more of a coarse chipped effect. Don't forget about sanding through the top coat to show a primer coat with fine sandpaper to get a lighter weathered effect. Finally, add brushed/spotted on acrylics with a fine brush to add depth, highlights and rust streaks.  Combine a variety of methods to get the most realistic look.

[Sandboarder]

4 hours ago, NWRMorpheus said:

does the hairspray add an effect that cant be achieved by just using water and acrylic paint?

 

The hairspray is removed so it doesn’t really add an effect. Instead it aids in the paint removal/chipping. 
 

It doesn’t matter if you use hairspray, salt or a chipping fluid. Their purpose is to be dissolved by the water, lifting the paint to create a chipping effect. 
 

You can hand paint your chips with acrylic paint. I would just watch a few YouTube vids to see the techniques in action and the results. 
 

Here is a good and very informative video.

 

 

[Erik Smith]

You can also use latex mask (for water color paint). Paint it on, paint over it, peel it off.

Works well for small areas of focus - valve covers below were “chipped” to reveal “metal” beneath

[NWRMorpheus]

Well thank you everyone you have definitely answered my question and I appreciate your time and knowledge.

[OldNYJim]

Your base layer of rust looks great!  Artist’s pastels are a great addition to a weathered paintjob too, and I really like the Vallejo rust streak paint for patches like you can see on the front quarter of the 1:1 that you posted…

This should be a cool project!

 

[NWRMorpheus]

Thank you! Unfortunately it took a dive in the purple pond as I couldn't leave well enough alone and it ended up looking like a Mary Kay test dummy lol. Time to start over. I wish I knew about stripping paint off of models back in the 80's and 90's because Ihad to dump a lot of kits due to bad paint. These kits would cost a fortune to replace now.

[Oldmopars]

For great weather videos, go to YouTube and look for Scale-a-ton, Nightshift, Laser Creation World, Scale War Machines, and other military model channels. 
The techniques you learn will really help you out. 

[Oldcarfan27]

On 2/9/2022 at 7:31 AM, NWRMorpheus said:

Using the information everybody has just given and seeing the results you're looking for, I think you might try spraying the hairspray just in the areas that you want the paint to look sunbeaten and worn off. For example: do half the hood with hairspray and then paint the whole hood with faded blue. The blue will only come off the half of the hood that has a h/s barrier and will stay on the half without. Then use other methods to make the blue paint look weathered but still intact. 

The effect is to have layers exposed.  The bare metal, rust and pre-paint primer should  be UNDER the paint color and the wax residue and contaminants and/or peeled clear ON TOP. So work in that order to achieve the effect you're looking for.

And be mindful that weathering only happens to areas that are exposed to long-term sun damage. If trim and objects have been covering an area, that area won't have the same deterioration as the rest of the exposed paint has. Sun can't fade areas under the closed doors or hood, but trapped water or salt will create corrosion wherever it can't move. Think of these things when you plan your attack!

Edited March 6, 2022 by Oldcarfan27