Achieving paint scaling

[landman]

How does one achieve the scaling (peeling) effect in the photo?

[Sandboarder]

Paint silver, chipping medium, paint black and then chip. 
 

There are many ways to achieve that effect. Use can you water and salt, you can hand paint the chips. It all depends on what you want to do.

 

 

 

[maxwell48098]

I don't have pics, but in the past I used rubber cement dabbed onto the surface of the base color where I wanted large chunks of be exposed after the top coats were applied.

A.J.

[OldNYJim]

A cheap (or likely free, if you have a wife or girlfriend) alternative to that chipping medium is regular hairspray.

Shoot the 'base' color first (in this case, the metal tone.  Then, once it's good and dry, shoot hairspray and let THAT dry.  Then, paint your top color (that dark gray / black in this case).  Then, using a toothpick, a brush, or whatever else you have to hand and some water, gentlypick at the paint.  The water will dissolve the hairspray (which has to be water soluble, or you'd never be able to wash it out of your hair), loosening up the paint on top in a controllable way so you can add chips, scratches, or achieve that 'scaling' look.

Simple! 

[redneckrigger]

48 minutes ago, CabDriver said:

A cheap (or likely free, if you have a wife or girlfriend) alternative to that chipping medium is regular hairspray.

Shoot the 'base' color first (in this case, the metal tone.  Then, once it's good and dry, shoot hairspray and let THAT dry.  Then, paint your top color (that dark gray / black in this case).  Then, using a toothpick, a brush, or whatever else you have to hand and some water, gentlypick at the paint.  The water will dissolve the hairspray (which has to be water soluble, or you'd never be able to wash it out of your hair), loosening up the paint on top in a controllable way so you can add chips, scratches, or achieve that 'scaling' look.

Simple! 

Does this method work with enamels or does it have to be acrylics to allow the water to soften it to reach the hairspray? 

Thank you!

[OldNYJim]

41 minutes ago, redneckrigger said:

Does this method work with enamels or does it have to be acrylics to allow the water to soften it to reach the hairspray? 

Thank you!

Acrylics, I THINK - never tried with enamels or lacquers, in honestly…

[SfanGoch]

1 hour ago, redneckrigger said:

Does this method work with enamels or does it have to be acrylics to allow the water to soften it to reach the hairspray? 

Thank you!

No, acrylics only. Enamel paints will not allow water to penetrate to allow it to soften the hairspray.

[Oldcarfan27]

I didn't know people still used hair spray?

[SfanGoch]

Without hairspray, television talking head hair wouldn't exist.

[Pierre Rivard]

Pat, many ways to do this. Here's mine.

I brush a coat of mixed Tamiya silver and flat gray to achieve the dull metallic underside

I coat it with the desired color, usually with Vallejo acrylics.

Light sanding with 400 grit dry,  carefully as the paint goes off easily.

Add brown/mud color washes.

Optional, but not done on this pic, you can add little spots of rust using the Vallejo...Rust.

 

[Sandboarder]

21 hours ago, CabDriver said:

Acrylics, I THINK - never tried with enamels or lacquers, in honestly…

Salt and a toothpick works with lacquer paints

 

 

 

 

Chip away the salt with a toothpick, soak the body in warm water to dissolve an remaining exposed salt. I added some bright rust afterwards.