My Airbrushing Odssey: Let the JOURNEY begin.

[Diviner]

We always see heli kit builds, but for the creative types they are pretty dry. So I thought I would document my journey of creating some custom canopies.

I have broken this Journey into 5 major areas:

1. Research
2. Design
3. Practice
4. Build
5. Finish

This journey is more visual, so I will keep the typing down and the image count up. The objective is to create a series of consistent canopies for my fleet. Secondly, to create individual designs for each bird. Here is the lot of canopies waiting for some interesting designs.



15 in all. Great deals from Hobby King and HeliDirect. I pre-fitted all of them on their frames so I wouldn't cut the designs after spraying them.

RESEARCH

STEP 1> EXAMPLE STUDY
Went to Ace Heli, Canomod, and retail sites then downloaded the most interesting designs to explore. After some thought, I organized the design elements into sub categories.

1. TEXT
2. LAYERS
3. FIELD PATTERNS
4. COLOR
5. PIN STRIPING
6. IMAGES
   

Then I made notes and grouped the pictures for reference.








STEP 2> TECHNIQUES
I hit the web and watched / subscribed to You Tube authors:

• Carzan (Ace Heli)
• Airbrush Tricks (very well produced)
• EdHubs

Everything seemed very doable, and helped me prepare my materials list.

STEP 3> EXPLORATION
I took some photos and created templates to sketch on. Using the design categories above, I started drawing with colored pencils different areas of exploration.

TEXT



LAYERS


FIELD PATTERNS



I thought I could do somethings I haven't seen before by creating some of my own stencils. I did some moons, swirls and spots of various size and spacing in my vector drawing program (corel draw).



COLOR,PIN STRIPING,CHARACTER
For these areas I would just try different things during my practice designs.

Next step DESIGN . . . .

[giorgos_cupra]

Jahmer very very nice thread!!And informative!It will surely help people like me that are starting to ab now

[Diviner]

DESIGN
Step 1> NAMES / FONTS
Step 2> END GAME
Step 3> INDIVIDUAL DESIGNS
Trex 250 1 canopy/design
Trex 450 1 canopy/design
HK 450 1 canopy/design
Trex 500 2 canopies/design
Trex 600 2 canopies/design
Avant e90 1 canopy/design
Step 4> FLEET DESIGN
1 canopy for each bird (total 6)

So a total of 9 designs in all. I have never done anything creative with an airbrush. Last time I did anything with an airbrush was when I was into model trains 35 years ago and I just sprayed everything brown. Talk is cheap. . . .

STEP 1> NAMES / FONTS
I always wondered why people who buy custom canopies put "Trex" on it. What is the point? My feeling is if you want me to advertise for you, then you pay me, not the other way around. Besides, if you give your helis a name, it is just more fun. Look at how Canomod lists their products; they all have names. Like B. B. King and "Lucille". After a few rounds of expressionless names, I locked in on:

Moxy, Bad Boy, Mach 5, Sir Smack a Lot, Invertuous, and Mr. Big.

Then I went to various font sites and started downloading 10 new fonts to play with. This is a small subset of what I played with.




STEP 2> END GAME
I wanted to see the big picture to help me get organized as I started down the design path. I always like to start with my constraints, so I created a scale drawing of each canopy with the name/font in the correct spot.





STEP 3> INDIVIDUAL DESIGNS
First off, I have no idea if I will be able to pull off anything I designed. But that is why I have a practice step on white cover stock. Before I started, I printed out a sheet for each bird and listed the techniques I wanted to try. Keep in mind a I had a laundry list from the explorations in the Research phase.

Moxy (trex 250)
Started with the smallest. That is why the name is the shortest. I started with a print out at the actual size with a couple of layouts. This one had the outline text technique. The text alone will require at least 2 masks, probably 3.


After a bunch of designs I came up with a simple design featuring my favorite colors, some spot field patterns, metallic paints, layers with drop shadows. No gradients.

I always start thinking the word "innovation" early on. What haven't I seen before? This design I incorporating tapered pin stripes. I just don't recall seeing this technique, at least on pin stripes. I have a saying, don't design/build something you can buy. This one comes close. After looking at hundreds of canopies, 95% of them start looking the same, just different colors/variations. Obviously there is a reason, they sell. In fact all the creative / difficult ones were being discounted. People are drawn to familiarity. I didn't want my designs to be that familiar. It is hard to get out of your comfort zone. This one is certainly in my comfort zone. But you gotta crawl first . . .


Mach 5 (trex 450 with mini vbar)
With a bigger canopy comes more design opportunities. I love 3d effects which are easily done with drop shadows. For themes, I always hit Google images, then drag them into my software. This design will feature a 3d "m", metallic with transparent blue paint. Also going to try the field work using drywall tape technique. Those scoops will be challenging to do. It is a subtle technique that is hard on the small scale, especially for a beginner like me.



On the other side will have Mr. Speed himself.



This should get me out of comfort zone and into the anxiety zone. These are the templates I will have to cut out. Most people would just do it by hand, but I am more comfortable at the computer. I am starting to think about the order at this stage.



Bad Boy (HK 450pro)
My favorite color scheme is the Halloween look. I wanted to try incorporating negative space. In keeping with the Stewie theme, I went with football knock outs to reveal the underneath streaks, which is similar to "tears". The font will start with a positive template, then lighter ghosting around the edges with silver/white paint. Once again, all this is theoretical. I have never done this before. No innovation here. I just like it.



One the other side will be Stewie. No need to redraw the design. I just wanted placement. If Speed Racer goes will, this will be a snap. My only concern is the outlining will be against a black background, so I might have to ghost the image.



Next step Mid Sized Bird Designs . . . .

[Diviner]

DESIGN (2 of 3)

Step 3> INDIVIDUAL DESIGNS
Trex 250 1 canopy/design
Trex 450 1 canopy /design
HK 450 1 canopy /design
Trex 500 2 canopies/design
Trex 600 2 canopies/design
Avant e90 1 canopy /design

STEP 3> Individual MID SIZED Designs
For my 500 called "Sir Smack a Lot", a play off of Sir Lancelot and Smack down, I have 3 canopies. So I will do 2 individual designs and the third will share the fleet design.

Sir Smack a Lot (trex 500 with a vbar 5)
DESIGN "A" Flora
Flora is my favorite, very whimsical. Graphic designers are very familiar with the look. In fact, I found several fonts of just florals. Most heli guys will hate it, but hey this ain't your canopy. The main fleet design will use flora, so I wanted to experiment on one before doing 6.

The font will use different colors for the words. I posted a couple variations, but there were many more. Want to incorporate more gradients, stencil field patterns (swirls), and some sort of composition. The composition failed on this attempt. Swirls into bands doesn't work.



In this next variation, I changed from 3 color bands to 2. I thought this is too much of a mix in styles, so in the band area I want more flora. I added some stencil masks with a reversing gradient around the text. I created the swirl stencil for this design (see post #1). Not jumping up and down just yet on this design, but it will evolve when I am practicing. Thinking about having the flora wrap around the windshield pin stripe.



DESIGN "B" Rainbow
This second version I did in my software. I like to let designs "simmer". Let them sit for a few days and see if you still like it. This one didn't simmer, is scorched the bottom of the pan. I mean that in a bad way. HATE IT. Back to the drawing board. Nothing innovative here. Seen this only a thousand times, make it 1001.




See how looking at too much of the same stuff influences the design? I am falling back into the 95% world with those bands. I want to do something like this rather than the bands. Great design element.









Next step Large Sized Bird Designs . . . .

[Diviner]

DESIGN (3 of 3)

Step 3> INDIVIDUAL DESIGNS
Trex 250 1 canopy/design
Trex 450 1 canopy /design
HK 450 1 canopy /design
Trex 500 2 canopies/design
Trex 600 2 canopies/designs
Avant e90 1 canopy /design

STEP 3> Individual LARGE SIZED Designs
Five designs sorta done, 3 to go plus the Fleet design. More real estate so more detail.

INVERTUOUS (trex 600)
DESIGN "A" Alien/Lizard
Once again, even more real estate, so more detail. Of course you will see a grown man cry when I crash these babies.

The concept is more realistic field patterns. In this case snake skin. For the composition I am thinking lizard aliens like the TV show "V". Peel off the facade and expose the real "beast". Nice metaphor. So I turn to my trusty idea generator called google images. Download, drag, and enlarge. Perfect for airbrushing. Note the white highlights. Shadowed area. Sweet.




So after a few attempts, and being more comfortable in my software, here was the first output to my color printer. (I hate when I use the word comfortable, not good).

Text will be a 3d where the black will have little highlights, the gray blue front will have a slight metallic glaze, and the reflection will fade out. 3 masks for that. In this attempt I was not happy with the stiffness of the scale reveal. Need the rip effect. Also going to try a dry brush technique. I haven't seen that yet. Innovative? It is always good to take techniques from outside the subject area and apply them inside the subject area. Done in business all the time.

This is also the first time a "storyline" comes into a design.

Still, work is needed on the windshield, the ripped area, the lower left blue area.





Google to the rescue again! I will use a feather to do the cracked lines. Stolen technique from faux finishing (where do you think the dry brush idea came from?). Not everything needs to be airbrushed.





Better!
I like the changes on the blue lower area. The tear is more jagged. I will airbrush in some folds and peel backs. The trick is laying out the fingers and matching to the lifts.


Keeper.


DESIGN "B" Flames
Gotta have an old school flame in the fleet. This doesn't require a lot of design work since the beauty is all in the technique. So I will just practice this, then work it into a design.

MR. BIG (Avant e90??)
Well, I was supposed to purchase an Avant for black Friday. Those guys can't hit a release date if it killed them. And $285 for a flybar head? So much for buying American. I have 2 e90 canopies that I was going to paint, but at this point, I mind as well wait for the 7HV, especially if they have a FBL kit (I already have drank too much of the Align cool aid). Sorry Avant, you probably lost a sale. Anybody want a couple of Avant canopies, let me know.

Enough drawing and typing. I have about 35 hours into this so far.

Next step PRACTICE . . . finally . . . .

[Diviner]

PRACTICE
Step 1> Equipment
Step 2> Techniques
Step 3> Sample Boards

Equipment
I ended up buying 4 guns which was not intentional.

1st one was from TCP global with a trigger off ebay ($85). It was high flow (bad) and trigger (bad) and gravity (good). There isn't enough play between air flow and paint flow, but this is good for base coats. I am using an .8 tip now for lots of paint.

2nd one was from Harbor Frieght ($15). Very good unit but it is a suction type and you get paint starving, so unven flow.

3rd Eclipse CS ($120) off ebay. OK but too much money.

4th Master from TCP global ($50). My favorite, but the .2mm tip is prone to clogging.

I bought paints and friskets from Blicks ($160).

Surprisingly, none of my local suppliers (Blicks, Sherwin Williams Auto) one had 1/16 striping material, but HeliDirect did! And for a lot less money the other suppliers.

I made a simple booth for Acrylic spraying.

GUNS with quick release attachments.



Paint creative auto air. Made my own cleaning with 50 water, 50% alcohal.


Booth.

[Diviner]

Techniques
Did color blends (gradients), masks, pins, and text techniques.


Masks. No issues. Went well.




Text was a royal pain. It took three masks to do simple designs.



This was the second try with 3 masks. Very hard to line up. Plus bleeding potential. I didn't worry about dust coats since this was practice.






Then I remember decals. I had some decal sheets that I had for over 10 years. It worked! Since I had everything digital to begin with, this was the way to go, for text at least.


Just spray 2 coats of Acrylic sealer over it.

[Diviner]

Sample Boards-Trex 250 "Moxy" "

Started with Moxy. Tried text with 3 masks. Worked ok but went to a decal. My thin pinstriping didn't come in the mail, so I used 1/8". Too big for this 250 canopy (or any sized heli IMO). Tried textured spots, gradients.

Did some practice on pin strip effects to create 3d look. I think you need them or it will look flat.





Next were some theme canopies for the 450s. Used pearl white and purple which I liked. I have to use lighter, multiple coats for the real spray. The camera doesn't pick up pearls well. The red M turned better than I thought, but will need more white to make it look 3d. Plus I have to add a drop shadow under it. The decal worked well of Speed.

The air duct turned out ok for the first attempt. I laid frisket then knifed it out.


For "Bad Boy, I experimented with more masks, metallic gradients and some simple dagger strokes.



Shortened the name to Sir Smack and added a Flux Capacitor option.

Using decals for large texture areas didn't work. Since this was over paper stock, the decal lifted when I masked it, even after I put a clear coat over it. The paper also lifted with the 1/16" pin. It looked good before I peeled off the pinstripe tape.





Still have 4 more boards to do, but I am going to spray up these 4 canopies first. Also I finished all my tail fins, so I want to wrap up that mini project first.

[Diviner]

I have been working on this fins project for a while. Now that I figured out what materials I could cut, I painted and decaled the fins.

[Diviner]

What worked

• Layering look
• Shield painting for the stepped look (thanks ace heli for the tip). Rather than a popcyclic stick however, I cut a curved piece of cover stock paper, and did a step pattern on the green and white bands.
• Pearl!

What didn't

• Some paint lifting. The pearl especially. I didn't lock it down with a clear coat, or maybe didn't wait long enough. Switched to transfer tape since it is less tacky than blue tape.
• Not getting the cleanest fineline pin striping tape pull, even though I am pulling it close and at 45 degrees. Too much paint maybe. I will try scoring next time.
• Overkill on the drop shadows. Will add more transparency medium next time.
• Lettering. I went around and around on this. I had decals all made, also 3 masks, but eventually decided for a one mask knockout as to leave the positive, then I hit it with 3 colors, white on top, red base, and black on bottom. It would have been better to do a red base, then covered it halfway and hit it with with to give it the reflection look.

I sprayed 3 acrylic coats and will wait for spring for the 2k final top coat.






I photographed the canopy from both sides, and with photoshop, brought it into phoenix's canopy creator. Fun stuff.


If you pull the fineline plastic tape too much, it pulls back after cutting.


Striped, masked with transfer tape rather than blue tape, first coat of purple pearl.


The lifting was mostly over the pearl. I now spray on a coat of acrylic clear for pearl work. On all the canopies I want a ghosted "diviner" to match the tail fins. Here I am touching up some of the lifted paint with a Q-tip. I then hit it again with a pearl to push back the appearance of the lettering.


Next up, my 500 . . "Sir Smack".

[Diviner]

What Worked

• Design. First concept/theme design executed.
• White bands makes it easy to add colored pinstripes. Once again, the sample board gave me room to experiment.
• Getting better at anticipating the layer order, especially for drop shadows.
• I must admit, without the pinstriping corner shading technique from Ace Heli the pinstriping looks very boring and commercial. It is extra work, be goes a long way for quality.
• Decals on the last step worked well.
• Templates for the flux storage area was originally planned for a decal, but I used a template. I did a few too many layers, and it started getting a muddy look.

What Didn't

• Decals over large areas. Decals need to be the LAST thing you do. Otherwise you have major problems when masking. I discovered this when doing my sample board. Glad I practiced first.
• Cleaning prior to top coat. Just rubbing with my fingers cause paint to come off.
• Hard to get tiny accents for the bubbles. I painted them in with a brush and I didn't like it.

8 hours spraying for each canopy so far, not including design time, photoshoots, or phoenix creator time.


Had a little fun with this. Posted this on the main forum for a bit of holiday cheer. The hardest part was getting the heli in the correct position for the screen capture (lighting, no blades, good angle).



Shot showing layered templates.


Creating a canopy in phoenix off photos is not too complicated. You have to go back and forth between Photoshop and phoenix a few times. Like anything, it is easy after the first one. There were a few tricks that helped the process if you have canopies with different looks on each side.

[Diviner]

What worked

• Color scheme
• Positive masks for lettering
• Dagger strokes. The photo doesn't show it well, but it turned out good. Dagger strokes are very easy once the paint is thinned correctly and the pressure is correct. Once you figure that out, life is good. Daggers are addictive, and you want more finer strokes to create fine details.
• Shading areas with black when black is surrounding the area. No need for masking and you can use a shield for gradients. Much easier and less time to execute.

What didn't

• The design is pretty basic. I planned on doing some half moon template work, but when laid down the bolts, there was no room left. The bolts on the other side turned out better with more white showing through.
• I should have spent more time thinking about the theme. Devil spike tails scrolling around would have been perfect. Perfect 20/20 hind sight.
• Black touch up marker around the stewie decal bleed when the topcoat was applied.
• Still not getting nice clean white pins. They are ok, but not ultra crisp. Tried spraying away from them, lighter coats, scoring, and hitting them with my finger nail prior to spraying. Not there yet. I have only 10 more canopies left!

You can see the ghosting diviner on the windshield.


For positive lettering masking for silhouettes I started using the transfer tape to keep the lettering spaced correctly. The transfer tape roll is on the left. On my sample board, I went with a simple ghost which turned out well. But I wanted to try a motion blur look and it turned out looking amateurish.


There are 2 types of decals; white and clear. This was the first time I used the white and I didn't think it would block out the canopy colors so I masked the area off before any spraying. But using white meant there were very little areas of white on the edges that showed. No problem, just go back and hit them with a fine line black marker. But the marker bleed when the solvents from the acrylic spray hit it. Another thing. If ANYTHING gets on the decal backing (like acrylic spray when sealing) the decal is toast. The water won't soak through the paper and the decal won't release. Any ideas how I found that out?



For the next post:
Mach 5 > Speed racer decal and some basic highlighting techniques
Sir Smack #2> Non traditional decorative details. Breaking away from the 95% look.
Invertuous #1 > Aliens flying the Heli. Fine detailing for scales, broken windshield, rip effect, and fun theme
Invertuous #2 > Classic Flames

That is at least 40 hours of work for those 4 canopies.

[Diviner]

Objectives

• Use pearl
• More theme designs
• Mask cutouts for detailing (ducts)

What worked

• Color scheme
• The decal of Speed was a little thick. I didn't over soak it so there would be some adhesive left. The edges still pulled up a bit. So I used CA glue to hold it back down.
• Pins are cleaner now, although still much room for improvement.
• Air ducts. I cut out the masking halfway then pulled it back then sprayed. The duct on the other side turned out pretty good.

What didn't

• Peeling on the windshield when lifting the mask. Had to do a touch up.
• Peeling on the white pearl. Locked it down with clear acrylic. That worked.
• Accent white on the "M". It was to look like a reflection rather than a shadow. I couldn't get the control I wanted with the Eclipse. I have switched to the Master. LESSON. . YOU DON"T GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. The master is sooo much nicer for half the money. The springs, etc. Much smoother.
• When I locked the pearl down because of lifting, I had 1/8 tape as a divider for the red. Now it looks like I made a mistake, which I didn't. It is not supposed to have a pin above the center red area.
• After sealing the pearl with acrylic, I didn't wait long enough when I started masking the next step. I have switched to min-wax water based poly acrylic sprayed out of the airbrush. It has no odor and dries very fast. Even with gloss, it is not glossy since it is a very thing coat, but good for locking down a layer.

The Finished Canopy


Backflushing by holding something over the tip while spraying has helped reduce clogging in the .2m tips. This technique isn't covered much in the you tube videos.




Currently working on a 500 and 600 canopy. All's I can say is it is MUCH easier than 450 and 250 sized canopies. I am much more impressed now when I see a detailed 450 canopy on the web than a bigger sized one.

[AnthonyJr]

Nice write up. Thanks for posting.

[Kustom]

Good information for the new painters Keep up the good work

[Diviner]

Objectives

• Do a design that breaks out of the 95% wedge look but isn't an art project meaning it still resembles a heli canopy.
• Use sparklescent colors. They are really nice and visible.
• Different type of locking clears sealers.
• Bright Colors for visibility.
• Use some of the custom templates I made.

What worked

• Design. Its my favorite non-theme. I would do this again.
• Using an air dryer to speed up the process for the rainbows.
• Wiping off a middle layer I smudged without affecting the darker layer.
• Color stepping by adding transparent medium.
• Bail out of black pins with black marker. . . I guess.
• Top coat with the water based poly acrylic so the black marker won't break down.

What didn't

• Black pin striping. Specifically, locking down the black with water based poly acrylic airbrushed on.
• A bit of spitting on the green rainbows from some globby paint in the storage bottles.
• A bit too much ghosting on the windshield.
• Not too thrilled with the moon templates.
• Forgot to drop shadow rainbow over rainbow.

There are a lot of nice canopies on this site and the web that look great and to us we think the project went effortlessly. Well this project didn't. Hopefully someone can learn from my mistakes. So I am adding more step pictures showing what went wrong.

I started with these boards, but they pretty much stunk.


So I added bright rainbows to the design. Still looked like a heli, but I haven't seen a design like this. I have been flying the 500 Flux Capacitor canopy in Phoenix a lot and I really like the visibility compared the the 450 schemes of the Mach5 and Bad Boy. For the rainbows I considered using color blends, but then I would have too many colors going on with three rainbows, a windshield and a background. So I kept it to one color per rainbow. And I wanted those bright sparklescent paints I bought.


After applying the windshield base coat I laid down the text mask and some swirl elements. On the 250 canopy to knock back the "diviner" I sprayed a wash coat over it. But that kills the pearl. So this time I add just a smidge of red to the sparklescent orange and went over it again. A little too faint in hind sight. Finally, hit the windshield using the moon template with pink. Ok, but not thrilling.

I wanted a black pin stripe for that cartoon / 70's look. I sprayed black and locked it down with minwax water based poly. Let it dry and did a test pin stripe to check for lifting of the black. No problem.

I can't say how great this light tack paper transfer tape is. You can see through it. And it doesn't lift the paint. If I remember, I bought mine at Beacon graphics years ago. I almost threw it out because it was sitting so long. Glad I didn't. After striping, I had to lay down several coats of white. Masked. Drew my layers and started cutting.


As I said before I didn't want a color blend. So after hitting the first row, I added some transparent media to the mix. The Eclipse is the top brush ($120), the Master is below ($50). I use the master if I am only working with one paint.



So at this point the striping is just over the black since I went back and sprayed white. Proceeded with the rest of the rainbows.

I start with the darker layer and leave it exposed when doing the next layer. That way you don't have to mask a fresh coat and are only cutting masking that isn't painted yet.

Got impatient with the drying on the pink middle layer and smudged it. No problem, I just wiped it off. I was concerned that wiping would dissolve the layer directly above it. It didn't!

After all rainbows were done I thought I was in the home stretch. NO WAY. Black under the pin stripe was lifting big time. So I scored thinking that the extra coat of white had something to do with it. I was then hoping it would all lift so I could have white pins. Nope.

So what does one do now??? I could scratch off all the black. That would be a huge pain. So I chalked this up to the learning curve.

MENTAL NOTE TO MYSELF: Primer color and pin color should be the same. Or use rattle can clear for a thicker layer and scuff. Or on the last step outline a black pin, but that is too hard to create a consistent thickness, but would be fine for a tapered pin.


But when life gives you lemons . . .

I drew on the pulled up pin stripes with a black marker. Not clean by any standard, but at least I had the look I wanted. At this point I was pretty disgusted, so it was a small win. At least when I had pearl lifting on the Mach 5, it was early in the process. This was near the last step.


I knew from the Stewie decal that if I sprayed Acrylic from the rattle can that the solvents would cause bleeding with the marker strokes I just made. So I went back to the minmax poly and used my high flow Master brush to lay it on.

As for colors, what I would have done differently would be to change the sparkle orange lower field area to peal or silver, then hit it with yellow. That way there would be more separation between the windshield and the lower area. I was supposed to have dots at the end of the rainbows, but after the lifting issue, why put more work into it.

Two canopies left. The alien 600 and classic flames which I need to rewatch my videos.
Then the 5 fleet canopies. It is critical at this point that I trust my airbrush for the fine detailing of the alien scales. I don't like / trust the Iwata Eclipse action. I totally trust my Master. And my little Harbor Freight compressor just broke. So it is back to my noisy 5 gallon compressor. Sometimes you DO get what you pay for. Sometimes.

[AnthonyJr]

It's different thats for sure. If you could clean those lines up, it would be a really nice looking canopy.

[fastone93]

Do you use transparent base during your painting? With auto air it seems when you do fades, light shading, or paints with additives like metallic or pearl it lifts pretty easy. If you spray a coat of transparent base over them it will seal them and give them a lot more resistance to lifting. give it a try. Nice work, keep at it and you will progress quickly and be busting out pro looking jobs in no time!

[Diviner]

Thanks for the tip. I didn't even think to use transparent to lock down layers. I will try on my next one.

[Diviner]

Objectives

• Fine Detailing Work
• No Lifting
• Theme based Design
• Template Usage

What worked

• Using shield for scale layout rather than free handing
• Toothpick for detailing lines rather than feather
• No lifting
• No bleeding when top coating
• Touching up around decal
• Overall rip effect
• Pushing back mistakes.

What didn't

• Iwata Eclipse (grabbed the wrong airbrush for detailing).
• Scales going in the wrong direction on one side

Boards
Here was the sample board (digital). I simplified the overall banding areas since I didn't think it add much and went to decals for the logo.



Scale Template
After laying down the yellow and orange area I started practicing. Sprayed green on a couple of boards and the base on the canopy. Practice was Ok but a bit nervous for the real thing. I tried making a little stencil. Much better. Laid down black with stencil then went back over free hand to soften it up. Then while I still had black in the cup I put in the drop shadow.



Punch Up Scales
Added some transparent green so for a little punch. Then white highlights. Gun felt terrible. I was fighting control of the white. Sure as heck I grabbed the wrong gun (Iwata Eclipse). So now I had three terrible looking highlights and I thought the white was too much. I reloaded the transparent green and pushed the white back. But unfortunately it darkened the whole area a bit too much.



Tear Edge
Next was the very thin grey/white area that sells the rip effect. I tried two masking techniques and felt laying it out in one sheet and finding the edge with my nail (right) worked better than putting on a bunch of little pieces. I missed a few cuts, but went back and remasked. I was concerned that using white might make the edge too bright. But since I was painting over the black drop shadow, it wasn't a problem. I made the lower edge a bit brighter since that would look more natural. Touched up with a Qtip stem cut in half. After I peeled all the mask off I added the spots from a template I made. I was going to add some highlights and lowlights on the yellow area around the tears to help sell the effect, but I didn't want to push it. The edge would be more noticeble if it were against a darker color rather than yellow. It looks pretty good in real life though, much better than the pictures show.

FYI, the striping turned out the best yet. Probably because the layers were thin. Also, many days went by so the base layers had plenty of time to dry.




Windshield
For the windshield I laid a base of silver tinted with black. Feathered black on the edges. Then did a positive text (diviner) and hit the text area with black. Laid a mask for the hole in the windshield and dusted a grey color. Then I used a toothpick to paint the cracks on. Put a few too many on however. Just having too much fun I guess. Since the toothpick worked out so well, I went back to the tear corners with black to make it look more real.


Decals
This was my fourth theme with a decal so I knew what to expect. When I was cutting the claw mask during the initial pin striping, I was a bit anxious and the sealer over the decal wasn't dry, so it lifted some decal ink when I was cutting the claw mask. I knew before hand I would have to touch up with black which is why I add black to the outline of the actual decal. But this time rather than using a marker, I used paint.

I forgot to drop shadow black for the fingers. Oh well.


Before Topcoat
The final left and right before quick acrylic protection coat. Touch up to the claws turned out pretty good IMHO.



Final Photos