This “dirty boy” maybe looks like another example of overdoing the weathering, but actually it’s a different mistake. Let me explain it.

In order to achieve the effect of dirtiness and accent the panel lines I’ve used the popular “oil wash” technique. The good side of this technique is that you can’t overdo it because you can easily remove the excess oil wash with the oil thinner. But I made a mistake.

Mistake example

The aircraft came up way too dirty and I couldn’t remove the excess oil wash because I didn’t wait enough for the varnish to properly cure. It can look dry even if it’s not cured. When I tried to remove the excess oil wash with the oil thinner it was interacting with the acrylic varnish layer below which was melting and thus making it even dirtier without the possibility to remove it.

What I have learned

To be able to successfully manipulate the oil wash, acrylic varnish layer needs to be properly cured. After the “incident” described above, I tend to leave the varnish for 48 hours to cure, before I start with the oil washes.

P.S.

In this particular case, the mistake was not too bad because aircrafts can be really dirty, especially during the war. I could say that I wanted it to be like this, but I know I didn’t.