Model Weathering

Building scale model boats that can sail under their own power is a challenging and rewarding hobby requiring varied skills from woodworking to painting to wiring electrical components. This book details everything you need to know to get started: from the tools, materials and equipment required to motors, servos, propellers and remote controls. There are step-by-step guides to the more challenging procedures. There are details on the different types of kits available and how to choose one. Advice is given on glues, fillers, making silicon moulds, and finishes such as painting, decals and weathering. Finally, there is the building of an off-the-shelf kit for the steam yacht Komet and scratch-built RNLI Lifeboat The Torbay Severn class lifeboat.

Weathering is not just about making something look dirty. Rather, it should be seen as an artistic endeavour, with the aim of making a model appear as lifelike as possible. It also helps to blend a range of separate structures into a cohesive scene. Careful weathering brings out the best in even the most mundane model, drawing attention to moulded relief and enhancing surface textures. In this latest volume, expert modeller George Dent shares his theories and practices on the art of weathering buildings, motor vehicles, ships and all manner of scenic features.

Once seen as a niche practice, the craft of weathering has now become firmly rooted in the railway modelling mainstream. Not simply a means of rendering models in layers of dirty paint, weathering involves a myriad of techniques aimed at improving realism, including distinctive surface textures, highlights and shading, burnishing and peeling paint finishes.