Serpent Custom 5 - Figuring out the pattern
Well, I already know a few things I'd do differently on this serpent custom. Namely, Instead of doing all this work to each piece, I'd still do nub removal as I go, but I'd assembly the whole kit unprimed, and sand down seams and whatnot. Then I'd dssassemble back into sub assemblies (basically solid pieces, taking apart at each joint), and wash those. Once dry, I'd just mask any interior joint parts, and then prime then paint as assemblies.
But anyways, don't expect a lot of progress today. This is a post to update on why I haven't made progress, though not for lack of effort. But sometimes, when doing something new, it takes some time. You've got to try a lot of things, and some wont work, and that's OK, that's part of the process. Just keep experimenting and never giving up.
So: I was going to do blue digital camo. I had like 6mm masking tape as my smallest masking tape. This stuff:
Now, this stuff seems just too wide to get a good digital pattern, on my 1/100, the blocks would be pretty big. as I look, I think like 1/2 as big, 3mm, maybe even 2 would be good. Heres the 6mm and a half size on the front ankle (tongue of the shoe?).
So the first thing is to try and get a repeatable and stable height. Digital camo is all about uniform lines broken into uniform squares, so i need to get a consistent height and flat lines. Obviously scissor cutting like for my first half stripe there wont do. First, to the cutting board! I try just doing a long cut down the center, but its hard to judge exactly halfway. As you can see, I end up first with a 2mm and 4mm piece instead of two 3mm.
So next I get the smart idea - hey, what if i leave the pieces in 6mm wide chunks, and just cut off 2mm slices at time? I can use the built in ruler to just move the end of the tape 2mm closer every time. Unfortunately several problems with this. Every time I brought the tape up, the end took some damage, so i had to fold and mark the spot i was measuring from, which wasn't precise. Then the tape was a bit stretchy being so thing. also, it was the MOST TEDIOUS THING IN THE WORLD, and limited me to only using 2mm x 6mm pieces. Not a solid solution.
Never fear, though, more to try! If that wont work, what about using a cutting board with a grid on it and a knife! that way I never have to pull up and replace the tape to move it, i can just lay it down once and slice it. Unfortunately, the grid itself was too big, but the hash marks seemed a perfect height! First I tried laying the tape down with one edge aligned with the ends of the hases, and cutting straight along the centerline for one long strip. unfortunately, that was too long to cut perfectly straight, and the tape was a little wavy laying it down. So then I tried cutting short ways, along the hashes, to make tiny little squares. This actually worked just fine! I got small pieces I could life with tweezers and apply. Unfortunately the edges got a little damaged during the process, and with so many separate pieces it was going to be super hard to align perfectly.
One more try - what If i just took a big piece of painters tape, and cut a rectangle out of that! then i could just paint in parts of the window i made with a flat brush, making flat edged patterns! Seemed great on paper, so i set down some tape on the cutting board and used the hases again to cut a rectangle. I should mention at this point its probably best when using any masking tape, even paint specific, to apply and unstick it a few times on a semi clean surface to make it just slightly less sticky and less likely to leave residue on or pull up any paint. So anyways I tried this, but it was going to be a no go. Theres no way I was going to apply and unapply this table 900 times, once per row. I'd have to cut out patterns, but then conforming to the curved surfaces would never work.
So I decided to just give it a go handpainting with a small flat brush. I had my three colors ready to go, along with some distilled water for my water cup (its so cheap for just a cup here and there for painting that its worth making sure you dont have tap water impurities that will interact with paint), and of course some thinner. An initial and a touchup coat later and the idea is there, but i didn't think it was good enough to even bother with the 3rd colors (hence why theres so much of the darker blue - that should be split with another shade of blue I still had yet to put on).
So with that I think i'm just going to order some digital camo patterns I saw online and some 2mm and 3mm tape and see what I can do with more specialized tools. Still, it was a good experiment, and I now know what works and doesn't and what kind of effects I can get with the tools at hand. Till next time!
But anyways, don't expect a lot of progress today. This is a post to update on why I haven't made progress, though not for lack of effort. But sometimes, when doing something new, it takes some time. You've got to try a lot of things, and some wont work, and that's OK, that's part of the process. Just keep experimenting and never giving up.
So: I was going to do blue digital camo. I had like 6mm masking tape as my smallest masking tape. This stuff:
Now, this stuff seems just too wide to get a good digital pattern, on my 1/100, the blocks would be pretty big. as I look, I think like 1/2 as big, 3mm, maybe even 2 would be good. Heres the 6mm and a half size on the front ankle (tongue of the shoe?).
So the first thing is to try and get a repeatable and stable height. Digital camo is all about uniform lines broken into uniform squares, so i need to get a consistent height and flat lines. Obviously scissor cutting like for my first half stripe there wont do. First, to the cutting board! I try just doing a long cut down the center, but its hard to judge exactly halfway. As you can see, I end up first with a 2mm and 4mm piece instead of two 3mm.
So next I get the smart idea - hey, what if i leave the pieces in 6mm wide chunks, and just cut off 2mm slices at time? I can use the built in ruler to just move the end of the tape 2mm closer every time. Unfortunately several problems with this. Every time I brought the tape up, the end took some damage, so i had to fold and mark the spot i was measuring from, which wasn't precise. Then the tape was a bit stretchy being so thing. also, it was the MOST TEDIOUS THING IN THE WORLD, and limited me to only using 2mm x 6mm pieces. Not a solid solution.
Never fear, though, more to try! If that wont work, what about using a cutting board with a grid on it and a knife! that way I never have to pull up and replace the tape to move it, i can just lay it down once and slice it. Unfortunately, the grid itself was too big, but the hash marks seemed a perfect height! First I tried laying the tape down with one edge aligned with the ends of the hases, and cutting straight along the centerline for one long strip. unfortunately, that was too long to cut perfectly straight, and the tape was a little wavy laying it down. So then I tried cutting short ways, along the hashes, to make tiny little squares. This actually worked just fine! I got small pieces I could life with tweezers and apply. Unfortunately the edges got a little damaged during the process, and with so many separate pieces it was going to be super hard to align perfectly.
One more try - what If i just took a big piece of painters tape, and cut a rectangle out of that! then i could just paint in parts of the window i made with a flat brush, making flat edged patterns! Seemed great on paper, so i set down some tape on the cutting board and used the hases again to cut a rectangle. I should mention at this point its probably best when using any masking tape, even paint specific, to apply and unstick it a few times on a semi clean surface to make it just slightly less sticky and less likely to leave residue on or pull up any paint. So anyways I tried this, but it was going to be a no go. Theres no way I was going to apply and unapply this table 900 times, once per row. I'd have to cut out patterns, but then conforming to the curved surfaces would never work.
So I decided to just give it a go handpainting with a small flat brush. I had my three colors ready to go, along with some distilled water for my water cup (its so cheap for just a cup here and there for painting that its worth making sure you dont have tap water impurities that will interact with paint), and of course some thinner. An initial and a touchup coat later and the idea is there, but i didn't think it was good enough to even bother with the 3rd colors (hence why theres so much of the darker blue - that should be split with another shade of blue I still had yet to put on).
So with that I think i'm just going to order some digital camo patterns I saw online and some 2mm and 3mm tape and see what I can do with more specialized tools. Still, it was a good experiment, and I now know what works and doesn't and what kind of effects I can get with the tools at hand. Till next time!
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