I usually paint armor. One of the steps of finishing armor is after painting, decaling, and futuring, is a black oil wash. Sometimes a heavy coat and then brushed off leaving residues in nooks and crannies for shading and outlining purposes. Do ship model painters also use such a painting technique? I tried the heavy oil technique on a ship model, but was not 100% satisfied with it. Maybe it doesn't visually work as well in scales as 1/350 and 1/700? Maybe some of the more experienced ship modelers could compile a list of steps of model ship painting and finishing (if such a feature does not already exist here).

Instead of a black wash try using a gray that is darker than the base color. I think that on lighter colors black can be too intense.



This a photo of a torpedo tube on my 1/35 Vosper MTB. You can see several different shades of gray on the tube, as well as the deck. Note, in the upper right hand corner of the photo that I did use a black wash around the turret access door. It all depends on how much contrast there would be, and that can vary with scale. The contrast should be less in smaller scales Al

Maybe you should try doing your own research instead of asking for instructions. yes, I use oil and yes, I googled and learnt.
Cheers mate.

Ooooo! Excuse me for bothering you Mr. Sallows!!

If you want to have a good example you can have a look at the ships Kostas has in his features. For me that is very close to perfect ( And I spent a lot of time on and around ships)
Best way is to look at coloured photos of modern ships.I do not trust the recoloured old b/w pics.
Main element on a ship's weathering is rust. Depends of course what type. A convoy escort will probably be very rusty, compared to the Tirpitz sitting in her fjord. But even the USS Missouri had to be repainted before entering Tokyo bay.
Rust can be from dark brown to light orange. Mostly occurs under the anchors , where chains rub on the hull and under hwasepipes, fairleads or scuppers. I use the tamiya weathering "make up" you can make a bit stronger streaks with paint an make larger parts wiht the powder.
Unter portholes there is often a slight streak of grime, where the water runs down. Depending on the color you ca use lighter or darker grays.
Above water most of the weathering is vertical as its the way the water runs down. Problem is, even in 1/350 the streaks are very thin, so use a very fine brush. In 1/700 I probably would not do it at all. Generally you should be quite decent with the weathering, except maybe in a Liberty ship. Saw pics of them really rusty.

Underwater it is much more difficult, but generally the "weathering should be horizontal from the flow of the water. Probably light greys, greens and browns are useful. No Rust underwater

if you are not sure, just make small rust streak under the anchor. All ships have this after a few days.

I have a small sub for trials get resprayed and weathered a lot of times.

Best regards from Shanghai

MiG Jimenez has released an excellent DVD on weathering model ships using oils and enamel washes. The way he weathers is rather extreme but if you take things easy a lot of his effects can be used to enhance a build. I did a review of the DVD and posted it here about 3 weeks ago. Also check out some of Daniel Moscatelli's builds, the weathering is really good.
I always use oils for weathering ship's because it is easier to use than acrylics.Always remember to get some reference of how "beaten up" warships really get, most of the time they became dirty but not rust buckets unless the theatre of war they were used in prohibited any form of maintenance.
Julian

I should have been more specific. Weathering is not the issue. Post-shading with oil is. Al's Vosper is an example of what I'm talking about. His technique is similar to that of armour modeling as they are both in 1/35 and looks good in that scale. My question was does the same technique work in smaller scales such as 1/350 and 1/700. I am used to brushing black oil over OD for post shading, but as Al suggested, maybe black is too harsh and should be toned down, or scaled down, to a dark gray for smaller scale models.

Mig has released a dark grey enamel wash for light grey warships, works fine. Vallejo have released a dark grey wash that can be thinned down with water that also gives good results.Why not try them on an old build before commiting it to your new build?
Julian

I think washing is too strong already for 1/350 simply due to the scale. On Deck it would look like an overflow with fuel oil. It simply covers too much space.
I would suggest drybrushing, some accents of rust, maybe lighten up the turret covers due to sunbleaching.
In some ships you could even paint the "ribs" which can be seen due to deformation of hull plates.
Just my personal opinion

I agree. I think an overall wash in 1/350 would be too much. Just a careful pin wash around raised detail followed by drybrushing would be required. Followed by whatever appropriate weathering and finishing.

Hello friends, pardon that hooks me late, Thank you Julian for the concept. The friend Miguel Jimenez have a new Naval line . And look the DVD ....its very good and you moderate . There are so many technikes as modelers. You have to find the one that more you like.

Regards Daniel