How to Make and Use Weathering Powder
Typically, one would spend a lot of time to get a model painted and it will usually look quite beautiful. Well, that does also depend on your talent. But even so, is that how things look in real life? No. In real life things have a tendency to look used and beaten. You will often find soot, dirt, and rust on every day items.
You can accomplish this approach in a variety of ways. You can try dry bushing the needed color, heavy washing, etc. But the best approach is to use a weathering powder.
A weathering powder is a special dust that can be used in a variety of ways. You can brush it on dry if you are looking to create a dirt or soot effect. You can also set some aside, wet it down and put it on wet if you are looking to make a rust or mud look.
For myself, typically there are two main colors I use the most of when weathering. Black and Orange. You can get other shades in a variety of colors. The easiest way is to buy prepackaged weathering powers from your local hobby supply shop. Those powders however are pretty expensive for what you are getting. The cheapest way is to make your own. It really is nothing more than charcoal or chalk.
First step, go out to the local hobby store that specializes in paints and sketching to pick up a package of charcoal and sanguine sticks. That will cover your two primary bases in regards to the most often used colors. While you are out and about, pick up some sand paper. Something fine grain will be fine. You don’t need a heavy grain to create a dust.
You will then take your charcoal sticks and rub them onto the sand paper. As you rub it will begin to form a pile of powder. Rub until you have enough powder that you will need for your current project. You can also get some small paint storage cups and dump that powder in there so that you have some ready made stuff to store with your other modeling supplies.
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