This month we look at how to enhance the moulded detail on cockpit interiors via dry-brushing techniques and dark-toned washes, with the adage ‘less is more’ being a key rule of thumb.
Whenever you look into a real aircraft or vehicle, those areas furthest from the observer always appear darker, as less light is reflected from those sections. If we look at this from a purely technical aspect, for kits with moulded detail or that use laminated photo-etched parts (such as an instrument panel or interior framework), to build height/depth into an interior, merely painting these areas should be enough. More light will be reflected from the upper areas, but scale then comes into play – often the cockpits/hatches are too small, the colour scheme is monotone or the interior is too shallow for this to become noticeable, so a common modelling technique is to exaggerate these differences. While there are many ways of achieving this, we’ll stick to just the basic forms, using a combination of dry-brushing to provide highlights and washes to create shadows.
ABOVE: The cockpit of Airfix’s 1/72 Jet Provost T.3 received a protective layer of varnish prior to any highlighting or shadow effects being added.
ABOVE: For dry-brushing all that’…
