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I recently did some research into applying weathering effects to my Chaos Space Marine's armor. I was surprised that practically all of the sources I consulted used painting techniques to convey scratches/scrapes/dents and the like. I had expected to find at least some examples of physical alterations to achieve these effects. Obviously, there are reasons why this would not always be the best choice, wanting to be able to strip/repaint/repurpose a model for example. Also, you would likely still have to paint in such a way as to properly convey depth/texture etc.

I recently finished a model which featured some pre-molded cuts/scratches and it led me to thinking about it again. So, what's your opinion on the subject?

The damage I referred to is visible in the images below, on the impaled Space Marine helmet.



Thanks for sharing your opinions!
Heretic Tom

I think the big problem is if you cut and scratch the model it tends to...peel I guess would be the best word?

It is a plastic model when cut and scratched it tends to scratch and peel like plastic. Where things like metal tend to get dented around the area then the scratch.

So I think unless you plan to cut a larger then wanted area and sculpt the damage it just wouldn't work well.

There's nothing wrong at all with applying "real" damage to the model rather than painting damage on. It's really common on things like buildings and tanks, where bullet holes (drilled with a pin vice) and actual torn bits make the model much more convincing.

A lot of weathering on models, though, are small and numerous, and it would be very time consuming to nick all the bits just so. Plus, mistakes are quite hard to undo, unlike paint, which is easy enough to correct. OgreChubbs also makes a good point that it's not always easy to make damaged metal look convincing. I think that in many cases, using both techniques together yields the best results.

its been done plenty. depends how heavily damaged you want your model to look.

I have a weathering dvd which shows a guy stabbing a tank with a pin before painting. He them applied an oil wash wiping off the excess so the pin marks were just tiny brown dots. He then dragged a damp brush down across these marks which then dragged some of the trapped paint down the model creating very realistic rust stains.


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I went a bit further with this puppy:

 bubber wrote:
I have a weathering dvd which shows a guy stabbing a tank with a pin before painting. He them applied an oil wash wiping off the excess so the pin marks were just tiny brown dots. He then dragged a damp brush down across these marks which then dragged some of the trapped paint down the model creating very realistic rust stains.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I went a bit further with this puppy:

Interesting. That land raider is the most realistically rusty, corroded looking model I have ever seen

Cheers Mr Tom.
The only paint on it is the metallics, the rest is weathering powders over a base of Halford's red oxide primer.