28 December 2011

Tutorial - Realistic Spiderwebs


Posted by Raffa, Picster, Capuchin,....

Hello dear reader!

I know many, many, many people asked for this tutorial for a long time and it was really annoying to keep it a secret... but today this will change ;)



In the beginning i will write a small introduction:
At first i discovered this effect by mistake, as i always experiment with new stuff sometimes i put weird stuff on my brush and airbrush and one of this experiments was finally bringing some nice effect....

So to achieve the effect you need the following:
- Airbrush with middle-big sized nozzle (0,03-0,06mm nozzle will work for sure)
- Pelikan Antique Varnish (german: Pelikan Krakelee Reißlack) - Buy it here to support me :)
- Water
- Something to spray it on :)


Ok, to start some important notes:
- The effect is good for display miniatures because it will stay a little fragile.
- It is not hard, it will stay flexible just like real spiderwebs.
- it will be destroyed by too much wind and/or water.
- like real spiderwebs these spiderwebs will connect between two points of your object.
- spray after everything is painted, spraying before basecoating will destroy the webs.

Now to get the effect just put a small amount of water in your airbrush FIRST and then add some of the Pelikan Antique Effect to your airbrush.
The ratio is about 20% water, 80% PAE...


Too much water and no spiderwebs will be created and old spiderwebs will be destroyed.
Too much PAE and you can't spray the mix with your airbrush.

Now to spray the webs on your mini you have to spray with very very low pressure and large color amount. On a double action airbrush this means you have to pull your lever to the back and then press it down very gently.
If you got the right mix and pressure your airbrush will make some special sound (almost whistling) and you will see spiderwebs appearing slowly.
Don't spray with too much pressure or your webs will be just blown away.

The effect is not 100% controllable, you will see spiderwebs appearing on your workbench at the sides of where you are spraying (just a warning)... you can "catch" these floatingwebs with your mini to add some more webs :)
To add more webs, just continue with spraying more spiderwebs slowly, don't overdo it with your pressure or you will loose some of your old webs....

So, that's about all the secret.... and a lot of trial and error ;)
You have to get some experience with this stuff to use it in a perfect way....

And now for "the most important" step...
AFTER SPRAYING THIS EFFECT, CLEAN YOUR AIRBRUSH CAREFULLY.
The PAE will really cog your airbrush badly if you don't clean it right away!


If you want to support me in any way for sharing one of my long kept secrets you can buy the Liquid you need for this effect in my webshop that will launch officially tommorow!
Here's the Link

Hope you liked this tutorial and i hope to see spiderwebs on many miniatures in the future!

Cheers,
Raffa

26 comments:

  1. Finally the secret is revealed ;P I will give It a shot and post some results on our blog soon :P

    ReplyDelete
  2. Uuuhhh, i see a lot of spider webs comming next time. . .^^
    Thx for the Tut. . . . damn, i need an Airbrush-Set

    ReplyDelete
  3. looks wicked man, thanks..archived this.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thankyou for sharing Raffa, and best wishes for the launch of your new store!

    ReplyDelete
  5. oraldesigner aka LutzDecember 29, 2011 at 6:43 AM

    Yeah...been waiting for that. Damn...I knew it, should have asked the fat red hooded man for an airbrush...;-)
    Raffa am I allowed to make a wish: please can you show that in real at the workshop in Hamburg in january , pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssee? Heiko has got an Airbrush, so don´t bother about bringing your compressor..;-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for the tips, and for your shop, order sent ;)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Danke dir, wobei ich ein klein wenig schmunzeln muss ^^ was die plötzliche veröffentlichung angeht :D

    Gruß Manu

    ReplyDelete
  8. Damn, thats really fantastic,thanks for sharing this! Your new Shop is great, good luck with it and I hope there will be many products next time :) Mmmh I need an airbrush ... wich compressor do you use ?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dear CrazyWenky :)
    it's still an english blog so please write english.
    Regarding your comment... i wanted to wait until my webshop is ready... this took really long as i had many problems gathering my products together (especially the busts).. i don't quite get what you mean? You can write me on facebook, this will be easier :)

    Cheers,
    Raffa

    ReplyDelete
  10. Finally the secret is revealed...yeah!

    ReplyDelete
  11. this looks so realistic, unbelievable !
    So no, Fus Ro Dah ! when working with this technique :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks for sharing, I was waiting to know how they were done.

    MA5X

    ReplyDelete
  13. Danke fürs Teilen Raffa, ich hoffe du bekommst etwas von der Community zurück. Manch anderer hätte den Trick vielleicht für ewig für sich behalten.

    Gruß Dirk

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi there.
    You had the same result with Gunze Sangyo Clear and turpentine, as explained in "Static model manual. Painting and weathering tanks" vol. 1
    (Auriga Publishing 2003)Keep on doing the good job.
    Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  15. It´s realy phantastic. If I had known this technic....!!!.

    How much time I spent making my spider webs in this figure.

    http://santimolto.blogspot.com.es/2011/01/pintura-de-conan-de-nocturna-models.html

    ReplyDelete
  16. Has anyone figured out how to make these more resilient? Maybe some PVA in the mix?

    ReplyDelete
  17. How do you suggest cleaning your airbrush afterwards? Plenty of water to start with but is regular airbrush cleaner enough or do i need something a bit more aggressive?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Could this be done with other cracle mediums?
    Like the one from Folkarts?
    I tried it with the cracle medium from Folkarts but either the airbrush clogged, at a low pressure nothing came out, at a higher pressure it was like a varnish?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hey André,

    to be honest, I have absolutely no clue.
    Can be that it works, can be that you clog your airbrush.

    I heard that some heavy hairsprays work.

    Cheers
    Raffa

    ReplyDelete
  20. The link for the product doesn't work. Does that mean you don't have the product to sell or the product no longer exists? If it exists where can I buy it? If it doesn't do you have another option? Thanks for your help..

    ReplyDelete
  21. Nice to be visiting your blog again, it has been months for me. Well this article that i've been waited for so long.
    pest control san antonio

    ReplyDelete
  22. Clearly you're a wizard, I've tried a handful of different crackles and hairsprays with different nozzle sizes to no effect other than lacquering the model

    ReplyDelete
  23. many years ago I had to build a diorama of an old garage and needed plenty of realistic cobwebs and I used clear laquer and reduced it just enough to spray through a Pasche double action and gently feathered it across any corners and it made incredible miniature webs

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hi, I just fouind out that Pelikan Krakelee Reißlack has been discontinued by the manufactuer. Is there something else we can use instead please?

    ReplyDelete