There are various ways of doing paint chipping and one method is using store bought hairspray. Vallejo Chipping Medium claims to replicate the same effect without the mess and the smell that comes with using hairspray. It comes in the typical Vallejo drip bottle. The liquid is thick and has a slight yellowish tint.
As part of my D-Style Iron Kong build, I wanted to have a piece of metal plate in the rubble base so I decided to try this product on it. A piece of cut credit card will serve as the plate. First up I gave it a base color of black grey. Whatever color on this layer will show up after the chipping is done.
Out of the bottle the medium is very thick and I’m not sure if it will spray without thinning so I thinned it in a 1:3 ratio with water. It goes on clear and very glossy which stays that way after drying. I then gave it half a day to dry.
I wanted a checkered pattern for the plate and with bright colors so multiple passes and masking were needed. This will be a good test of the Chipping Medium to see if it’s affected by masking tape. I first sprayed white as a base, then yellow. I then masked the plate and sprayed red. The dried medium didn’t come off when I removed the masking tape. Nice.
Next the fun begins. I first wet the surface of the plate and then used various instruments to try to chip off the paint. I used a soft toothbrush, a piece of pot scrubbing sponge (the rough type), a paint brush, the tip of the handle of the paint brush and also a wet tissue. They resulted in different effects. I find the sponge easiest for edges and the end of a paint brush for beating up the flat surfaces. Once I had the effect I wanted, I dabbed the water away with a tissue to stop the paint from peeling off further.
For the beams below, I tried out handpainting Chipping Medium thinned 1:1 with water. It works fine but the top layer of paint didn’t go on smoothly due to how thick the Chipping Medium was. By swiping the sponge in one direction, I can achieve directional chipping.
Drying time for the Chipping Medium affects how easy it is to chip. The one that was dried for half a day needed some soaking and took more finessing before the paint started to peel whereas the handpainted one which I left to dry for only 15 minutes came off very quickly and easily as soon as some water is introduced.
While sponge and handpaint chipping is probably less time consuming and requires less pre-planning, I think Vallejo Chipping Medium will find a place in everyone’s tool box with its ease of us. I’m quite new at weathering and I find the effects nicer than doing chipping by other traditional methods.
~ Review courtesy of my wallet