Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Weathering Your
Prints
14
Age 3D-printed objects to look like battered metal.
W
RITTEN
BY
J
ASON
B
ABLER
Weathering plastic or wood to make it look
like aged metal (
Figure 14-1
) is an effect you
can achieve in fewer steps than most people
expect. The most basic weathering can be
done with only two paints. Here, I'll show you
how to weather and age using only three
paints. This technique is how I weathered, in
less than 10 minutes, a 3D-printed robot that
we made here at the
MAKE
offices.
Spray paint for the base coat
I chose Krylon's Fusion brand.
Black acrylic paint
Any kind will do.
Drybrushes
The ones from
MicroMark
work well. Al-
ternately, you can take an old brush that
has a lot of bristles and cut the end off
so it's flat.
Other brushes
Use a script brush or other thin brush
suitable for details.
The Mega Make robot, designed by
Make: Labs intern Dan Spangler, is
comming soon as a downloadable,
1. Pick a BaseCoat
The white piece shown in
Figure 14-2
is ac-
tually from the back of the robot. It was 3D-
printed here at the
MAKE
office. I painted the
robot bright red, to mimic our Maker Faire
robot mascot. I chose Krylon's Fusion brand,
with the right red I was looking for. It dries
pretty quickly and adheres to plastic really
well. I skipped the priming process, but you
can put this paint over primer easily enough.
Figure 14-1.
The aged metal look
Here's what you'll need:
