![\"Issue](\"https:\/\/www.disneyexperience.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/mfbj14_01.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nBefore I began this month’s build\u2014mainly consisting of upper hull frame and panels\u2014I finished last month’s build by painting and weathering the lower hull. This took about two weeks to complete, but it marks another major milestone in the build.<\/p>\n Oh, and did I mention that issue 50 marks the halfway point in the build? It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year already.<\/p>\n I bought a set of sponge sticks<\/a> (for smoke effects), and a cheap circle template<\/a> (for various dots) for use in future weathering effects and details.<\/p>\n The key to painting and weathering the Millennium Falcon is painting a logical progression of layers.<\/p>\n I start off with the hull panels (completed last month), followed by some gray markings that suggest additional panel separations. For those, I used Steve Dymszo’s tip of using Post-It<\/em> notes as quick masking sheets. They were quickly applied and removed, and they didn’t ruin any existing paint. Perfect!<\/p>\n Next, it was time to dirty the hull up a bit. I borrowed some techniques from FichtenFoo<\/a>‘s excellent Millennium Falcon discoloration tutorials. Although he used oil paints, the techniques worked similarly for my acrylic paints.<\/p>\n Working in sections, I first wet the area, then applied blotches of navy blue, brown, and dark rust. Using a damp brush, I quickly streaked and smeared the colors. This gave some nice dirt and rust streaks, although I quickly learned to back off a bit on the dark rust because it was too overpowering. It warmed the hull way too much for what I wanted, and the hull is already a warm color.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nTools<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nLower Hull: Painting & Weathering<\/h2>\n
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