The Bugs Won
Unfortunately due to the current lockdown all non-essential stores are closed which meant I couldn't purchase the black paintpen needed to complete my UD-4L Cheyenne Dropship noseart and I missed publishing this on #AlienDay.
However, it has come on leaps and bounds in the last few days and I am on the homestretch.
Cutting out the Stencil
This was a bear of a job and makes me yearn for a stencil cutting machine or a laser cutter. Being a complete idiot I didn't think about printing the stencil on my 3D Printer. Once this is over I will design one and put it on thingiverse and save everyone the tedium of hand cutting a stencil.
Airbrushing the Graphics
The original artwork is a bit flat and I wanted the elements to have a bit of a 3D feel to them. Once each base coat was dry I shot the eagle with a lighter brown in the middle, then both text ribbons got a darker bottom shade of blue and red respectively and the beak got a light yellow highlight. I did not highlight the boots, soles or the bullet casings as these were relatively small areas of colour and could not be masked easily.
Peeling off the masking
I asked one of my similarly aged work colleagues "What is the most fun you can have with a bottle of Copydex glue?". I was not dissapointed when they responded with the answer "peeling it off your hand like it's rotting skin". This was a a rite of passage in the 80s.
The act of peeling off the masking gave me the exact same satisfying feeling mixed with the rush you get when you open a mystery present or solve a really hard puzzle. The results exceeded my expectations.
Blacklining
As I mentioned above the blacklining needed a thin black marker and all the shops are shut due to the lockdown, so this had to wait until I made an "essential" shopping trip a few days later. I managed to get two sharpies a fine and ultra fine twin tip and a fine tip for just £2. The process of lining was pretty simple and I'm sure you will agree it makes the world of difference.
Panel Lines & Rivets
The piece de resistance in this artwork is of course adding the panel lines and rivets, after all this is supposed to be painted on the side of a USCMC Dropship. I followed the excellent Youtube tutorial from Airbrush Asylum and I think it turned out okay.
Video
For those interested (probably not very many) I did put together a little montage of the stenciling part of this project. Enjoy...
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