Random Scuffs & Scratches

[Logan Hartke]

So, I'm working on trying to make a nice, high-resolution, high detail fighter profile, and I'm having trouble with an easy way to make the random scratches, scuffs, etc. that accumulate on an aircraft in use. Any suggestions from the pros?

Here's a detail shot of the aircraft side at 100% as it stands right now. Obviously, it has no pattern of scratches because I don't know of a good way to do it.



I'm using Photoshop CS5.

Thanks in advance!

Cheers,

Logan

[gamary]

I don't know any unique way of doing it. My technique is based on numerous layers containing spaced-out or rather transparent scratches, stains and other marks. By multiplying the layers, you obtain something which looks somewhat natural and with no pattern. HTH.

[BLOWHARD]

He 100? Raised rivets? I'm pretty sure those should be flush. I do see the skin is pretty dimpled where the flush rivets are though. Not to be nitpicky, but check the fasteners of the access hatch too and the wing fillet. Screws I think...but no detail photos.
Of course this might not be a He 100 in which case what I just said doesn't count

I have a bunch of different textures layered on top of one another. I use the magic wand in various ways to get different selections using one or more of those textures. It's pretty complicated but it works pretty nice.

[Logan Hartke]

He 100? Raised rivets? I'm pretty sure those should be flush. I do see the skin is pretty dimpled where the flush rivets are though. Not to be nitpicky, but check the fasteners of the access hatch too and the wing fillet. Screws I think...but no detail photos.
Of course this might not be a He 100 in which case what I just said doesn't count

Yep, He 100. Making some What If operational profiles for fun. You guys pretty much have the "historical" thing covered, so I enjoy a bit of fun with the more fanciful profiles.

As for the rivets and fasteners, it's not done, that was more testing technique than anything. I was going to pull the lighting and shading on the rivets themselves way back. As for the screws, probably, but again, this is unfinished so I hadn't done that detail yet. As you said, there's no great detail photos, which is both the blessing and the curse of some of the more obscure aircraft I profile. Curse because it's hard to get it right, blessing because it's harder to prove me wrong!

Also, this is hypothetical production, so I imagine certain corners would be cut in production compared to the more hand-built racers and prototypes. I'm actually using pictures of 109s in service to get more of the weathering and such right.

I have a bunch of different textures layered on top of one another. I use the magic wand in various ways to get different selections using one or more of those textures. It's pretty complicated but it works pretty nice.

Yeah, that's the route I go down for most of my other weathering. Unfortunately, most of the textures in Photoshop are 128x128 and my image is 7200x3600 pixels, so it doesn't take long before patterns begin repeating. Scaling cures that for many texture uses, but not when you need little scratches all over the place. May I ask, are your textures standard ones or did you download them somewhere?

Cheers,

Logan

[GiantFlyingRobots]

I do it entirely with brushes. Lots of custom brushes.

[inkworm]

Depends on what will be showing through but if it's nmf then I'll create a full layer of metal with reflections, mask it off and then paint back in what is needed, for brushes I just one or two of the default rough ones and take the tip size right down.

Sure that we've had this discussion before but normally buried in some profile thread so could be good to have a definitive thread for this sort of thing.

[BLOWHARD]

I also use brushes and depending on the scratches, I'll also use a bare metal layer too.
Also varying the size is very important too, not to mention varying shapes. No repeats, that pretty important. Also sharpness, fuzzy edges chips are no good
I think in most cases, you have to bite the bullet and take the time to do the scratches right. Even with tricks and shortcuts it's very time consuming.
One more thing, LOOK AT PHOTO REFERENCE! Make sure what you end up with matches what happens to the real things. Too many people just imagine what they should look like rather than looking at the photos.

Hey Logoan, finished or not, accurate or not, it does look pretty nice!
Most of us here are accuracy nuts. But if you want a certain look over accuracy, that's ok too. I'm sure the whole thing looks very impressive at this level of detail!!!
By the way, when can we see the whole thing?

[Logan Hartke]

Yeah, paint chips are a different subject and are covered in a tutorial thread. I was mainly asking about the different scuffs and things that you can easily see marring the paint (or at least brushing off the dust!) but not actually getting through to the bare metal underneath.

I'll absolutely post the whole aircraft when I get pretty close to happy with it. Then I'll be asking for general comments and critiques and trying to fix what I can do easily. Some more difficult fixes may just have to be lessons learned for future profiles. Strive for perfection with every profile and you'll never finish a one!

Cheers,

Logan

[Logan Hartke]

Well, I was able to get some random scratch and dent layers done, but I still have some more to work on. I've done paint chips in the past, too, but I'm going to try a layer mask this time around. That is one of the next things I have on my "to do" list. Tonight, though, I mainly focused on the spinner and prop details. You can see the different kinds of rivets on the aircraft, reflecting the raised nature of some and the flat nature of others.



Cheers,

Logan

[Mangas]

This is really impressive detailed work, Logan Hartke.
The only thing I would re-concider is the prop blade manufacturer badge that is quite flat comparing to the perspective blade surface it's on. Maybe try to "overlay" for this layer so it's more "coherent"?