How to age insignia?

The insignia you buy from the store have a neat new look. And sometimes it looks weird on the uniform. Re-enactors wallow in the mud, sprinkle dust on the insignia, or walk around in uniform for a long time until it is worn out. But it takes a long time and the result is difficult to predict.

 

I will talk about the method that is used in movie production when preparing props. Normal dust contains dyes that give color to uniforms and insignias. So why do we need dust if we can only use dyes?

Dust color is yellow + grey. That is, you will need either a ready-made dust color, or 2 colors: ocher and gray. It is easy to buy paint in an art store (come to choose or online), they are sold in packages from 10 to 100 ml. You will have enough of any, the smallest amount.

In our time, acrylic paint has become very widespread: this is a fairly fresh technology. It dissolves in water and has no smell, and when it dries, it does not wash off and does not shed.

Another option is oil paint, it has been used by people for hundreds of years. It is dissolved with a solvent such as white spirit, 647, turpentine. Among the disadvantages of “oil”: the smell of a solvent, the drying time is longer than acrylic. It has no special advantages for us.

The paint needs to be diluted very strongly to get a dirty “water”. It is better to apply several layers, spend time, but get a controlled result; than to apply one, overdo it and ruin the insignia.

With a brush, saturate the fibers of the insignia with paint. You can tint only the light insignia, or you can tint the entire insignia. While the paint is liquid, it looks darker than when it dries. Wait for the paint to dry, evaluate the result and apply a second coat if necessary. The more layers, the darker (dirtier) the appearance of the insignia.

Try not to overdo it! If it seems to you that you need one more time and that's it, then stop: it's already enough.

Thus, you can not only give the “old” look to insignia, but also tint them. For example, if you purchased one insignia in one store and another in another store, and they do not match in color, then you can tint them and bring them into compliance. Or if the dark green insignia does not match the shade of the dark green cloth of the collar. Please note, here you need to have artistic skills and an understanding of the rules for mixing colors. Then from green you get dark green (not brown, for example).

Get the right quality insignias in our online store "Replika". Follow the link to buy German insignia.

Author: Anton Volchkov

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