How I Flocked Up
Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2018 12:06 pm
Flocking for the inexperienced.
Here is a tip from a non-expert. This is my first time trying this and I am pleased with the results. If you haven't tried flocking up a model I recommend giving it a try.
Here are the tools I used:
Firstly, add the flocking material into the condiment bottle. It will take a bit of time and patience, I used a funnel to help. It also helps to this part in a box of some sort to catch the spillage. Only fill the bottle about 3/4 of the way. You want some air at the top.
Secondly, I mixed up a bit of paint. You want the mix on the thick side. Here I used black because that was the color of flocking that I am using. You would vary the shade of paint to match the flocking. Please note, you shouldn't use any paint that dries quickly. You have to get the paint down and the flocking on while still wet. Donjer sells a color-matched adhesive but why buy an adhesive when paint works.
Work in sections, paint the area that you want flocked. If you have features (like seats) that will need to be glued on, leave space for those. You want to avoid gluing anything on top of the flocking.
Take the bottle of flocking material and give it a good shake to loosen any clumps. You are not going to pour the material onto the paint, but rather "puff" it on. This only takes a few seconds of practice. What I did was to jiggle the bottle so that the flocking material was mostly on one side, but not all the way down to the nozzle. The squeeze will force the air out of the bottle and will pick up the flocking material on the way out. If the flocking material is covering up the nozzle, it will just dump out. That might work too, but you will use more than you need. Just puff away and cover the painted area completely. This whole process can be messy, so plan out your work area in advance. I worked inside of a cardboard box to catch the over-puff®. You can re-use any leftover flocking material if you are a cheap fatherless person, but it will have some dust and other contaminants. I meant to say miserly or parsimonious, if only there was some way to go back and change what I typed...
Repeat by painting the next section right up to the last one. Plan out your sections so that the edge of your section meets up with the edge of model. Clear as mud right? Just try not to have your sections meet up in the open area as a line may be visible.
Here is my result. Small side note: This particular kit doesn't have any positioning features for the seat. I want to get the dash in before I decide on the placement. Once I figure that out I will scrape off a small section.
Now I didn't just pluck all of this out of thin air. To give credit where due I watch a lot of videos by Tom Ruijter on The Scalemodeling Channel (all of them really). He uses a tea strainer to deposit the material. I didn't have one of those so I came up with the method above and think it works well. He has a specific video on this subject that may explain better than I did. In fact, I would recommend his channel to everybody that even thinks they may want to build a car. I have learned a lot from him.
He also uses flocking materials from Scale Productions. It is much easier for me (and likely the rest of North America) to use products available here. If you use that product you would want to use a much smaller squeeze bottle. Their product comes in 15g jars, the Donjer that I used came in a 1 lb bag (~450 g). I will say that the SP brand has more colors. Choose accordingly.
Here is a tip from a non-expert. This is my first time trying this and I am pleased with the results. If you haven't tried flocking up a model I recommend giving it a try.
Here are the tools I used:
- Donjer Flocking Material - Black
- Abteilung 502 Oderless Thinner
- Abteilung 502 Black
- Condiment Squeeze Bottle
- Paint brush of your choice (or your finger if that is the way you roll- I try not to judge)
Firstly, add the flocking material into the condiment bottle. It will take a bit of time and patience, I used a funnel to help. It also helps to this part in a box of some sort to catch the spillage. Only fill the bottle about 3/4 of the way. You want some air at the top.
Secondly, I mixed up a bit of paint. You want the mix on the thick side. Here I used black because that was the color of flocking that I am using. You would vary the shade of paint to match the flocking. Please note, you shouldn't use any paint that dries quickly. You have to get the paint down and the flocking on while still wet. Donjer sells a color-matched adhesive but why buy an adhesive when paint works.
Work in sections, paint the area that you want flocked. If you have features (like seats) that will need to be glued on, leave space for those. You want to avoid gluing anything on top of the flocking.
Take the bottle of flocking material and give it a good shake to loosen any clumps. You are not going to pour the material onto the paint, but rather "puff" it on. This only takes a few seconds of practice. What I did was to jiggle the bottle so that the flocking material was mostly on one side, but not all the way down to the nozzle. The squeeze will force the air out of the bottle and will pick up the flocking material on the way out. If the flocking material is covering up the nozzle, it will just dump out. That might work too, but you will use more than you need. Just puff away and cover the painted area completely. This whole process can be messy, so plan out your work area in advance. I worked inside of a cardboard box to catch the over-puff®. You can re-use any leftover flocking material if you are a cheap fatherless person, but it will have some dust and other contaminants. I meant to say miserly or parsimonious, if only there was some way to go back and change what I typed...
Repeat by painting the next section right up to the last one. Plan out your sections so that the edge of your section meets up with the edge of model. Clear as mud right? Just try not to have your sections meet up in the open area as a line may be visible.
Here is my result. Small side note: This particular kit doesn't have any positioning features for the seat. I want to get the dash in before I decide on the placement. Once I figure that out I will scrape off a small section.
Now I didn't just pluck all of this out of thin air. To give credit where due I watch a lot of videos by Tom Ruijter on The Scalemodeling Channel (all of them really). He uses a tea strainer to deposit the material. I didn't have one of those so I came up with the method above and think it works well. He has a specific video on this subject that may explain better than I did. In fact, I would recommend his channel to everybody that even thinks they may want to build a car. I have learned a lot from him.
He also uses flocking materials from Scale Productions. It is much easier for me (and likely the rest of North America) to use products available here. If you use that product you would want to use a much smaller squeeze bottle. Their product comes in 15g jars, the Donjer that I used came in a 1 lb bag (~450 g). I will say that the SP brand has more colors. Choose accordingly.
