Dry Brushing For Beginners: Simple Techniques For Maximum Realism

Dry brushing is a widely used method for adding weathering effects to models, such as buildings, locomotives, and rolling stock. It's an easy method to learn and provides a range of great weathering effects. From subtle wear and tear to more heavy weathering like rust effects. It's recommended to practice on a spare model or kit, or even a scrap of card, plastic or laserboard… whatever you have to hand.  Once you've mastered dry brushing and are satisfied with the outcome, you can confidently apply this method to enhance your future modelling projects.

Top Tip: Local model shops often have bargain bins with old models, these are a reliable source for use as practice pieces.

How Dry Brushing Enhances A Model

Dry brushing is a great way to give a model the appearance of being weathered and worn, such as weathered wood on gates & doors. It can also be used to enhance concrete paving slabs, brick and stone walls too by highlighting edges and rough surfaces

Dry-brushed weathered doors & windows really enhance a model.

What do tools & materials do I need for dry brushing?

To begin dry brushing a model, you will need the following materials:

• Modelling paintbrushes in assorted sizes
• Acrylic paints in assorted colours (white, venetian red, raw umber, burnt sienna, buff titanium & neutral grey make a great starting point)
• Piece of cardboard
• Rag or kitchen paper towel
• Jar of water to rinse your brush

My preferred paints for dry brushing are artists acrylics from The Range or similar.

What method should I use for dry brushing?

Below we'll give you two typical examples and methods used for dry brushing.

Example 1: Weathering a wooden door

1. Apply a thin coat of light-coloured acrylic paint to the door or wood component. As this will form a solid base, you can use a rattle can or airbrush for this if you prefer.
   
2. Dry-brushing seems like quite a wasteful technique as more paint ends up wiped onto your tissue or rag than your model, so you could say it's more of a mindset thing! Once you get over the fact that you're wiping most of the paint off, it's quite fun and easy to do. So now we need to get a really tiny amount of paint on a relatively wide brush. Rather than squeezing loads of paint out into a pallet or onto a saucer, it's easier, particularly if you're just working on a set of doors like the ones in the photo above, to get the paint directly from the tube by poking the brush just a little way into the tube!
   
3. Now wipe most of the paint off onto your tissue! You want just enough paint on your brush to make a kind of "smudge" on your workpiece, rather than paint solid colour. I can't stress this enough… you want hardly any paint at all!
   
4. Now begin carefully & lightly brushing over the components you want to weather. If there's too much paint (there is a bit too much grey on my brush in the picture below). Remember to brush in the direction of the wood grain, rain/waterflow etc for best effect. Note the brush swipe on the left of the laserboard I'm working on below where I tested the amount of paint I had on my brush… and there was still too much!
   
5. Apply further coats of different colours as required. Here we added a bit of Burnt Umber. The effect is subtle, but when it's all finished and the model is assembled, it should look spot on!
   
6. For larger architectural components like the garage doors below, it's easier to get a bit more creative as you have more room to work than with things like bargeboards. You also have the choice of weathering the individual components, or painting them once assembled. We decided to weather ours before assembly as the windows needed glazing.
   
   So, the first step was to dry brush some neutral grey over all of the components including the wooden windowsill for this kit.
7. Next, we gently applied a coat of Burnt Umber and Buff Titanium where necessary. We wanted a generally mucky & weathered look to all of the wooden components for this kit.
   
8. The wonderful thing about dry brushing is it's entirely up to you as to when it's finished. You can apply as much or as little as you like. We kept applying random coats of Burnt Umber, Neutral Grey and Buff Titanium until we had suitably scruffy garage doors.
   
   We then used Burnt Sienna, applied with the smallest paintbrush in the set so simulate rust stains around the areas where the hinges are to be fitted.
9. To detail the doors, this particular kit as hinge overlays which are super tiny, but still need a bit of detail. So we painted these with black acrylic. Allowed it to dry thoroughly then painted over them with Burnt Sienna to add a slight rust tinge to them. It's very subtle, but that's the effect we want on the completed kit.
   
10. Once assembled, we get to appreciate how all the colours and layers work together to enhance the finished model.
    
    The rusty patches around the door hinges I think work particularly well… In fact, to be totally honest they make be grin like a big kid when I look at them!
11. Of course, if you're building a model that you'll be able to see inside… don't forget to detail the inner face of the doors too!
    

Example 2: Worn metal steps using the likes of our LX453-OO Industrial Stairs kit.

1. Apply a thin coat of matt acrylic spray can paint in a black colour, for example, and allow it to dry.
2. Dip a small flat modelling paint brush into silver or grey-coloured matt acrylic paint.
3. Wipe the brush across a kitchen paper towel or sheet of paper to remove as much of the paint from the brush, as possible.
4. The brush should have the bare minimum amount of paint on it.
5. On the stair steps, work the brush using a forward/backward motion to apply the silver or grey-coloured paint.
6. On painted metal steps, the paint will tend to wear away along the front edges and on the centre sections of the steps.
7. Wipe away any excess paint with a rag.
8. The effect will give the impression that the stairs are heavily used, hence the painted surface on the stair treads being worn away.

Example: Worn rusty metal steps.

1. Apply a thin base coat of matte acrylic spray rattle can paint in the colour of your choice and allow it to dry.
2. For rusty colours, use oranges, dark reds, and browns.
3. Start with a brown or darker red colour.
4. Dip a small flat modelling paintbrush into matte acrylic paint.
5. Wipe the brush across a kitchen paper towel or paper sheet to remove as much paint from the brush as possible.
6. The brush should have the minimum amount of paint on it.
7. On the stair steps/treads, work the brush using a circular motion to the top of the step. For the front edge use a downward motion with the brush.
8. Wipe with a rag to remove any excess paint that is not required.
9. Repeat the process by applying a lighter brown or lighter red colour towards the centre of the step. Again, use a rag to wipe away any excess paint.
10. Repeat the process by applying a little orange colour to represent newer rust. Again, use a rag to wipe away any excess paint.

The above method will give the impression that the stairs are unused and have been exposed to the elements for many years. For example, an abandoned factory, an industrial site, or a scrap yard. Marine locations such as metal stairways on a seaside pier are exposed to seawater, resulting in heavy rusting effects.

Subtle dry brush weathered doors & timberwork 

A few tips for dry brushing

• For light weathering, use light touches when dry brushing. You want to create a subtle natural effect rather than a heavy one.
• Try using a variety of colours to create different weathering and worn effects. For example, you could use a light brown for the base coat followed by a dark brown coat as a simple weathering effect.
• Experiment and practice. Try using different techniques. That way you'll find what methods work best for you. You may prefer to use a circular motion when dry brushing or instead, prefer to use a back-and-forth motion with the brush.
• Dry brushing is a great and easy way to add realism and character to your models.

You mentioned weathered worn effects. What other examples using dry brushing can you suggest?

• Subtle wear and tear: This effect can be achieved by using a light touch and a variety of colours.
• Dramatic weathering: This effect can be achieved by using a heavier touch and a single colour or a variety of colours.
• Rust: This effect can be achieved by using a light brown or orange colour for the base coat. Then apply dark brown or darker reds for the weathering.
• Heat effects on chrome exhaust pipes: Chrome exhaust pipes often feature effects from the heat of the exhaust gases, which can have various shades of bluish colours.
• Wood grain: This effect can be achieved by using a light green for the base coat and a dark green for the weathering.

Is it paint that is just used for dry brushing?

The dry brushing method can also be used with weathering powders and weathering pastels. Again, use a very minimal amount of weathering powder on the brush when applying it to the model. Once the weathering powder/pastels have been applied, use a flat dry brush to blend them into and across the surface of the model.

Removing excess weathering powder - Dry Brushing

In conclusion

Dry brushing is a versatile technique that can be used to create a variety of effects on models. Practice on an old, cheap model or scrap models, to learn and try which methods work best for you. With a little bit of practice, you'll be able to create realistic weathered effects, from weathered doors and rusty metal steps to dusty and muddy effects, and more.

Let me know how you get on in the comments below!