HOW TO WEATHER TACTICAL GEAR
IN THIS TUTORIAL DUST MONKEY EXPLAINS HOW YOU CAN ADD A SUPERB “WEATHERED” EFFECT TO YOUR TACTICAL GEAR. OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS there has been an ever-growing increase in themed airsoft events based in someway or form on the Post-Apocalyptic genre, from games based off games like “The Division”, “Metro 2033” and “Fallout”, right through to 3-day long, Mad Max style immersive games. With that has seen an increase in airsofters putting together kit specifically for those events, with a need for that kit to fit the game its for. A big part of that is “weathering” the kit - making it look like its been used and abused for extended periods of time. Even some regular airsofters now look to weather their kit, gun and all to give their loadout that mid-battle look, rather than everything pristine. Because, let’s be honest, think of any war film, they always look cooler dirty and worn-looking compared to the start of the film all pristine and clean. With that in mind and being asked several times a week if I had any tips for weathering gear, I thought why not put pen to paper and do a really quick and easy technique for weathering military kit!
SO, STEP ONE… WHAT YOU NEED!
You will need the following: a black spray paint, a tan spray
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paint and a khaki spray paint. (unless you don’t want a used and abused dry arid landscape look, in which case swap out the tans for browns). Personally, my favourite sprays are Krylon but they are not that cheap so by all means experiment. You will also need some material for wiping away excess paint, a course sanding brick and a wire brush. Step one, attack the item in question with the wire brush, this helps break down the material which does two things. One, it looks like its been through some action and two, it helps add depth once you start attacking it with paint. Now for this, think about where on the item wear would happen, cuffs, elbows, edges, pockets etc. Don’t just attack the entire item as no item in the world wears over its entirety. Once that stage is done I usually go over any raised edges (if it’s a plate carrier) with the course sanding brick to give them the look of being dragged, rubbed against cover etc. It is now time to bust out the black spray. One of the reasons I like Krylon, is the spray itself is quite concentrated compared to many sprays that have more of an obtuse angle for the paint to come out. So with the black you now go over the edging, spaying