Airbushing DIY: How to Paint a Denim Effect on Plastic

The various textures of everyday materials fascinate me. Denim is one of those things. So, for this second airbrush project, I wanted to achieve a blue-jeans inspired look for my Gundam Beargguy model kit. I'm still at the amateur level when it comes to gunpla and airbrush painting that's why I kept the steps simple. Industrial spray paint was used, decanted for airbrushing.

These were the steps I did. Note that all parts were painted with primer before adding the colors. Make sure that paint dries fully before proceeding to the next step.

 Step 1: I used a cream color base (50/ 50 cream and white mixture)
Step 2: I pre-shaded the edges with black paint.
Step 2: Using gauze each, part was covered and secured. In this case, I used hairpins, because that's the available material at hand. Safety pins would have been easier to manage.

Step 3: No. 21 Blue was applied to all parts. After painting, the gauze was removed to let the paint fully dry.

Step 4: I repeated step 2, this time applying No. 28 Dark Blue paint. 

Step 5: Remove gauze and allow to dry.

That's it - a simple and easy way to paint denim effect. The output resulted in an approximation of denim, but not too realistic because the spaces in between the threads are not to fine. Perhaps a better result could be achieved with double or triple layer of gauze. Maybe next time, I'll try that.