Tutorial: Applying battle damages.

This is a simple tutorial of the battle damage I did on a project I did about two years ago.
This was done on a Perfect Grade Zeta and was the first time I did battle damage.

For battle damage, I used just two items of of the many that pro modellers use; a soldering iron and toothpicks.
I use toothpicks to initially make the bullet holes. To do that, I light up the tip of the toothpick on fire with a candle then blow it out. While the toothpick is still hot, I stick the toothpick into the part where I want the bullet hole. The char from the burnt toothpick will also transfer to the bullet hole and adds more burn texture versus just poking or drilling a hole and then weathering it. I do this one or multiple times on the same hole, depending on the size of the bullet hole. After that I use a soldering iron to add depth to the hole and that melted metal look. And using the soldering iron you can also give the bullet hole direction or a ricochet effect.

For explosion damage, like getting hit by a grenade, rocket or missile, I use just the soldering iron. I start by choosing a point of impact. Using the soldering iron, I drag the tip of the soldering iron from the point of impact then away from it, making lines in all directions. Don't let the soldering iron sit on one spot for a very long time or it will melt through the plastic. Once I have made all my lines and is happy with the size of the explosion, I expand the point of impact.

For shrapnel damage from explosions, I also use the soldering iron. I only let the very tip of the soldering iron graze the plastic to minimize the size of the scar. The same technique can also be used for beam saber damage. Just make the scar bigger and longer.

 

Next will be painting the battle damage along with weathering via dry brushing.