Dappling

I have had a request for details on how I do the dapples on my models. I have two different methods, one is airbrushed the other is pastelled.

For the airbrush dapples I use a darker shade of paint than the body color and a double action airbrush. I press down the trigger until I have a steady stream of air coming out, then slowly pull back until I have just a teeny bit of paint coming out. Then I begin making figure "8"s on the horse. I overlap them a bit and try to avoid doing them in straight lines to achieve a more natural look. Then, depending on what look I am going for, I spray a light coat of the base color over it or a light coat of the darker color over it to blend it. Several layers with a darker gray blended over it will get you this look...

One layer gets this, this horse is still in progress and has had no blending in this photo...

Using this process you can do large irregular dapples or small regular ones. It is good for subtle dappling as well.

The other method I use is pastel dappling. This is something I usually only use when I am doing a very light or fleabitten gray. To achieve this I use a stubby small paintbrush and the desired shade of gray. I just scrub the pastel dust onto the model in little circular patterns, doing several layers and sealing with Testor's Dullcote in between. I then do a light dusting over it of a light gray or brown (depending on if I am doing a rose or regular gray) to kind of soften them. I used this for this horse...