During a recent visit to my LHS, I chanced upon a display of Vallejo stencils – something I’d not come across before. One in particular caught my eye as being worth checking out – a weathered paint stencil. 

Depending on the situation and what type of paint I’m using, I’d normally use either a weathering fluid, or something like coarse salt, or liquid latex applied with a scrap of scouring pad. Vallejo’s stencil aims to produce a similar effect – but with the benefit of being reusable.

The mask occupies a 6cm square in a sheet of nicely flexible translucent material. My only complaint is that much more of the sheet could have been devoted to the masking pattern. As it is, I’ll probably keep the spare material to use for scribing guides. 

There aren’t any instructions included, but I'll cut out the stencil from the sheet and probably also break it up into multiple smaller sections. This will not only make it easier to position on a model, but will allow you to create endless random patterns of wear. 

The sheet is nominally 1:72, but the pattern seems very large for that scale – to my eyes it will replicate quite heavy wear in 1:32 or larger.

Conclusion

I paid £4.50 for my sheet, which seems fair for a product that should last for years if you look after it. I’ll certainly give a try on a future build and will be interested to see the results. 

AIR002 is available from Vallejo now. 

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