Making a Prop Weathered and Old

What makes Star Wars IV (ANH) different from Star Wars I (TPM); or Star Trek TNG from Firefly; or Original Battlestar Galactica from new Battlestar Galactica?

What made the very FIRST Star Wars so cool, feel so real, become an instant classic compared to The Phantom Manace feel sad and FAKE.  Yes it was Jar-Jar!! Kill Jar-Jar.... No, wait! got off track. The thing that made the difference to me was the environment and especially the props. Dirty, dingy, real looking props.

Props that are not perfect, seem old, seem dirty, or look used just plain look better. It is easier to believe that a tool or a weapon has been with the characters through thick and thin when it looks used and dirty and dented and scratched. It is a further stretch of the imagination when a character says, "this is my trusty ray gun. my old grand-pappy gave it to me when i was 12," when the gun looks like he just picked it up from the local iPod store 5 minutes ago (a lot of Star Trek props look that way).

So this instructable is about making something look used and grungy to give it more depth.  Because let's face it... SPACE IS A DIRTY PLACE!

Step 1 What You Need

Here are the things you need:

1. Your prop
2. Black, grey, brown, tan spray paint. Any combination, from 1 to all 4.
3. Rag
4. Paint thinner or paint remover
5. gun powder (optional)
6. Dirt, mud, tar, used motor oil (optional)

Tools
1. Dremmel or sandpaper
2. hammer or a large rock
3. Blowtorch or lighter or matches

Comments

[acoleman3]

so any ideas on how to weather mhs control box #8?

[MrTinkerer]

I was on mine i was thinking of putting paint or ink on my fingers and touching the box or pressing the button(s).