Painting Technique Question

kfeltenberger · Post by **kfeltenberger** » Fri Sep 05, 2014 9:06 pm

I'm about to start painting my modern Israeli armor and had a quick question about weathering and which would be the more effective technique; pigments or washes.

My first thought was a sand colored wash over the IDF Green basecoat, but then I started thinking about pigments and after seeing a number of YouTube videos, my hesitation to this has waned.

Or am I overthinking this?

kfeltenberger · Post by **kfeltenberger** » Sat Sep 06, 2014 4:41 am

I do have an airbrush, but if the final result is similar to what is shown on GHQ's painting guide for "dusting", I think I'll pass...it made the mini look hideous IMO.

Thanks for the advice on the pigments.

Gort · Post by **Gort** » Sat Sep 06, 2014 7:39 am

Interesting. I have never had any luck using an airbrush to achieve that dusting effect at this scale. It just comes out too splattery - it's OK on 1/35 or 1/72 stuff, but not on 1/285. I use pigments. I have several sets of Tamiya pigments and they are definately not too coarse. I use a microbrush to scrub the pigment onto the surface of the model. This gives a dusty finish combined with the look of a dry brush. Then I pin wash the model and re-apply the pigment as needed to get the effect that I want. I don't try to glop the pigment on to simulate mud - a waste of effort in this scale IMO.

cheers

pmskaar · Post by **pmskaar** » Tue Sep 09, 2014 1:51 am

Like Cama, I also use an airbrush to apply the "dust".

I use Humbrol paints and will usually take a combination of various "earth" tones and add some white to the mixture. The key to this procedure is to keep the paint really thin, almost like a dirty wash. When I spray, I take care to take a couple of test shots first. I adjust my nozzle so that it isn't open too wide and spray from a fair distance so that the paint is almost dry when it hits the surface.

I suggest that you don't apply the dust too heavily. I use a pass or too and then wait to see what it looks like. If you go too heavy then you might totally obscure all the nice details that you painted on. I almost use the dust as a filter to lighten the model for a subtle weathering effect.
I also put the dust on after I decal so that any decals will look just a tad dusty as well. Once the dusting is complete, I use dullcoat to seal the model.

I have two batches of "dust" that I mix up for my vehicles. The first is for my standard European theater and the second is my Middle East and North Africa. I mix my North Africa dust with more white so that it is a very pale tan color. The European dust is a bit darker but still a bit on the lighter side.

I hope this helps.

Pete

6mmwargaming · Post by **6mmwargaming** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 4:46 pm

Like the other I use a airbrush but mostly washes these days,becuase the doont require setting up the airbrush..

I find the airbrush nice but hard to control . Typically I varnish first then spray the model with Tamiya buff and quickly wipe it with a cloth to remove the paint from the highlighted areas. Then I drybrush over the areas lightly with some base colour if I didnt wipe enough paint off. You can see the results here (although not the best picture.

Now I tend to use a oil paint wash (mix a similar colour to buff) and wash it onto the model and wipe off the excess. I'm a fan of oils because of the long frying time and capillary action (see here)

Cheers
Kieran