Windshields and...

[jb]

I thought this subject needed it's own place. I hope you all don't mind.
This is to just get it started...


1ComOpsCtr wrote:
...Individuals have differing ideas as to how to do the glass surfaces on vehicles. I prefer very high gloss black since that is how most vehilce windows appear when viewed directly at a distance, which will also reflect some light as they do naturally.
Will,
ComOpsCtr
JB wrote;
...I have been doing nothing but looking at vehicle "glass",since reading this passage. you are right all vehicle glass is Dark,very dark or black as you suggest.
I usaully scrape off the paint with special tools made out of needles to give the "glass' effect...
Mk1 wrote;Hmmph!
I have been using gloss dark blue for most vehicle windows for years. Also using gloss light silver-blue (used to use silver) for mostly horizontal glass surfaces (like folded-flat windscreens on jeeps, or fighter canopies).

And now this? Why this? I LIKE the way my windows turn out!

I have a 5th floor office. After reading this, I looked out my window over the parking lot. You know what? ALL THE CAR GLASS LOOKS SHINY BLACK.

Frikkin fraggin mumble-fargin no-good razzle tazzle...

Hmmph!
JB wrote;...I know the feel'n, But I'm not upset,I still like the effect I get when I do the scrape'n

ComOpsCtr writes;
"When I started painting miniatures many years ago I received an interesting bit of information from my father. Dad had spent years as a young man learning how to paint in oils, and the first time I did a 1/285th vehicle with windows (in a silver blue) he took me outside and had me look down the street at cars that were the same size (because of the distance they were away from us) to see what the glass looked like.

He also did the same thing the first time I painted a 30mm Napoleonic figure all those years ago... "Look at the object you are trying to duplicate at the same distance its size dictates, and you will see the easiest way to make it look real..."

Glass that is against something should be a different color, depending on what it is against, but glass that lets you see into something like a car interior or a building usually looks a glossy black, sometimes with streaks of light depending on what is around it, or what the light source is... and also depends on what is directly behind it. The secret is lots of high gloss clear that I usually thin so as not to make the window stick out from the model. The number of coats depends on what the vehicle is used for... (for my gaming purposes, or a diorama, or display...)

I always hold up whatever it is I am painting and compare it to an identical object that is the same distance away, making it the same size, as the object being painted. Works great for massed armies don't you know..."

Will
ComOpsCtr

_________________
JB

Target ! Cease Fire

[1ComOpsCtr]

I will post a picture that will illustrate my thinking...



Notice the cars...

Also notice the truck to the far right. Doesn't look right some how, does it?
Also note how the light reflects off the back windscreen of the pink car on the left. Its doing that itself, reflecting the lighting because of the high closs clear coat on the black paint, acting like a mirror.

Also note the window in the guard shack. That's pretty much what one looks like from that distance away, unless it is back lit by something.

Will
ComOpsCtr

[tstockton]

AU Cav,

Now what to do about the inenvitable lowered window

That one's simple -- have your commanders issue orders that windows MUST remain closed at all times!



Regards,
Tom Stockton

[1ComOpsCtr]

Gentlemen,

Here is an example of an open window (door actually). In order to make it so I opened up the entire interior, removing the top, so I would seat the Operators in their positions in the most realistic seating, since they face out from their firing positions.

Note the SAW mount for the shotgun position. I painted the windscreen black, as well as the deep shadows inside because that highlighted the crew better than other colors I tried, including very dark brown.

Not the best of conversions, but you get the idea. This was the second attempt at a Hummer Gun Truck.



Note the high-vis yellow tow strap, and the use of the same material to retain the front bumper tire that is standard on all the gun trucks I've seen, and the eye lash antenna.

As I said, not the best conversion, but it works on the table for the "hunter/killer" mounted infantry scenarios we have mixed into Convoy training.

Will
ComOpsCtr

[Pitfall]

Ok, here's a twist. I've read that in North Africa, both sides greased their truck glass so they would collect dust and therefore, not reflect light that could be detected from the air. Has anyone painted something similar in microarmor?

[jb]

Ok, here's a twist. I've read that in North Africa, both sides greased their truck glass so they would collect dust and therefore, not reflect light that could be detected from the air. Has anyone painted something similar in microarmor?

...I've not heard that one before. It sounds like something the Desrt Fox would pull.

[1ComOpsCtr]

Gentlemen,

The sand consistancy is such in parts of Africa that the dust clings to everything, much similar to the sand in Iraq, and again in other parts it is course enough to need grease or vaseline which is what I think was used, since grease might be too sticky.

Perhaps the way to best simulate the look is to gloss the glass first and dry brush dust over the finished vehicle including the glass... That way you would be duplicating the same process the sand and dust causes in the field.

Will
ComOpsCtr

[jb]

...after further consideration,isn't glass used to see through. Well ...you know if you muck it up,then you can't bloody well see through it-then why even have it?
Maybe this "dusting" was reserved for glass that layed flat,such as the windshield on a jeep or similar type of vehicle...

[GMills]

JB,
Nice idea of dusting vehicles. But don't worry about the windshield, what would a driver DO?Turn on windshield wipers. So wipe your windshields in a windshield wiper pattern and don't do a great job wiping the dust off, Army wipers suck.

[jb]

JB,
Nice idea of dusting vehicles. But don't worry about the windshield, what would a driver DO?Turn on windshield wipers. So wipe your windshields in a windshield wiper pattern and don't do a great job wiping the dust off, Army wipers suck.

did you ever find a set that didn't?