Weathering landing craft - any techniques

[rct75001]

I think (IMHO) that I have the weathering of tanks worked out.

But, I have tried to apply the same techniques of a dark wash and then highlighting to landing craft and end up with a mess.

Something tells me that the dark wash is probably not as needed given they were in the water and being washed 24/7.

Any techniques that people can share.

Thanks
Richard

[armypainter]

Maby a greenish wash for algee.

[1ComOpsCtr]

Using a series of gray dry brushings, from dark to light, might work to your advantage. The final light coat might even verge on pure white to highlight just the edges and tips... Colors exposed to constant sun tend to lighten as they age.

Unless the boats were very old they would not have much algae, plus the crews were tasked with keeping the boats clean during their down time as a form of morale adjustment and unit discipline.

If you will be using the models in the "wet" form using clear gloss in the places where water would collect will add a level of realism that won't be noticed but will look correct and be missed on those models that don't have it, by most observers.

Will
ComOpsCtr

[shipsure]

I'm scratchbuilding a number of landing craft now, and depending on the base color, several techniques can be used. On US craft in Gray, use a light to white gray around the waterline to look like dried salt. Use rust or Burn Umber around the seam lines and let it fade below.

On British Landing Craft, generally in the white and blue D-Day Scheme, use the Burnt Umber since rust will show up. Most of these craft were just painted for the operation, but you can do a little here and there to make it look right. A general wash of light grey followed by some dry brushing helps too.

Cheers

Joe