Posting step-by-step pics of works in progress are tricky, as I tend to jump around from project to project (while waiting for one or the other to dry or whatever). Also I can get an awful lot done in an evening, and don’t necessarily want to stop so I can take a picture…
Luckily I got some work in for about an hour or so this morning while the kidz were occupying themselves…
(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)
Step One – the main colour. I do a light dry bruch over pretty much everything with the main colour, then go in and… well… not really “highlight”, but make the colours more solid. I paint vehicles pretty much the same way I paint everything else – solid blocks of colour painting up to the edge of every piece leaving a black like in the recesses…
I’m using Deco Art Americana “Plantation Pine” - close enough for me…!
I know. It looks a little dark, but trust me it won’t look half bad when I’m done – and it’s quick!!
Do keep in mind I’m not painting to win any competitions – I paint for the tabletop! I’d rather models be on the tabletop than on my workbench, so my approach might be seen as quick and nasty. That being said I do try to do a decent enough job that they look good on the tabletop!
Step Two – black out non-main colour areas. Anything that got the main colour (green, in this case) on it that I don’t want to be that colour gets a bit of black on it. For this it’s mostly the tires, the small amount of stowage, and the shovel/axe-handle/pry-bar. The commander I managed to not get much green on, but if I had I’d black him out again too…
Step Three – non-main-colour details. Now I paint all the bits, which I’ve just blacked out, with the colours I actually want them to be… including any vehicle recognition markings.
Still looks a little dark-ish and plane Jane-ish… but just wait – once the weathering is done it won’t look so bad.
Step Four: Weathering. I do a light dry brush with two different light earthy tones (the ones I will use for the base, shortly…)
EAsy to go overboard here... and I may have... hard to tell until the base and everything is complete....
That’s it for today. Later I’ll get a coat of finish on this and then get to work on the base.
Posts
Interesting to see the step-by-step. That last step especially really brings out the detail.
ReplyDeleteOne question: Did you paint the underside before attaching the vehicle to the base?
No I didn't.
ReplyDeleteI was definitely thinking I will for the Shermans - so many tiny road wheels... Well, I'll prime it black at least - so there isn't any shiny bits visible between those little wheels.
I figured with this one, however, there's only four, really big wheels with lots of ground clearance - if there was anything I couldn't reach with a brush, no one would be able to see it anyway!
I probably should have...
This is one of the reasons I really like the Army Group North Miniatures tanks - the body, suspension, road wheels tracks, etc are all one big block of resin! No assembly, no fiddley bits to try and paint behind/between....
ReplyDeleteOutstanding step-by-step...I think I'm gonna have to mpw grab a couple of figs from the workbench.
ReplyDeleteGreat job Tim. Having invested alot of time and effort in assembly I can really appreciate the 'hassle-free' models.
Cheers.