Month: January 2015

rust and pigments & figures

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I reworked the Opel using the Lifecolor rust set. The colors are very good to use, they can be thinned very heavily and still dry totally matt. Here they are:

LC Rust Set

I applied these (from light to dark) on the already rusted areas. Then I applied pigments in light colors (light dust, concrete etc).

The look of the debris was enhanced using different pigments (brick colors mixed from pastel chalks, rubble) that I sprinkled over the bricks and then fixed using pigment fixer.

As a final touch I also added some dark oils to the rims of the steel door.

This is the final look of the diorama base:

Figures

To achieve a better fit of the figures to the base, I applied dirt using different oils and humbrol colors. Humbrols were used for earth colors, and oils for dust and traces of brick dust:

Now the figures are ready to be fixed to the base. Then I will finish the helmets and the weapons.

Tankart by Michael Rinaldi

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As Christmas present I bought myself volume 2 (Allied Armor WW2) and volume 3 (Modern Armor) of the Tankart series by Michael Rinaldi. Volume 1 (German Armor WW2) is being reprinted currently and will arrive at some point in time…

The books deal with painting and weathering of tank models. The layout is very nice and artistic, and they convey a lot of useful information, and also feature many very informative pictures.

Overall the books are clearly recommendable and very inspiring.

  • Michael is a real master of hair spray chipping
  • The finishes and detailings achieved with oils (what he calls oil paint rendering or OPR) are world class and the results look very realistic
  • His usage of pigments is also very versatile, and explained very thoroughly
  • Rust effects also look brilliant, being made with acrylics, as well as oils and enamels

After reading the books I immediately increased my stock of oils and pigments, and also went for the Lifecolor rust set. I also rediscovered a drying retarter for acrylics I bought some time ago.

I will experiment a bit with the new products to enhance the look of my current project. The first thing to test will be the rust colors, then I will try to work with the drying retarder.

Painting the Karabiner Kar98k

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One figure is carrying a Karabiner (rifle) on its back, therefore I painted it already:

Karabiner

  • priming by airbrushing Tamiya black
  • Careful drybrushing of the metal parts with Humbrol Silver (011)
  • These areas are then muted with heavily thinned oil color (Paynes Grey)
  • Then the wooden parts are painted using a base paint mixed from  Vallejo 983 (Flat Earth) and 824 (German Cam Orange Ochre)
  • Then fine streaks are applied using sepia ink, Vallejo 871 (Leather Brown), 983 and 824
  • As final touches some point washes and stains are made using black and brown / umber oils
  • The drybrushing with silver is then finally repeated on some exposed areas

Flesh colors

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I paint skin colors using both acrylics and enamels.

The colors used are shown below:

Hautfarben

  • B is the base color used for all skin parts. It is mixed from Vallejo Model Color acrylics: 815 (Basic Skintone), 818 (Red Leather), 873 (US Field Drab) and a little 950 (Black)
  • H1 – H3 are the highlight colors, resulting from mixing more and more 815 and 951 (White) to the base color.
  • S1 and S2 are used for shadows. They are mixed from Humbrol 73 (Wine) and 110 (Wood) for S1 and 22 (Black) for S2 respectively.

The highlight colors are heavily thinned and applied in layers. Painting with acrylics is all about controlling the amount of color on the brush, so always thin the color and get rid of excess paint by unloading the brush on a paper towel before approaching the model.

The enamels are also applied heavily thinned and are immediately blended carefully using a clean brush moistened with turpentine.

Figures and heads

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Now I finally finished the last figure for now. I also started to paint the heads and hands. The last figure already has its hands attached:

This is how the hands look like:

Haende

The eyes have been painted, and also the heads have been painted in the base color and then highlighted:

Painting Felduniform 44 with Vallejo acrylics

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I use a mixture of Vallejo US Olive Drab (889) and English Uniform (921) for painting German Felduniform 44. The original color is slightly more brownish, but I am happy with the color I use.

Below are some color samples:

Farben Felduniform 44

 

  • A : English Uniform (921)
  • B : Field Grey (830)
  • E: Russian Uniform (924)
  • G: US Olive Drab (889)

C is mixed from 921 and 830, D from 921 and German Cam Black Brown (822). Both look very similar, but I think both are too bright.

F is mixed from 921 and 924. I use color H, mixed from 889 and 921.