Here are 3 relatively simple techniques that bring my models to life. All these techniques I borrowed from other modelers, reading forums and magazines. These methods allow you to create really brilliant results. Of course, these are not the only options for processing models - only those that suit my modeling style and are more enjoyable for me.
These three techniques are:
1. Oil spots for applying smudges
2. Application of matt black with a “dry” brush
3. Application of chips and abrasions
When the model is already assembled and painted, then, regardless of whether it is superimposed on it with only one color or a whole camouflage scheme, you can turn it into a real "candy". The following three techniques allow me to breathe life into cars and give them a special, unique look. You can use all the techniques together, or just one of them. It only depends on the goals that you are trying to achieve.
Oil dots for smudging
I usually prefer to start this stage of applying effects immediately after painting and processing the model with filters and washes. "Immediately" in this case means after at least 48 hours for the paints and filters to dry completely. The oils that I use in my work correspond to the base color of the model (or camouflage colors). As a rule, I lighten and darken a given color a little, unless I'm working on simulating rain or rusty smudges.
These are the colors that I decided to use for the camouflage scheme. The base is a dark yellow color, while white and red with brown are used for the pattern.
Dots of oil paint are applied over the sections. I try to dry them first, and also lighten the colors a little towards the top of this zone, darkening them towards the bottom.
Then I dipped a clean brush in oil paint thinners. In this case, I use MIG Productions thinner as a wash and lightly apply it over the selected section from top to bottom. Although most of the paint is removed, you can see that the color streaks are still visible. If the view is still too dark or deep, I repeat this step. And if the desired effect is not enough, then I add a couple more points and repeat the procedure. In the second image, you can see that a light mesh of smudges has formed.
Now we move on to the solid color base coat of the model. The center panels are slightly faded due to the bleached base paint applied with the airbrush. To enhance the fading effect, I also applied some oil dots. We got two effects at once: fading panels and adding smudges.
Here, the same method is used to apply rusty stains. This time I used only one paint for dots - burnt sienna.
Here I add rusty streaks to the "skirts" of the armor (Schurzen), where rust will show up on the chips with the appropriate acrylic paints. Dots of oil paint are applied to such chips.
This time, instead of using a clean brush with thinners, I just moistened it. After that, the oil paint of the glass vertically downward, imitating a real rusty smudge.
This step is repeated until a weak (or, conversely, strong, depending on the goals) effect is obtained. And in this case, the application of oil dots can be repeated again, if necessary.
The photo below shows the “skirt” with rust stains.
Application of matt black with a “dry” brush
Applying a matte black with a dry brush is a quick and easy way to achieve a realistic metallic effect. For this technique I use matt black enamel from Humbrols. After removing most of this paint with an old brush, I gently brush it around the edges of the car. This effect requires very little paint. You can also very carefully walk over the bolts and rivets, which will emphasize their presence. The whole procedure takes 5-10 minutes.
The photo below shows the machine without the metallic effect.
And here - it is the same, but after processing with a "dry" brush.
For a metallic, silvery sheen, you can add a little graphite to the paint by cutting a pencil lead into it.
Chips
It should be noted here that not all modelers enjoy the effects of chipping or severe aging. On the forums, debates continue about how suitable such effects are for armored vehicles, and whether they shade the painting too much, etc. You decide. In the end, it all depends on the goal and what exactly a particular model will represent.
I offer a description of my technique for imitating aging and chips. The application of these effects depends on your own preference. Some modelers are sure that combat vehicles are not so seriously prone to chips. But I add aging and fading effects for aesthetic reasons. I repeat - this is just my taste.
A warning. If you nevertheless decide to apply chips to your model, then try to impose as few such effects in one approach - this method can easily ruin the whole work. It is very easy to overdo it with the imposition of chips. My technique is just one piece of evidence that more is less.
I try to divide the chipping into 2 steps. The first of these is the application of much darker shades to a light surface from the inside. When simulating chips and scratches, I exclusively use Vallejo Model Color acrylic - for me this product works better than others. Below is how I applied a noticeably lighter paint to the side of the wing.
The scale is the same as the previous ships. If the scales are different, then it will not be interesting to look at all this. I calculated everything and determined that both of my ships were not in scale 50, but at 1:55!
A real modeler is obliged to use any scraps of time for his favorite activity! In 9 hours I will go to the championship, but I still managed to make the frame. All frames are glued in tightly. Before that, they were installed absolutely exactly along the axis of symmetry. The extra stiffeners between the frames will align my herring, so don't worry. Already 3 times I am convinced that a precisely built 3D model and then precisely cut parts allow you to get rid of a heap of jambs during the construction process. Parts convergence is perfect!
Completed the decks and leveled the hull. The jumpers between the frames added additional rigidity. A little more processing and can be sheathed.
He began to gradually sheathe the sides with rough sheathing.
I won't shoot with a cell phone anymore because of strong distortion.
The hull turns out to be very strong, and even with 1/3 of the side sheathing it is no longer possible to twist it around the longitudinal axis. Thin (2 mm) frames are certainly good in the sense that they almost do not need to be grinded down to lay the cladding, but on the other hand, they are not very convenient for driving in nails.
Why rulers and not plywood? You can't easily cut plywood with a regular paper knife, and rulers are easy.
In addition, good plywood costs about 2 times more in terms of area and waste is inevitable, because there are always some stupid nooks and cuts.
Making elements from the rulers, I select the required length for each part of the part so that, having built the entire skeleton in the photos above, the waste, in total, was less than 2 30-centimeter rulers !! Those. this is waste-free construction!
Almost finished rough skinning. The time for sheathing with slats took until 2 pm. Unfortunately, the lines ran out again - that's why I stopped.
This is lens distortion !! And in the last photo it is not at all clearly frontal, but the body is slightly unfolded. At a length of 60 cm, pullbacks seem terrible even with minimal hull rotation.
As I sit behind the ship, I will pull the thread along the axis of symmetry to show evenness.
When assembling the frame, there was a problem that one ruler is slightly thinner or thicker than the other. But when building frames, this does not create problems. For rough cladding, too. All the same, then the body will be heavily skinned and everything will be smooth. Where thickness is critical, I first calibrate the rulers by thickness.
I'll start with the bad news: Mr. Scrafter ( user of the forum Karopka.ru. Approx. site
) was right. Having a diamond eye, he really determined the roll of the case. Having pierced the hull with a laser level, I determined that the stern, starting from the third quarter of the hull, went 4 mm to the right from the axis. Still, somewhere I did not keep track. It's good at least that this will not be visible (given the specifics of the model). Otherwise - in the fireplace and for alteration.
Now for the rest. Since in all my tales the initial stages are similar, I skip them. Rough sheathing as always - rulers, finishing as always - ash veneer 0.5 mm. The veneer is out. So, I'm waiting for deliveries. I installed the velvet, but the nails also ran out. So for now, everything is halfway there. Platbands were made around the ports of the upper gun deck. Cut from the rulers, wall thickness 1.5 mm. This is on the verge of a foul: the frames just broke under the instrument itself without pressure. I had to saturate the wood with cosmofen and after drying, they were normally processed.
While waiting for veneer and nails, I decided to tackle the tank. Broke off a part of the deck, installed the beams. At the ends of the crane beams, I cut out bird heads.
In no case should the rulers be soaked - chaotic warping of the tree begins, which does not recover after drying. I either cut the tree, or bend it live with micromanagement. This is when the cracking of the first fibers begins, but the rail itself still retains its strength. Depending on the curvature of the arc, you just need to choose a suitable segment length and break the rail with such segments. After sanding with sandpaper, everything looks great.
The fruits of today's drink simply "amaze" the imagination.
While waiting for the veneer, I decided to tackle one of the bulkheads. I sharpened this wick for 3 hours:
It seems that everything worked out very well, and after toning and fouling it will look right ...
Only one joint showed up ... This part is from the wrong deck!
Only one thing made me happy today - the veneer came. I’ll go out of grief to sheathe the hull further. Today, there is no strength to redo this detail.
The hinges are a photo-etched piece from the shipyard.
Arcs are cut with this tool:
By the way, did you know that you can successfully seal cut wounds with a cosmofen? It helps a lot to get back into action quickly.
He gathered his willpower into a fist and cut out a new bulkhead, albeit already in size.
I use CA-12 "Cosmofen" glue. Nothing is soaked in the cosmophene. I just smeared the piece of wood with glue, waited 2 minutes until it dries and you can process it. Due to the large liquid of the glue, it impregnates the wood along the fibers to a greater depth, strengthening more from the inside than from the outside.
I put the model on the stand. Partially sheathed the sides and made buttresses on the starboard side. Since the ship will be very heavily overgrown with algae and has almost no clear corners (not overgrown), there is no need to seriously worry about the exact gapless connection of parts, which significantly saves time and nerves. The hull below the waterline was deliberately sheathed only in places. In these places, boards will be visible, in the rest everything will "grow" and, accordingly, does not require sheathing.
I put buttresses on the port side, partially sheathed 2 decks. Decorated the bow guns. Started doing the aging of the case. All threads are made with a taper diamond shank. As I did the muzzles: I pasted 2 more layers of the skin on the skin of the bow frame and cut out the muzzles in it. The aging of the body was done by drilling the shank into the casing body and breaking out all the entrails outward. Then everything is filled with cosmophen.
Modern trends sometimes require to give things and products a kind of “weathering”, which finds its expression in the fact that the model does not look like a newly acquired or assembled one, but has all the characteristics of the one that was already in use.
Giving the product "aging" is not at all a panacea, because to smooth out inaccuracies during assembly and painting.
To give a typical aging standard, a dark wash is successively applied to the product, which is subsequently lightened with a dry brush, thereby emphasizing individual details of the product.
The result of this creativity is the spectacular look of the model. The only question is how correct it looks after giving it such an effect so that unnecessary questions do not arise: why, when the part protrudes significantly from the surface of the armor, does it become lighter? To make "aging" natural, you need to achieve the maximum repetition of several actions that occur in real life, and then the thing will turn out to be contaminated with traces of use.
The main idea of "weathering" - weather aging, LH) of the model is that it (BTT model) looks not new, used, with traces of exploitation. At the same time, "aging", as such, is not, no matter how other modelers claim, a panacea for careless assembly-painting. The typical “aging standard” today is the successive application of a dark wash followed by a dry brush highlighting to “highlight details”. As a result, the model looks very impressive, but does it look right? And what kind of processes occur in nature that the more the detail protrudes from the surface of real armor, the lighter the color becomes on it? In short, to obtain the effect of natural aging, pollution and traces of exploitation, it is necessary to repeat the same thing consistently, as in life, only on a scale, on a model.
As usual, you need to start with a research study. Cars in the desert are unlikely to be covered in mud to the same extent as those that literally crawled on their belly along the Eastern Front. So, first of all, you should decide what theater and what time of year it was in the yard, ideally - what kind of weather accompanied those events from which you "pulled out" the historical prototype of your model. The best source from which you can glean information about what happens to real machines is the real machines themselves. As an option - heavy tracked skidding equipment, which in many ways resembles combat vehicles (and some are generally made using chassis from old "Shermans"!). However, unwashed, "used" tracked vehicles can be seen at construction sites, in industrial zones, etc. It is also useful to see how paint fade on bodies from old cars, dusting and rusting in the backyards of garages.
Effect versus method
The so-called "standard" method of "aging" BTT models involves the application of a dark wash and subsequent treatment of the surface with a dry brush with paint shades that are lighter than the base coat. This method has become so firmly intertwined with the entire practice of technical modeling, one hundred de facto has become the standard for assessing the quality of painting at all kinds of competitions. As an example, a few years ago the author happened to hear the following dialogue of judges addressed to his "Jagdpanther":
- looks like real ...
- yes, but practically not finished with a "dry brush", how about this one? (and points a finger at a dark gray Pz. I, treated with white paint!)
So it is unlikely that a model painted with at least a little bit of common sense will win a prize in SUCH competitions, and that is why the author established and sponsors the "Correct Coloring" category at the annual VMMS Island Open show competition.
Most of the problems a modeller faces when reproducing realistic model coloration, and the only reason for the popularity of the "standard" method is that there is some confusion between the desired effect and the technique to achieve it.
That is, a novice modeler sometimes bluntly rubs the model on the forehead with a dry brush, since it seems to be the way it should be, without much understanding of the essence of the effect being produced. Therefore, instead of describing various techniques of work. Such as "wash", "dry brush", etc. it would be more logical to take a closer look at the effects of weather, seasonal, operational influences on BTT coloration, and how to achieve this at scale on a model.
Chronology of aging
Chronology means which of the events that influenced the appearance of the prototype took place and in what sequence in relation to other influences. Was the prototype dirty before spilling fuel when refueling, or dirty after being dusty before crawling through a swamp, etc. Before processing the model, it is necessary to estimate all this in advance and then reproduce all these effects sequentially. In principle, this article further lists the approximate order of successively obtaining the effects of aging of the paint. Shadows, base paint shining through the top coat, field camouflage or winter lime whitewash - all these are the basis of the primary color of the model. Effects acquired during use, such as paint peeling or old dust, appear later. This is followed by temporary effects such as rust or oil stains. And finally, dirt, snow or dust - appear on top of everything else.
It should be noted that the likelihood that the materials used to obtain a particular effect may damage the previous coating. Thus, a water-soluble acrylic remover in order to obtain a dusty surface can destroy the secondary camouflage previously applied with tempera. To prevent such accidents, coatings based on paints with different bases should be used, for example, alternating between acrylic and oil.
Aging effects
It is assumed that the modeler is sufficiently familiar with concepts such as "wash" or "dry brush" (if not, you can look at the [Tips] page - similarly, LH). Of course, patience and practice is the only way to improve your skills. It is very useful to check certain effects on scrap, old models, it is only important to remember what kind of coating was the previous one.
Listed below are all the effects that can be reproduced on the model.
Damaged paint.
An often overlooked aspect of aging is normal operational damage. From minor dents in the mudguards to completely torn fenders, it all feels like a brand new, used technique. To do this as convincingly as on a natural object, it is necessary to recreate the nature of these damages on the model. It would be a mistake to just heat and bend these parts, it is much better to bring their thickness to scale and then bend it with pliers. The result will be much more realistic. The most frequently damaged in the field are thin-walled parts of combat vehicles, such as fenders, tool boxes, trunks, mud flaps. Subtracting details is not difficult, but it does take some patience. Alternatively, you can attach sandpaper to a block of wood or plastic. The thickening technique is exactly the same as when processing vacuum-formed models. Curved sections are processed with a piece of skin folded a couple of times by hand. The main thing is not to rush, ensuring uniform thickness and not overheating the plastic during intensive processing. It is convenient to control the thickness in the light until you get the result “in the newspaper”. Sometimes, however, it is easier to replace the part with a homemade one made of thin sheet plastic (0.0050 ″ or 0.12 mm) or tin, copper, brass, etc.
Now that the part matches the scaled thickness, it can be deformed. It is worth doing it according to the mind - to get dents, you can put something not very hard (an "unnecessary" book in a cardboard cover is suitable) and hit it with a hard, non-sharp object. To obtain curvatures - bend the part with pliers (round-nose pliers, LH). In general, you can try the part “for a tooth” (seriously!) With a good result (if you don’t mind the teeth, LH). It is not recommended to heat the tool or the workpiece itself - the part will look fused, but not naturally deformed.
This is - as for the general approach to deformations, I am sure that in practice you yourself will enrich your experience with various effects. Now let's move on to special effects.
Projectile dents.
Often on heavily armored targets, the shells do not pierce the walls, leaving characteristic dents. Simulating this effect at scale is simple and fun. First of all, a piece of thick polystyrene should be glued on the reverse side of the "armor sheet" and allowed to dry thoroughly. Using a drill with a ball head - choose a hole-hole (however, you can also use a drill of a suitable diameter, the main thing is to screw the hole, LH), trying not to plow it too healthy. Mixing a little "Milliput" (or any other epoxy or polyester putty, LH), fill the hole to the level with the surface of the "armor". A small, non-sharp object of round cross-section, the back of the handle from a thin brush is suitable (yes, even with a blunt nail, the main thing is to grease with something so that the putty does not stick, LH), poke into the putty to form a "shell" dent. This forms an annular flange. The advantage of the method lies in the possibility of its repeated repetition until a satisfactory result is obtained. However, it is recommended to study photographs of real cars.
Shading
If not aging in itself, creating a high-quality shading on the model's coloration is quite a hassle in itself. Usually, dark washes are used for this. It is known that washes are a rather capricious technique. Alternatively, you can recommend toning with a similar shade - use a dark brown color for a dark yellow background, a dark "Olive Dreb" for green, etc. Next, airbrush to give some feathering with a thin coat of the main background. See for yourself how the darker tone will collect in crevices, holes or holes. Again, only your personal practice will be the key to success.
Fade paint
Exposure of the paintwork to air for many hours under the scorching sun results in significant bleaching. This is especially true for the African theater of operations or the steppes of southern Ukraine or Russia. These effects are common, again for summer companies, so check the historical references for using your prototype. For normal day-to-day highlights, you can simply add 10% by volume of white to the base tone and gently blow out your model from the top. For significant highlighting of tanks / armored personnel carriers burnt out in the desert sun, it makes sense to rub in a light pastel with a soft, short-haired brush (try not to "remove" small details from the surface). For those who use Tamiya paint, it is recommended to add 20% Flat Base and 10% Flat White diluted 20% and gently blow this mixture into the model. The result will be more than realistic.
Special cases of highlighting
Winter white color.
Usually in snowy areas, BTT is covered in white. For German technology, this was most often a water-based lime suspension (mixture) (whitewashing was also widely used in the Red Army and among the allies, DSh). This temporary camouflage coating was applied with spray guns, brushes, rags, brooms, up to splashing out of a bucket (basin). It is most convenient to reproduce this on a model using artistic water-soluble paints (tempera PVA, DSh is suitable), spreading and applying with a brush, as on a real prototype.
Sometimes, however, spray guns were also used. To imitate such a coating, it is necessary to dilute the paint thinner and apply thin layers to the model over the base paint, leaving small bald spots and denser spots.
Water-borne paints are preferred in that they greatly facilitate the imitation of subsequent aging of the coating. Areas with wiped whitewash are obtained by partially pulling off the paint layer with a slightly moistened Q-Tip (or tape, moisture removes adhesion (stickiness, LW). To simulate scoring, you can use a damp toothpick (or a sharpened match, LW). It is recommended to practice and remember the feeling measures if you don't want to get a messy model.
Water Soluble Secondary Camouflage
To simulate field-applied secondary camouflage (for example, dark green / brown in the Wehrmacht during the Second World War), it is often much more convenient to use water-soluble (non-acrylic) art paints. If they are dissolved and applied with a brush, they will give a pale, “faded” finish thanks to their inherent translucent effect.
It is important to protect the result with varnish, because if you use water-based or alcohol-based paints for further aging of the coating, then there is a risk of damaging the previous coating. However, many enamels and varnishes can also "grease" the subtle effects that you so carefully achieved before. So it's best to experiment beforehand.
Damage to paint coating
The imitation of scuffs on the paint requires careful planning of the process, because if you peel off the paint, then bare metal and, in places, a layer of primer will appear. So, before covering the surface with the main layer, you must first simulate both the "metal" and the primer. Figure 1 shows a typical picture of a damaged coating - visible (from the center) and clean metal, and a layer of rust, primer and undamaged paint coating.
To get this effect, you can do the following:
1. "metallize" the surface, after drying - cover with a mask ("Maskol", "color stop", etc.)
2. paint a layer of "rusty metal" and again cover it with a mask so that a "halo" of rust remains around the "metal"
3. repeat step 2 for the "primer"
4. Finally, apply a base coat with base paint.
Most modelers, including the author, are impatient enough to do this for every speck. Moreover, it is simply impractical for small "scuffs". In this case, it is easier to act with a dry brush, starting with the "primer", continuing with "rust" and ending with "metal". Remember - the main thing is not to overdo it!
Rust
A light rust effect can be obtained with a dry brush with enamel paint, the author prefers Testors Rust for this as the most realistic. For old rust, you can pre-coat the surface with a layer of a mixture of diluted PVA and an abrasive detergent (such as "Komet" or "Ajax" are shorter than the sinks are cleaned in everyday life, DSh). Having previously covered the dried crust with dark brown paint, sow the surface with lighter shades of red with a dry brush.
Rust streaks can be imitated with pastels, but it is important to remember that only in very extraordinary situations (for example, rain that does not stop for weeks), the technique (if not lying in a landfill) acquired similar effects. In short, even though it "looks", it is better not to do it.
Dirty grease
Engines and other parts are covered with such rubbish if they are abundantly lubricated. It is mainly a mixture of machine oil and dust. The easiest way is to simulate it with a dense black wash, with the addition of gray and green paints. For very dirty surfaces, you can add a little dark brown pastel dust to the wash.
Dirt
Applying dirt to a model is a rather subtle finishing point, carelessness can nullify all previous efforts. However, after some study of the patterns of pollution in real cars and some practice, this process can become one of the most enjoyable. For example (proportions are approximately equal):
o Tamiya paint (acrylic), color - depending on specific conditions, for example - Flat Earth (earthy XF-52, LH)
o Artistic water-based paint
o PVA
o Filler (whatever - sifted sand, tooth powder, or even ground coffee)
o Fibers - imitating grass (in the original - “Static Grass”, LH)
Dilute all this with water to the consistency of toothpaste.
After the mixture is ready, guided by photographs of natural objects, the mixture is applied with a brush to the model. Periodically, the brush should be moistened with water to facilitate the "contamination" process. "Wet" dirt can be obtained by covering with diluted PVA, "dry" - rubbing with a brush crushed pastel of an earthy shade.
Snow
A mixture of soda and PVA simulates wet snow well. To obtain "dry snow" the same mixture must be sprinkled on top with the same soda. To simulate drizzle or frost, apply white paint with a dry brush. In this case, the main thing is not to overdo it, so as not to highlight the protruding details too much.
Dust
Dust is the most common attribute of used BTT. Dust can be simulated using one of three methods, depending on the effect you want to achieve.
Old dust
Multiple coats of diluted earthy paint can be applied. The paint is applied with a brush (in principle, the same wash, only in a lighter tone in relation to the base color, LH). The method is diametrically opposite to the classical method of highlighting protruding parts with a dry brush and at the same time is the most realistic, since in life dust collects in cracks, scuppers, and not on protruding parts. You can dry it with a hair dryer, the main thing is not to float the model.
Dusting
Blow out the model with an airbrush, the main thing is not to rush, otherwise you will get a model painted with earthy paint instead of a dusty model.
Light dust
Apply crushed pastel crayons with a soft, wide brush. Try to get coverage in one pass. This method is universal for any model. Rain drips can be obtained by spraying the model with water afterwards.
Pastel
In principle, any artistic (colored pastel crayons) of various earthy shades are suitable (It is most convenient to get pastel dust by rubbing the crayon on the skin, LH).
Fixing the coating with varnishes
Not recommended. Most often, covering the model with varnish (enamel or acrylic, no difference) over the pastel, the entire effect is lost, and the model also becomes darker. The only way to avoid unintended fingerprints is to secure the model to the stand and only grip it. However, if the "fingers" have already appeared, they can be hidden by applying a little more pastel with a brush.
Oil and fuel stains.
It is most convenient to apply with washes. The question of what color the fuel is, is quite controversial, decide at your own discretion, adding a little greenery to the wash gives a good effect. The trick is that in order to get fuel spots, it is better not to paint them themselves, but to influence the previously created effects. Thus, fuel spots most often complete the aging process of the model. It is most convenient to obtain oil pianna with a dark brown wash (Natural Umber, LH). This remover will tint previously applied pastel dust. For old stains - they can be powdered (the brush will leave marks!) On top of the pastel, the pastel will shrink by itself on damp places.
While none of the above painting techniques are new in and of themselves, I believe the concept itself is important, in which the effect obtained is more important than the technique used to obtain it. I hope this will be useful to readers when creating realistic models.