A Tale of Two Sonderkraftfahrzeugen - Part II
Part II - Painting
Hands up, I confess it. I'm a World War 2 nut. Wandering around central London (while avoiding Olympic marathons, thieves, buskers etc) I found myself at Foyles, which is on Charing Cross Road. Any UK based bloggers, or visitors, I heartily recommend it - the top floor has the widest (but not the cheapest) selection of WW2 books out there. I spent over two hours and a hundred quid picking up every book going - including £20 on a book entirely devoted to the succinctly-named Sonderabzeichen für das Niederkämpfen von Panzerkampfwagen durch Einzelkämpfer. Fascinating.
The point is, I did a fair bit of research on the various camo schemes available. I ended up plumping for a simple and commonplace temperate scheme, using a desert yellow as the base, with drybrushed olive green and dark browns - the WIP shots are below.
After this was complete, I washed the whole model in water before giving it a light ink wash. I like to do this as it makes the ink flow very evenly and very gently. I used black, because all this was meant to do was represent a bit of shade and 'grime it up' a little bit. Quite subtle, but just takes the 'factory edge' off. Then, of course, all the guns and trims etc are painted black.
Then, I tried out some recently ordered FW weathering powders. They are very good, even for the price, and the fair-sized pot means they'll last a while. But next time I'll probably shop around and get some cheaper elsewhere. I didn't want to go too overboard here; I'm just practicing. The main two attempts were some light rust around one of the exhausts, and some sooty black around the engine. They're dead easy to use, and give much more realistic effects than drybrushing black which is what I'd normally do to get that effect. I'll get a bit more adventurous probably as I get more vehicles.
That was pretty much it - detail painting followed, then some more GW texture mud around the wheels. I'll say it again, but the real-world reference photos were invaluable in seeing where it built up on the real things. I was also very brave and had a go at painting a number plate, complete with SS runes ... it's not accurate as I didn't have enough room to paint the real number of letters on there. But it looks okay.
And that was it! Nice and simple, eh? Well, it was a nice change to paint something a bit different, and I'll have some infantry in soon as well. Until the next time, happy gaming!
The Colonel
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| Excuse me, which way to the 20th Century? |
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| On a recce! |
Col, those are sweet! Been having a hankering for WWII gaming for an age of late. Just the usual holding me back tho - no one to play with without having to drive 30+ mins anywhere. :)
ReplyDeleteI especially liked the ACW chap.
Love the finished product, really great looking minis.
ReplyDeleteYou're both too kind. @Dai - I know how you feel, it's a 6 hour round trip to get to a game with Headologist ... but worth it I'll add. Thanks - when I superglued the head, it slipped backwards as it dried and now looks up, but I left it because it looks like he's talking or scouting or something like that. @Chris - thanks very much, I'll keep you updated with the rest as they roll off the painting desk!
ReplyDeleteGood effort mate - particulalry liking the engine soot - looks the business and sounds like a simple enough application.
ReplyDeleteWith the wash in water before inking - was the model still wet when you applied the ink - or had you dried it between the wash and ink application?
Really is, that was my first attempt and seems to have come out okay. The water's still wet, so as soon as the tip of the brush with ink touches the watery surface, the surface tension of the water instantly pulls it onto the model and spreads it out evenly.
DeleteThis is incredible (and have long been an advocate of Foyles, all the Osprey books in one place...), great use of the weathering powders, just what I need on my Marine vehicles. Will have to give them a go. I hear good things about Secret Weapon's powders. Rogue Pom already asked the question I was going to, that sounds like a great idea, may have to try that too.
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