Scale Model Shop

**Guest** · 20 December 2017, 14:55

Nice one Stuart!

Top marks for the demolished building and the rubble! In fact your rubble in and around the house is spot on!
I also like the over all composition with the Tiger I and the figures. Good level coverage and use of angles!

Some constructive pointers are that the figures and the Tiger I would look more alive with a wash or two since they're a bit clean at the moment.
A wash also highlights all the detail so that's something that comes for free as well

It took me many kits before I figured out why my models looked so different from all the fantastic ones I saw on pictures and it was that my stuff was simply too clean.
My best model to date is my Mk.IV that I had to weather down much more than intended after a miserable failure with hairspray chipping, but after trying to cover the failure with dirt, mud, grime and rust it started to look more like those pictures I loved and what I hoped to achieve one day and I learned a lot from that moment.
I make most of my washes myself with ordinary artists oil paint and thinner. Super easy and simple to clean up in areas where I put too much on. Burned umber and raw umber are the two "universal" dirt 'em up colours I use and it's taken my models to the next step - but I've still got a long way to go yet but I try to learn from the previous project and bring that with me to the next. Failing means that I've learned something new!

If this is truly your second vignette/diorama then bl**dy well done!

**tiktok** · 20 December 2017, 15:18

Thanks for the comments, Jens. Yes, I spent ages on my first diorama and it turned out quite bad. It just didn't look right. It took me a while to realise that it was a series of small things - the colour was too uniform, I didn't use any flat coat so it was too glossy, the composition wasn't really right, and there wasn't enough attention to detail - too many empty areas. So I spent a lot of time trying to get those aspects right on this one!

You're completely right about the washes - it's an area I haven't had much success with. In fact, one of the figures has been washed - but obviously not very well/effectively! I tried an oil based wash (raw/burnt umber - whichever is the lighter of the two) on the guy who is being searched. What I have tended to find is that the wash darkens the overall figure a little (although you can't see it very much in the photos) but doesn't tend to bring out any of the details much. I think maybe I am thinning the paint too much. I also used water mixable oil paints, thinned with water - maybe this doesn't help.

A basic question - but when you wash a vehicle, do you just use the wash on the details and panel lines (pin wash?) or do you wash the entire vehicle to dirty it up? Or is your paint so thin that it flows into the recesses anyway and leaves the high areas?

Thanks for the comments and the advice - appreciated!

**papa 695** · 20 December 2017, 15:45

Nice work Stuart, and some great tips from the others there.

**Guest** · 20 December 2017, 20:10

Originally posted by tiktok

Thanks for the comments, Jens. Yes, I spent ages on my first diorama and it turned out quite bad. It just didn't look right. It took me a while to realise that it was a series of small things - the colour was too uniform, I didn't use any flat coat so it was too glossy, the composition wasn't really right, and there wasn't enough attention to detail - too many empty areas. So I spent a lot of time trying to get those aspects right on this one!

You're completely right about the washes - it's an area I haven't had much success with. In fact, one of the figures has been washed - but obviously not very well/effectively! I tried an oil based wash (raw/burnt umber - whichever is the lighter of the two) on the guy who is being searched. What I have tended to find is that the wash darkens the overall figure a little (although you can't see it very much in the photos) but doesn't tend to bring out any of the details much. I think maybe I am thinning the paint too much. I also used water mixable oil paints, thinned with water - maybe this doesn't help.

A basic question - but when you wash a vehicle, do you just use the wash on the details and panel lines (pin wash?) or do you wash the entire vehicle to dirty it up? Or is your paint so thin that it flows into the recesses anyway and leaves the high areas?

Thanks for the comments and the advice - appreciated!

It depends on the model how I use washes. On figures I use a dark wash all over the figure that serves as my shadows, then I paint the highlights after the was has dried. I mainly use Tamiya black panel liner for this.
For armour I use oil paint + thinner wash and it depends on the model if I slob it on all over or just focus on the details, but a light wash can also act as a filter so there are several bonuses with washes!
Focus on the details first and then build up your experience by how it turns out, that's a good way to start I think.
War is filthy and staying clean whilst in combat - especially back in the days when we fought closely, so there's going to be a lot of mud and dirt from crawling around dodging bullets. Tanks were often very dirty with mud, dirt and splashes and this from top to bottom, but obviously heaviest around the tracks so don't be afraid to give your tank a proper mud bath!

Apart from this it's just a matter of doing what you think gives you the result you're after and then evaluating everything at the end and see if there's anything you'd done differently?
I take photos of my builds throughout the stages just to document for myself what I've done and if I did something wrong? That's how I remember certain steps for the next build.

In the end of the day it's all about paint and colours. Some have the ability like a true artist to paint in every little detail whereas we others have to cheat with washes etc to create plausible shadows etc

I try to do things manually where I can but when it comes to dirtying up a tank nothing beats an old worn brush just slobbing on mud and grime because that's how it looks in real life!

**tiktok** · 29 December 2017, 10:02

Thanks Jen. I've an old Dragon Hummel in progress at the moment (a $5 bargain!), so I will go to town on it experimenting with those techniques.

**Guest** · 29 December 2017, 11:00

Great job stuart,

for washes, have a look, I just uploaded my weathering work on a Tamiya 1/35 Gama Goat. I have used 2 kinds of washes, Tamiya Panel line wash and Vallejo streaking grime. I used them both in the same manner. I first apply small drops to the top portion of the area where I wish to show the effects and then using a flat brush and thinners (in case of Tamiya Panel line wash I use Turp as thinner and for Vallejo streaking grime I use Windex as thinner), I gently just pull the drops downward creating streaking lines

[MEDIA=flickr]21D959e[/MEDIA]

[MEDIA=flickr]ER6DhW[/MEDIA]

[MEDIA=flickr]J32hvp[/MEDIA]
Check out my build thread

Scale Model Forums (UK)

http://www.scale-models.co.uk/threads/tamiya-1-35-m792-gama-goat-ambulance-truck.29248/

Scale Model Shop

Operation Market Garden (1/35)

Operation Market Garden (1/35)

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment