Hello..Im seriously back into my 1/35 armour and figures..and need a bit of help from those "seasoned" veterans here...I want to learn the "wash" technique to weathering vehicles and other items..for example..Im doing a 1/35 Tamiya 251(D) armoured car in a ordance tan..and I would like to after paint "wash" it to hightlight the nooks and crannies..I'll be airbrushing in enamals..(model master)...so..can someone please expalain how to later do a "wash" say in a darker color (black..dark brown..etc.) to have the paint ..thinned down I assume..flow into the crevices and areas.thanks!
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Hi Scott,
Instead of paint, have considered greatly diluted ink. A benefit of using water-based ink is the ink can be removed should you not be pleased with the results.
Cheers,
Cody -
Washes
High Scott,
There are a few different ways to do this. The time mhonored method is to use dilute dark browns, greys or black to wash the area and then let it dry or use a soft cloth to wipe away the excess followed by a light dry brushing. this is the classic Verlinden technique. Some people wilkl use a differnt carrier base paint than the original base coat, i.e. water base over oil base and vice versa, to prevent the wash from lifting the base coat. Some folks will spray a clear coat of, say, Testor's Dullcoat to seal and protect the base coat and stick to the same carrier or solvent. You can aslo do pinwashes bu using you dilute color and a small brush and apply just around the feature you wish to highlight. Sometimes a few washes are needed to ge the proper intensity of color. Then there are filters. This is a great technique when you are dealing with a large area and just one color. If you look at something like an earth mover in real life that has been out in the elements for a while and is supposed to be all yellow, you will note alot of variation in tone from upper to lower surfaces, rust spots and rain or other weather induces streaking. This technique uses oil based tube paint like artists use. For Panzer yellow you might use black, brown, dark red, white and yellow and maybe a little medium to dark green. Apply small spots of color (1/8 to 1/16 inch in size) all over the area to be treated. Do a single surface at a time at first.; Let it dry a whilke and then take solvent such as terpintine and streak the area from top to bottom, or the direction that water would flow off the vehicle. Kepp streaking until the colkor is almost totally gone and let dry. The key to this is being subtle with the technique. The nice thing about artist oils is that you can always remove more if you don't like it at first. The next popular technique is to use color pigments in a powderd form such as pastel powders. You can apply these with a brush or mix them with turpintine and brush or airbrush them on. Once dry, take a stiffer brush and brush away the excess. This gives a nice dusty look to the crevices on a tank. This is especially good for DAK vehicles. I find that I will often use more than one technique to weather a model. There are some good books and websites to tell you in more detail how to do these things. There is also preshading if you use an airbrush - another topic for my two finger typing. One of the best things to do is get an old model and practice on it till you feel comfortable using them on something you spent a lot of time on. Feel free to e-mail me if you wish more information. Hope this helps and not confuses.
Mike ColemanComment
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Thanks all for the info...
I have been reading up on these methods.. and definitely wish to learn them thoroughly and give them a go..I'm also going to do a preshading with an airbursh..Im quite comfortable iwth the airbrush..so just hoping I'll shade right to get the right effect...just keeping my fingers crossed..its always so beneficial/helpful to actually sit down with someone (such as you gentleman) and observe the various techniques in progress..the best way of course to learn..but till then it will have to be old trial and error..and see how it goes....keeping my fingers crossed all the while...when I was younger.I ussed to aribursh and camo and go for the "pristine" look..now I wish the realistic look for the model to incorporate in with the diorama..Im doing a Normandy/Caen scene..to be followed by Kharkov! thanks again! ScottComment
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Hello Mike could you go into the "wash" in a bit more detail? I've read a lot of techniques regarding wash..and Im just a tad confused..not as to color..but one said to first apply a light brushing of thinner around the area to be washed..to prep the paint (I painted in TEstor model master enamels and have let dry over a day)..the base coat (over light grey tamiya primer) is ordance tan..so..do I apply the pretreament thinner..and as it drys.it says to "tint" the other thinner I will use in the wash the darker color..adn then apply over the areas to be washed..do I want to let the dark wash settle in the crevices and cracks and dry the other areas with a cotton rag..or can I simply leave the whole thing to dry? I just dont want to come out with a blotchy mess..I have the artists oils and pastels..will try them a bit later.dry brushing Imfamilar with..also..do you recommend presahding with airbursh? I have a dual action badger but it seemsf the surfaces I'd apply the lightened "cloud" effects are so small..not sure if I can really get the airbrush so precise.anyway..appreciate you prior tips.and hope you can help! thanks so much..ScottComment
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Well.the wash didnt work welll..it did as you said it might.the solvent in the thinner used to wash lifted the base coat.even though I didnt use much thinner...so cleaned it..reprimed..not back to reairbrush the piece ( i did it as a test on the interior of the SdKfz 251 interior bottom as a test..I think I'l try aritist oils/pastels and drybrush
until I learn the wash technique better.thanks~!
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Try this
Scott,
Sorry but have been away from the computer for awhile. I am sorry to hear you had trouble. From the description of what was done I think the solvent used (thinner) may have been too strong or the paint may have not cured long enough. I use thinners to dilute for airbrushing but oderless turpinoid to dilute for washes. Oil base paints sometimes take a few days to really cure out even though they may feel dry to touch. If I want to get a lot done fast I will often use Diosol for thinning the paint for airbrushing. It is made by Floquil and may be hard to find. It is a strong solvent and actually lets the paint "bite" into the plastic. It is also very volatile so dries very fast. I have not done it but some of my friends use laquer thinner for oils as well as acrylics for the same reason. Again, a protective coat over the base coat may also help as well as using a differently based paint. Google future floor wax and model painting if you want to see some really different stuff.
I have tried the prewash with thinners but have never been too impressed by the technique. That may be due to my lack of skill. The pin wash method does this alot more easily IMO. When I remove excess wash, and I always do or you will get an unattractve blotchy finish, I used a soft absorbant material such as a torn up cotton t-shirt and blot the areas. With the pinwash I use the same material but dampen it just a bit with white mineral spirits and gently rub diagonally across the surface to remove excess.
With preshading as well as the pin wash sometimes you have to build up several layers of the color before you get the intensity you desire. Trying to do it in one pass may make it too dark, cause too much overspray or cause lifting due to too much solvent hitting the surface at once. If the panel lines are too close or too small you can always use a post shading technique. There you use a little darker base coat than you want and then go back with lighter coats and airbrush from the center of the panel out. Again apply a little color at a time, let it dry and see if you want more or where you want more. then go to a lighter color still and either dry brush the highlights or spray from the center out again but not as far out. This is great to use on aircraft where panals may be quite small.
If you do a search on this forum of u-boat you can find a link to a uboat model I did where I used some of these techniques to shade the hull to give you an idea of the effects you can achieve or e-mail me and I can send some pics of some of my more and some of my less successful experiments with these methods.
MikeComment
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Patients...Let the paint cure..I like to put a layer of Future wax between every stage of my model painting...It's like insurance, it will protect your previous work..Comment
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Thanks Mike and Andy for the help...
Mike...I used Testor "Airbrush Thinner" for the thinner to do the wash..maybe this is similar to the product you mentioned and is indeed too strong..Also..I found...LUCKILY..that I managed to ship a nice can (small) of turpenoid to Russia
so you recommend that to wash? Its not as strong as airbursh thinner or brush cleaner..? I'll wait a good 48 hours this time before washing the interior..should I just tint the turpenoid with the darker color..or is there any good ratio as a rule of thumb to use..last question (sorry I have so many) is it necessary to first "prep" the area to be washed and apply a light layer of turpenoid over the area to be washed..or simply apply the turpenoid wash? thanks!
Andy..I live in Russia..and dont think they have that wax here
..but I do think also I should let the paint dry longer than the 24 hours I did..two days should be sufficient you think?
I think I'll give the preshading a bit of a try..I painted in a Testor RLM 29 Sandgelb..for the the basecoat..was thinking of darkening it a bit before application and then doing the straight sandgelb shading..but was a bit too unsure ..will try that on the panther..I'll probably lighten the sandgelb with a tad of white and shade..to give a soft faded look...my airbursh does really really small areas..so should be fine enough even to work for some shading on this small surface..then I'll play with drybrushing.. unfortunately in my early modeling years I only dabbled a bit in realistic shading and weathering.so have to really learn it all now..I can build and airbrush and make nice pieces.but I know the true artistry is in the realistic weathering/shading application..so I have to basically learn it all trial and error..although drybrushing I have down fairly well..thanks again for your patience and help!
Last question..with Tamiya paints.do I just thin those down with water?Last edited by Scott A. Hess; 01-05-2007, 03:18 AM.Comment
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Originally posted by ANDY BUTKUS View Post
Andy...48 hours sufficent for testor enamels to cure..or should I wait longer before washing to be on the safe side?Comment
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Hi Scott,
I ain't done any modelling for a lot of years and even when I did I wasn't doing it that seriously but I might be able to pass on some advice though since it's been a long time it may well be worth checking it out first...
Future Wax mentioned by Andy - if this is the stuff I'm thinking of it could be wooden/tiled/lino floor sealer type stuff. I used to use some thing similar but I can't remember what it was called (may well of been Future?), it was a clear water like liquid - very thin and dried in no time and it also left a very slight glossy sheen which helped the wash flow better. It also helped seal decals to the model and helped make any of the remaining decal carried invisible. When everything was done and the model finished I used to then spray it with a matt varnish to lose the shine and give the model its matt finish.
Tamiya Paints - yes water can be used but it's not that good. The proper Tamiya thinners is better but it's quite expensive. What I used to use was car windscreen wash (it had something or another in it that was ideal to use as a thinner for Tamiya (or any acrylic?) paints - possibly denatured alcohol or something - can't remember now?
Finally when it came to washes and problems with base coats etc what I was told was use the opposite type of wash to your base coat...ie if the base coat is in tamiya acrylics then use a solvent based wash or if the base coat is in enamels etc use and acrylic based wash.
Hope some of that is of some use and have fun!Comment
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Hello MIke.many thanks for your help and reply..I will follow your advice.luckily there is a fantastic..I mean really good model shop about 20 minute walk from me which carried most every product I could want..I have bought some tamiya thinner there.(it was expensive.very) they have an outstanding selection of kits..dragon..tamiya..heller..most every major armour maker..they do have good selection of humbrol and tamiya paints..but unfortunately not the testor model master paints which I love..but.it is Russia! I just finished the normandy camo scheme which I airbrushed..and letting it dry..then I will as you advice (I used testor enamals) use tamiya paints and solvents for the wash as to not interfere with the base coat...and after its all done give it a nice coat of matt lacquer..thanks again for the h elp! by the way..have you ever airbrushed with tamiya paints? I never have.and some people dont like the results..Ive pretty much only airbrushed with enamals..testor and humbrol..but given that tamiya paints are so available here..may switch to that..but dont know who the tamiya paints airbursh..they work well thinned for straight brush painting..
Thanks again! I'll post somepics of the fiished piece after its done ..and I re up my subscription to allow photo upload!Comment
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Hi Scott, yes I have airbrushed with Tamiya paints in the past - mainly because I found it a lot less hassle cleaning up with acrylic paints than enamels. Results...well they were okay I suppose but I was only doing it for my enjoyment so wasn't really bothered what others thought and the few people who did see my models would of been non the wiser anyhow?
Most of mine went into the bin a few years back but I've still got a couple left - not brilliant ones compared to some of the stuff you see but I was happy enough with them. I'll have a look and see if I have any pics on my computer of them.Comment
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Couple of pics - not very good but all I had handy. Actually when I look at them now I reckon my model building days were pretty amateur...they look pretty grim in the pics!!
Never mind it filled my time in nicely when I did them....
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Your armor models look very nice to me Mike, and you should be proud to have them on display. Some guys will spend years learning how to apply the weathered and well used in battle look.
Your detail work is very nice and sharp, and probably better than I could produce. What make of kits are these?
I plan on getting back into 1/35 armor modeling now that I am very close to retirement. A few of these Wehrmacht vehicles would look very cool on the bookshelf of my study.
Yah did real good.........
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