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So Im trying this new thing.. Its called painting well. Ive never been an ace at it, and after being on Dakka for a month, I feel like i need to step my game up. So here is what I got so far. Primered black, basecoat of charadon granite, then coat of codex grey and dry brush of fortress grey. I tried a few paint chips, dunno if they look good or not, and put some develan mud on the bottom for well, mud. I know I need to paint the treads and commander, but what can I do to make this bad boy look more decent? Thanks for any and all tips

I'd start by using a wash on all exposed bumps, rivets, and surface joins (where two dissimilar surfaces are joined). You'll want to do some "gem" type painting of any glass surfaces like the viewport bits on the turret. Where parts natuarally wear and tear against each other, you'll want to put a metallic silver. Any recessed areas should be hit with dark grey or black to make the raised areas "pop" a bit more - unless you're working on a camo pattern in which case this may not be the best way to go.

Paint the engine exhaust in a metallic (Boltgun Metal) and give it some progressively lighter washes of black and brown, top to bottom. It will make it look more like an exhaust port.

Don't believe ANYBODY when they say you need to jewel something. They are universally wrong (Sorry, Breotan). Jeweling should only be done with when you are doing light sourcing on the WHOLE model, otherwise it is very silly.

Honestly, what it needs is detail. The rivets are obvious, just picking those out as metal (Chainmail) and putting a wash around them will make the tank look more complete. Another couple coats of mud wouldn't hurt, either.

Great advice so far. I planned on adding some metalics. Any advice on good weathering techniques?

Weathering powders.

Invest.

Gloss varnish the whole thing, then make a mix with white spirits and oil paints. Use this mix the go round every rivet and panel line. let it half try then use a dry brush to streak it. Looks a treat.

Btw, which wash should I use for everyones suggestions of "put some wash on blah".. Black? I saw one post a while ago about using sephia for rust streaks which I will try as well.

muds a little crappy, but I like the general feel of the model.

Instead of just using a wash as a highlight, try vomit or bestial brown in a 2:1 mix of codex grey and drybrush it with a tank brush (the big one)

For paint chips, get boltgun metal and drybrush just at areas of wear and tear (gun joints, tracks, areas that move etc.) then finish off with a small area of bright (red?) colours to give it a stand-out.

I use Mordian blue on the sides of my rhino, and a a codex grey/dirty brown makes for extra excelent mud.

when you're done, wash (double diluted) gryphonne sepia into the mud. (don't make the mistake of using devlan mud, it's a pretty crappy mud colour.)

buy FW masterclass

Overall the basecoat looks good. Your improving from what work I've seen from you!

Don't use washes around the tracks at the bottom. Instead, grab a color of paint and stipple it around the tracks and anywhere else that would get muddy.

Use badab black to wash in between and around armor pannels, follow this with a light drybrushing of bleached bone. Finally, highlight very sharp edges as necessary.

Your chips look good, they just need to be better placed (around track guards is a really good place).

A few things that I`ve used on my tanks recently.

For the tracks, I do three layers. First I paint the entire track Foundation Orange. Yes, really.

Secondly, a heavy drybrush over the tracks, with Scorched brown (any dark brown will do.

And lastly, a very light metallic drybrush, like boltgun metal. It ends up looking like the tracks here:
http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2010/2/6/81081_md-Chimera%2C%20Conversion%2C%20Death%20Korps%20of%20Krieg%2C%20Imperial%20Guard%2C%20Warhammer%2040%2C000.jpg

The only thing I´ve added on top of this, is a spray of 3:2:1 Water, Bestial Brown and Snakebite leather. I feel that this adds an extra layer of realism.

Grey Death also has an excellent tutorial on weathering. Oh, and try checking out this site: http://www.maschinenkrueger.com/joomla/

The guy doesn´t have that many how-to comments, but his stuff is really inspired, I especially love his exhausts and engines, they look very "real" to me.

Good luck with this, will be watching to see what you do with it.

Yep, use Weathering Powders. Drybrush the tracks Boltgun Metal. Oh, and in the future, remove the flash/mold lines. Makes it much more realistic and nice looking.

For the chips do a basecoat of tin bitz and then another coat over top of that with chainmail. Leave some small bitz of the tin bitz.

^The WHAT? Chips?

The model is a good starting point, but like many have already said I would apply a wash to the entire tank, probably Badab Black.

The next step would be to re-apply you highlights but taking a little more paint off the brush before you begin dry brushing this time.

After that its a case of picking out the details of the model, the exhausts and guns the commander etc.

For the chipped paint effect I notice you've used large rounded patches. For the best effect try to use small irregular black lines at different angles. Follow this with boltgun metal within the black. For newer scratches also add mithril silver as a final highlight. Also consider the placement of the scratches a little more. Try to imagine where the most wear and tear would occur on a tank, Track guards and hatches mostly with a few other areas.

Hope this helps and really look forward to seeing some updated photos in the future.

Ok so Ive been following everyones advice and here's what I got so far.. Hope you approve!









@Mattlov.. sorry I jeweled it haha. I had to add some bright colors other than grey.

I loved the rusted treads so much I went out and bought some orange foundation and scorched earth too. I need to redo the mud, add some new paint chips and then paint the commander..

Weapons will come later. Thanks!

Fantastic improvement if I say so myself, looking good!

Nice job!

For mudding it up, I found Grey Death´s tutorial.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Tank_Weathering

The only change I make to his article, is that I use a piece of foam, like a sponge or a blister pack foam, and dab the mud on with that.

The oil streaks look very nice too, by the way.

Wow, much better, just some guns and its ready to roll. Great job

Drill some bullet holes into the armour and paint the edges silver for that war torn look

Here is the final version of the tank! Well as final as I can be without painting the weapons... But here it is.










I added some more rust effects, bullet holes, new mud and painted the commander. Let me know what you think.

I'm liking it, I would personal take the rust from the engine cover and instead use the black for the look of soot and oil.

If you want to add a little texture to your mud, mix some flock, static grass, PVA glue and some brown paint together and apply to where mud would gather from the tracks.

CadianXV's Top Tip: Don't bother painting the eyes of minis, unless you're a) entering Golden Demon, or b) have a steady hand and a single bristle brush. For guardsmen, its really a waste of time. Flesh wash over dwarf flesh, highlighted with a 1:1 mix of dwarf flesh and elf flesh work wonders, and is all the detail you need.

One thing that stands out is the lack of unit/organizational markings.

Thanks for the tips.. I think Ive put enough time into this damned tank haha! I like where it is now, but I will always improve on future projects. As for unit markings, the white on the turret is the markings haha. My army, everyone has white shoulder pads with a red cross (theyre knights templar themed). Most of my vehicles have a white patch with a bright red iron cross, but I felt like the red cross would look out of place on this model.

If your army is templar themed you should check out a kit breakers for the crosses out of the templar upgrade kit.