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a common critique I got on my salamanders is that they have a "factory fresh" look to them. for the night lords army I'm starting, I thought I'd try some weathering. scratches, paint chips, etc. I'm leaning towards the sponge application method, but the usual black or dark gray paint isn't going to show up well on dark-blue and black armor. maybe something like boltgun metal? or would a non-metallic give a more realistic feel? aside from some chipping, any other weathering suggestions? I'm going for a well-worn, but well-maintained look. so, a few oil or soot stains might fit in but rust probably wouldn't. dust would certainly fit, as I'm thinking about basing them with an urban rubble theme. ... or maybe lots of skulls. haven't decided, yet :p lastly, is it better to do the paint chipping before or after edge highlights?

cheers,

v

Try this method, it's a wash I make using Vallejo earth, gloss varnish and water mixed to a milky coffee sort of consistency. Paint it into the recesses and the varnish acts as a flow aid and creates the capillary action so it only goes into the recesses creating areas of built up dust/grime...

vallejo earth is a pigment, right? interesting. I wonder if I could achieve the same thing by just mixing it with mineral spirits... something for me to test out!

No it's from their game colour range, it's the same as citadel graveyard earth :-)

ah, well that will definitely not behave well with mineral spirits then :p very interesting technique!

Well mate, hope to see how you choose to do it on here :-) have fun!

Hi !

 varl wrote:
I'm leaning towards the sponge application method, but the usual black or dark gray paint isn't going to show up well on dark-blue and black armor. maybe something like boltgun metal? or would a non-metallic give a more realistic feel?

First of all, when using the sponge method for weathering, you don't use a single color. You need 2 colors, a dark and a bright one to have a contrast. It's the superposition of both colors that create the chipping effet.
I generally go for black first, then mithril silver. this works pretty well on most colors, like red, blue and son on. However, on a dark color the black won't pop up, so I'd recommend to use another color, generally a brown. For a dark blue, a red-orange-ish brown would be perfect. Something like scorched brown or bestial brown, or maybe a mix of both. And then, mithril silver.


An example of sponge weathering on my Typhoon speeder :

On my black marines I use the sponge method with runefang steel. It's not perfect but it's pretty quick and gives a decent effect.