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Ok so I went out and bought 2 necron night scythes for my army and its come time to paint them. So here's my problem and what I want to do. I want the back half of them to be all black as if painted, but I want the front to be gunmetal. But what I don't want is a hard transition or a gradual fade. I want it to look like all the flying around in crappy places has slowly been stripping or peeling the paint off in chunks to expose the living metal. But I'm having a super hard time figuring out how to accomplish this. The effect I'm sort of going for in the tradition is a look like this. Where it's peeling and sort of crackling. Anyone have any good ideas?

you could try taking this idea and scaling it down: http://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2010/05/crackle-finish-with-elmers-glue.html

I vaguely recall that mixing isopropyl alcohol with acrylic paints can do some strange things like make it wrinkle or crackle. unfortunately, I don't remember where I read that or what the actual technique was but google probably knows. do NOT mix isopropyl and acrylic paints in an airbrush, though. tends to result in a gooey mess.

Thanks man I'm gonna try that out. I'm not exactly sure I want it to be actually crackled; I sort of just want an effect that looks like it is. But if this works out in testing I may do it regardless.

I was looking into maybe trying to use a sponge painting technique that I've seen people do for battle damage but again I'm gonna run some tests first.

Take a look at the cracked leather effect on this Marder

http://www.misterjustin.com/#!/2013/02/marder-iii-m-ausf-finished.html

Best way to get a chipped paint effect is to actually chip the paint - do a search for "salt weathering" or the "hairspray method." This technique more or less necessitates the use of an airbrush, though, which puts it beyond the reach of some hobbyists. The "quick and dirty" equivalent, which can actually look quite convincing, is called "sponge weathering." With this technique, you could paint the back black and the front silver, then move either forward or back with the appropriate color to mottle the transition with random "chips."

@varl and Ifurita I did some google searching and didn't really find a way to do those as fairly flat layers you guys have any more experience/knowledge with crackling mediums? And watering them down.

@Oadie yah that's sort of where I was thinking of going with it. I'm just afraid it will look too splotchy, and not streaky and splotchy which is more of what I was imagining if that makes any sense. And yah the salt trick is a no go as I don't have an air brush and would have to pack up my whole operation and drive out to friends houses who do. (With a 2 1/2 yr old that's a lot harder than it sounds)

Thanks all for the replies time to start experimenting and seeing what I like!

Salt weathering.



Marmite weathering may also be useful.

 Kilkrazy wrote:
Salt weathering.

Spoiler:

Marmite weathering may also be useful.

Cause heaven knows you arn't going to eat it.

Chancetragedy wrote:yah that's sort of where I was thinking of going with it. I'm just afraid it will look too splotchy, and not streaky and splotchy which is more of what I was imagining if that makes any sense.

I think I get what you're saying. Looking at the image you posted in the OP, sponge weathering could give you an effect similar to that seen on the central bead, but that doesn't really convey directed impacts. Then again, damaged paint doesn't really tell you how it got chipped - it just flakes off when it can't hold on any longer. I think a bit of backward-streaked scorching here and there, coupled with sponged on chipping, might do the trick - the former giving the sense of forward motion while the latter tells you the ship had a rough time of it.

Ma55ter_fett wrote:Cause heaven knows you arn't going to eat it.

I recall actually enjoying Marmite, the one time I tried it. Granted, I also drink the sediment on the bottom of my bottle-conditioned homebrews (separately from the rest of the beer, of course), so I may just have an affinity for brewer's yeast.

 oadie wrote:

Chancetragedy wrote:yah that's sort of where I was thinking of going with it. I'm just afraid it will look too splotchy, and not streaky and splotchy which is more of what I was imagining if that makes any sense.

I think I get what you're saying. Looking at the image you posted in the OP, sponge weathering could give you an effect similar to that seen on the central bead, but that doesn't really convey directed impacts. Then again, damaged paint doesn't really tell you how it got chipped - it just flakes off when it can't hold on any longer. I think a bit of backward-streaked scorching here and there, coupled with sponged on chipping, might do the trick - the former giving the sense of forward motion while the latter tells you the ship had a rough time of it.

I think you definately get what I was going for as the description you just have is almost exactly what I was thinking. Like I couldn't figure out how to put it into words exactly and i didnt have to because you just did haha. So movement scorching im assuming using washes or pigments of some sort and sponge chipping(for the transition area) are the technique names? Thanks again

I believe i remember seeing a technique one of those forge world master class books where they airbrushed paint on top of an area that they sprayed with hairspray, then they used a stiff brush to rub the paint off because of the different layers after it all dried.

That's the hairspray method, Desubot - can yield VERY realistic results, but the OP doesn't have easy access to an airbrush. Salt is often used in conjunction, as it acts as an irregular, jagged mask to get natural, random chipping. One can also manually scrape paint away, either by brush or stylus/needle/fingernail, as the Masterclass article apparently suggests.

Chancetragedy: Yeah, "sponge chipping" and/or "sponge weathering" should net you some decent tutorials if you pop them into Google or the Dakka search engine. It's a reasonably popular technique, as it gives pretty realistic results without requiring much of anything in the way of specialized equipment.

As far as the scorching/streaking are concerned, they could be achieved in a number of ways - airbrush (mentioned only for the sake of completeness), pigments, drybrushing, acrylic washes, or oil paints feathered and streaked with thinner could each do the trick. Historical military modeling articles (aircraft for the directional streaking, armor for more generalized scorching/soot) are a great resource for tutorials on this sort of effect, although many websites and magazines more or less assume that if you're reading, you probably already have and use an airbrush and/or are likely to buy specialty products.

Personally, I think oil paints and weathering powders are a worthwhile investment, even without a specific project in mind, so I might suggest going one of those routes, even if it means buying a few new supplies. If you want to keep things cheap and simple, drybrush with black (slow and subtle buildup is best) or layer dilute brown and black washes (try to apply thin layers and, again, build the effect up gradually - heavy applications will pool and potentially develop "tide marks," densely pigmented rings at the edge of pooled washes that dried unevenly).

Alright sounds good! I've been looking at getting into pigments for a little while now. So I guess there is no better time than now. I have a couple of rhino's and drop pods to paint scorch marks and weathering on as well so there we go.

And I heard of the sponge weathering before, but wasn't quite sure it was what I wanted. I also wanted to see what other people had for ideas because you never know when you'll find something you love.

And oh do I know about tide marks! One of my rhinos looks like it hasn't ringworm all over it from where I tried to brush wash the whole thing;(

Toothpaste can also be used as masking agent just be sure to seal the paint first as toothpaste is abrasive, and can damage the paint underneath when scrubbing it off.

Another way to enhance it is to mask the area, then spray black, then the primary color. That way you get a multi-layer look down to the base metal color.