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I'm a beginner at this building & painting lark, and the last thing I tried painting was a disaster. Really really awful.

I put together a little industrial section over the weekend, and I'm pleased with how it looks primed, but anxious I'll ruin it with my n00b painting.



I want it to look a bit battered but not too much, still having a shine to it. I might attempt having goop dripping from the pipe into the barrel. The floor I'm going to drybrush a darkish grey, then add in some granite chippings & a bit of static grass.

Should I just paint the storage tanks the colour I want (blue), wash with something dark, and then just leave it? Or... Well, I don't know what else, because my knowledge kinda starts and stops with basic drybrushing, frankly. The pipes I want to be a dirty silver metallic.

Hello!!

My advise would be to prime it all in an automotive primer spray can first...it looks like you used pretty thin plastic--food containers? Do this in Flat Black if you can find it.

Then hit the items with your color - blue, then let them dry. Drybrush your pipes with the silver and then wash it all in a watered down flat black latex paint.

Yeah, that's a biscuit packet. It started off as an experiment after watching a Rubbish In Rubbish Out YouTube vid, but it was so successful I just ran with with it. It's stuffed with tightly packed newspaper I tested it's firmess by bouncing it off the heads of of my OH and a mate. I figured that if it could survive being used as a weapon, it could probably survive a good few games.

Anyway, the piece has already had a coat of Army Painter Flat Black Primer, so I will whack on some blue paint and see how it goes.

Thanks for the advice.

 FarseerAndyMan wrote:
Hello!!

My advise would be to prime it all in an automotive primer spray can first...it looks like you used pretty thin plastic--food containers? Do this in Flat Black if you can find it.

Then hit the items with your color - blue, then let them dry. Drybrush your pipes with the silver and then wash it all in a watered down flat black latex paint.

Is there any particular reason you are suggesting automotive primer and latex paint?

Big pieces like this are hard to paint with the usual block colour - wash - highlight (dry brush) method. The wash will drip and pool strangely with that tank if you do it roughly. You will have to really put it where you need it (in the grooves) and let it dry before moving on or doing other coats. Similarly, dry brushing over such a large, untextured space, isn't a great idea. What you really want to do with these buildings is learn how to do wet blending and apply it on a large scale. The final product will be much better and you will add a new technique to your repertoire.

My advice: check out some wet blending tutorials on YouTube and elsewhere around the net. It is not as hard as some people say and it is particularly well suited for painting buildings.

Good luck!