Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hello all,

I'm a terrible painter. I would like to get better. Currently, I was wondering if anyone had any tips or tricks for weathering or painting battle damage on black power armor, or just in general. Or if you know where I could find advice, it would be appreciated.

Thanks I'm advance,

C.I.

Generally, "less is more." It's easy to go overboard with weathering/damage, to the point that the original model's lines get blurred (aside from potential issues with the plausibility of continued function). When applying chipping, for example, you can be thorough with the coverage, but keeping the individual chips very fine will ensure that you can still make out the model's shape and original color.

For chipping, I'm a huge fan of the sponge method ("sponge weathering" or "sponge chipping" should, as a search term, net you plenty of tutorials). Gives you total control over the placement while keeping the pattern of the paint application random. With a light touch, you can also apply a very fine pattern, if you choose. It's also a very simple method, at its core, although you can really go crazy with it, highlighting individual chips by hand. With a black base, silver or a light to medium grey are good choices for the applied color, depending on whether you assume a metal or ceramic substrate.

For metallic wear, a soft pencil or woodless graphite stick is also handy. Grind some up into powder to dip a finger into and rub over darkened or dirtied tank treads or other highly textured metal areas that see wear. The same soft pencil can be run gently over hard edges to show abraded, as opposed to chipped, paint over metal. Graphite has a darker, more subtle sheen than most silver paints, which looks quite realistic on things like ladder rungs which would get handled frequently, simultaneously being darkened and polished by use.

For dust, mud, rust, etc. weathering powders are a great investment, if you plan to do a lot of weathering or simply want the most realistic finish you can manage. There are scores of articles about them and tutorials covering specific uses, so I'll let others handle the explanations, there. Paint can be used for many of the same purposes, but will never be able to reproduce the resulting effect.

Any more specific weathering/damage goals in mind? This is all rather general, at the moment, but I or others can give you more direct advice (or links to appropriate tutorials) if we know exactly what you want to do.

Try to keep realism in mind, even when using more painterly techniques for weathering. The viewer can instantly tell if something looks off even if they don't know exactly what it is.

First up - dirtying from the ground up. The feet of your model are going to be dirtier than the head. Whatever you dirty your model with should be reflected in your basing color choices.

Chipping where it makes sense. Look at any pieces of heavy equipment to see where paint chipped occurs. It's the leading edges of things that are likely to come in contact with something else. For space marines, that's going to mean toes and heals of boots, fingers, elbows, knees. The more recessed an area is, the less likely it is to get chipped.