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So I bought the Agrellan Eakrth technical paint from GW not too long ago, and I'm wanting to get the cracked earth effect it supposedly gives, but so far it hasn't worked too well, the colour is great just the effect doesn't even seem there, how do I get this to work? :(

I'm not the best or most involved painter ever so I kinda suck with these sorts of things..

Apply, over a darker color, then wait. The thicker you apply it the more pronounced the effect but even a relatively thin coat should show some cracks eventually. Give it time.

Yeah, you can't just apply the standard thin coat with it, you gotta make it thick if you want the pretty cracks.

Also, if you want the same effect, but different colors, just buy some standard hobby crackle paint from the local hobby shop for a much better price. It will be clear, but you can mix in a bit of other paints to get the color you want.

And it's far, far cheaper per ml than GW.

It's actually really easy to use. First, watch the excellent GW video on its application: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFvzLX8CzrA

Then, practice: Paint Rhinox hide over a base, and then apply THICK in one area, a little less in the middle, and a little less than that on the other side. Give it lots of time to dry (like, half an hour or more). You'll see the difference, and you'll know for yourself how it looks.

Finally, do it AFTER the whole model is done. The stuff isn't very durable until you varnish, so you don't want to go handling/bashing it while you paint your model.

Once you get used to it, you can actually control which areas get big cracks, and which areas get little cracks, for some interesting effects, like making the cracks around the feet big, and the ones further out progressively smaller:

get it on thick! the thinner it is the smaller the cracks will be so you can learn how to manipulate it.

Use it thick, and just practice on scrap plastic etc, its easy to manipulate once you get the techniques right.

Martian iron earth is about the same, both work well.

Very thin use, also looks very much like dust on armour

Thanks everyone for the help, I'll try using a thicker coat next and if that doesn't work I'll try using a base colour and see how that works.

Cheers everyone again!