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Any ideas here?

I've been using two coats of washers over a base (Army Painter) and then dry-brushing that base and lighter colors of that base. This works well for 28mm minis but splotchy and uneven for anything bigger. Anybody have any ideas of a process with better results or how can I eliminate the splotchiness and unevenness?

don't use gw washes on big models, not entirely anyway as itll dry uneven like you said.

subassembly, one thing with vehicle and bigger models is that they require to be painted in parts then assemble, then touch ups etc.

I use black primer, then watered down chaos black over all the parts, clean off any debris like brush hair, clogged areas of paint.


depending on you scheme, a watered down dark tone of your main color, I love rhinox hide, dark reaper, imperial purple, midnight blue,chardon granite, vellejo german grey etc.

then, drybrush the mid tone, then edge highlight, then decals and details, then weathering.

No airbrushes but rattle can

- prime, coloured primer ideally
- block with a brush other colours like tyres, tracks, guns etc, just the base colour, keep it neat but just the base, no shading.
- gloss varnish
- decals (if any) - brush gloss varnish over them
- oil wash a black/brown mix to taste - literally white spirit and artists oil paint - later over with a large brush or apply as a pin wash for a dirty/clean effect
- leave a few days
- wipe off with a kitchen towel
- leave a few more days
- matt varnish to seal



this had the white wash applied as an oil layer as well, but otherwise is a single spray colour, decals and a few details in black/white



this one has the camo airbrushed but shows the pain job before the oil wash, as you can see just flat colour, glossy

neither took very long, there is a fair bit of drying time but this suits "paint for a bit on an evening" methods and is very fast for vehicles that are largely one colour.

the base can be brush painted, as can the gloss varnish - the end matt varnish needs a rattle can though

Splotches will be harder to deal with on bigger models unless you go really fast. At two coats it sounds like you are using it to think the base layer. Best thing I’d say is to get a big tank brush and make sure to apply wet on wet to avoid tide marks. Also thin it with medium and or water

Thanks guys. One of these days, I'm going to invest the time and money into the airbrush but until then, all the advice is really helpful.

Base coat with a spray, wash with nuln oil, dry brush the base coat colour, then lighter, then lighter again. Easy as.

You can do edge highlights really quickly with those water-soluble pencils (like these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Coloured-Watercolour-Colouring-US-Sense/dp/B075R5SX5B/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1526991400&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=watercolour+pencils&psc=1). Just make sure you varnish after & be careful when handling.