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I really like the look of heavily beaten armour, especially if it looks like it used to be new and fantastic. I was thinking of doing a Farsight force, and since they are without ready supplies their equipment would need to be suitably damaged.

Any tips on doing flecks of paint missing on small infantry models?

well the classic way is to make small blasts of chaos black then thinner coats of boltgun metal,slightly leaving black around it.Inking in some rusty colour would add but i never tried that.

Thats how I do my battle damage. Looks good from an arms length. For melta weapon damage I actually painted a model then held it over a lighter. The plastic softens and then I took the end of a pen and pushed it in. I wiped off the soot and it was finished. The paint cracked and was discoloured but the undercoat of black wasnt compromised. It looked like something really hot tried to penetrate the surface but didnt quite make it. You can dry brush orange red and yellow to give it a still hot look.

I do

A black "uneven spot"

The on top of that bolt gun blob, that still shows some black, the a blob of mithril silver that still shows some boltgun?

-MR.B

Using a lighter is a *terrible* way to simulate battle damage! WTC? First and foremost: the fumes of melting plastic are toxic. On top of that, not only do you risk harming yourself (fumes and or burning yourself), you also risk at damaging beyond repair the figure, especialy if plastic, as the flames melt everything, not just small tiny spots. On top of that, it looks like crap. Don't do this! You'll ruin perfectly good figures (and potentially waste lots of work!)

Instead, do what I've done: Using a dremel tool, x-acto knives, rough files, pin vises and such to create "battle damage" on the base figure prior to painting. Don't go overboard, just a bullet hole here, a scrape there, some scratches, etc.. Then paint up as usual. Then do as MR. B suggest and go back over the damaged spots in black, and on top of that a touch of gunmetal, while still leaving some black on the edges. You can also instead paint the damage in rusty brown tones, with more orange for "fresh" damage.

Here's a Land Speeder I did years ago that illustrates these effects, if a little bit to the extreme:


(more HERE

Oh, and I forgot to add. On top of that are a few spot applied thin ink washes in black for oil streaks and rust for, well rust streaks, as well as some black charcoal dust used for smoke streaks.

I suppose if I was 8 years old or didn't have thumbs I would not able to use a lighter. Wear a respirator and do this in a ventilated area. Flame is easily controlled by the distance of the object it is burning and the size of the flame. I build props and sets for film and television, and I do scenic art when I get the chance. I have learned how to Mcgyver all kinds of substances and objects to mimic the look we are trying to create. Unfortunately fire is one of the safest materials I work with. Forgive me for giving Hellbug the benefit of being a competant individual.

Posted By nyarlathotep667 08/08/2006 10:06 PM
Using a lighter is a *terrible* way to simulate battle damage! WTC? First and foremost: the fumes of melting plastic are toxic. On top of that, not only do you risk harming yourself (fumes and or burning yourself), you also risk at damaging beyond repair the figure, especialy if plastic, as the flames melt everything, not just small tiny spots. On top of that, it looks like crap. Don't do this! You'll ruin perfectly good figures (and potentially waste lots of work!)

 

 

 

 

I totally agree, setting fire or melting your models is a seriously bad idea.

Posted By DonkeyCannon 08/08/2006 10:34 PM
I suppose if I was 8 years old or didn't have thumbs I would not able to use a lighter. Wear a respirator and do this in a ventilated area. Flame is easily controlled by the distance of the object it is burning and the size of the flame. I build props and sets for film and television, and I do scenic art when I get the chance. I have learned how to Mcgyver all kinds of substances and objects to mimic the look we are trying to create. Unfortunately fire is one of the safest materials I work with. Forgive me for giving Hellbug the benefit of being a competant individual.

I respect the fact that you are an adult and not a child, however i can't agree that melting a model with a lighter is either wise or desirable. You can get the same effect in a much safer and more controllable way by using plastic glue to melt the plastic and sculpt into it. If you want to melt models I'd recomend using glue then spreading it out and forming the desired shapes / patterns.

I'm working on some Khador with battle damage.  There are some models here, including a step by step:

Khador

I used the black base/rim, gunmetal grey, then highlight with silver (working it on thinly), then some brown ink (thinned), then re-highlighted with some silver.