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it is always about decisions... making them is the importance and not which one..

so redoing is always a good thing if you´re not satisfied... otherwise it would bugger no end all the time you see the model...and learning curve is just that... it is bendy and will get uphill ...always^^...

You are brave, but Vik is right (as usual) if you are not happy, this is important, and starting over important. This is a great model and doubly important as it's your first. Good luck and you will manage it, I can see the talent. Maybe put off the painting until you have tried on something less important. Knock up some defence lines as practice. Gives you scenery and chance to practice techniques and is not so important.

Those turrets look great, the last one there (the twin long barreled one) is definitely my favorite, I think you got the paint balance perfect on that one .

Thanks guys! I have put to gether a couple of boxes and scrap metal pieces from plasticard and am currently experimenting on them to find a decent technique for the salt weathering..... what i am finding very quickly is LESS salt IS MORE detail & real!!! IMHO...... pics to follow soon so i can give you s breakdown of how i have managed it......

On a totally diferent note..... I am wondering if anyone can help me and advise how to get a hyperlink to my blog on my profile signature..... for all the will of the Omnissiah i cant figure it out!

haha.... cheers guys,

That tank is amazing! I too, don't like the salt technique- a sponge is much better for control. However If I can give one bit of advice...Paint all your basecoat colors, Then when you are happy, do your decaling, then Weather/chip/rust EVERYTHING, including the decals.
as for a hyperlink, just use this format, with square brackets instead of round ones
(url)http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/jforum.page?module=posts&action=edit&post_id=6436725&start=210(/url)

Hey guys! Taking Camkeirhi advise i put together a little storage box and a warped armour plate and went through my weathering technique again.... I put all the images together into one image so hpefully all the details stand out!

dsteingass thanks mate! Really appreciate the comments! Yeh i think that turret is my fav also.... althought i am happy with them both really! haha... thanks for the tips.... I will definetly have a go at that next time.....

Cheers all.. any comments would be cool!

To be honest... i REALLY like image 3 with the fine saltcoat and red rudt coat...... just a nice effect...... i think a lighter grey and a little less of a second salt coat could be just the look i am finally going for.....




Automatically Appended Next Post:
OH.... i forgot to mention... I have a bunch of steel wool currently submerged in water that i am going to leave for a few days and try and create some real rust pigment............

I am probably totally wrong here, but is it not the point to remove the salt totally, to reveal the paint underneath. I like the effect you have going, but for myself (and this is totally a personal thing) It's too textured, to lumpy. I am just not 100% sold on it. I tell you who you need to talk to. SkalkBloodaxe, his salt work on his terrain is legendary.

Please completely ignore me if I am talking twoddle. I have NO experience with this technique myself, and am watching with interest as to how you do. I have yet to muster the courage to have a go so my hat is off to you regardless.

 Camkierhi wrote:
I am probably totally wrong here, but is it not the point to remove the salt totally, to reveal the paint underneath. I like the effect you have going, but for myself (and this is totally a personal thing) It's too textured, to lumpy. I am just not 100% sold on it. I tell you who you need to talk to. SkalkBloodaxe, his salt work on his terrain is legendary.

Please completely ignore me if I am talking twoddle. I have NO experience with this technique myself, and am watching with interest as to how you do. I have yet to muster the courage to have a go so my hat is off to you regardless.

Heya mate! Not at all.. i totally appreciate the input! And actually i agree with you..... i like the textures i have here and really like the almost "scortched" look i have acheived.... but i think i really want to reign it in on my models...... I am going to have another go at a much more restrained salting and see what i can come up with... pretty much experimenting so just seeing what i can come up with... and this has actually put me in mind to have a go at a 100% wrecked and burnt out vehicle of somekind..... brain juices are juicing.......

Thanks buddy! Hope you can pick up some pointers with me as i go along!

Thought I might as well throw in my two cents...

I think the main idea of the technique is to replicate the "real" order in which the rust is seen, meaning it lays beneath the actual paint, after if peels off.

For that, the piece is first painted in rust colour - one base colour seems to be generally enough; I've tried a rust-red base plus orange-brown sponging in larger, flat areas, but I haven't figured out if the later has enough impact in the finished look -.

Then it is salted - hairspray used for temporally adhering the salt, sprinkling with water can do it too, with far lesser result - and painted over in the "true" base colour.

Once dried, the salt is removed by brushing, revealing the rust beneath.

Maybe not the best example around, but it should do:


After the salt is removed, the rust patches can be improved by stippling or sponging other tones for deepening the rust effect, and/or adding pure metal scratches for "newer", yet unrusted, damages to the paint.

Hope it makes sense...

 Littletower wrote:
Thought I might as well throw in my two cents...

I think the main idea of the technique is to replicate the "real" order in which the rust is seen, meaning it lays beneath the actual paint, after if peels off.

For that, the piece is first painted in rust colour - one base colour seems to be generally enough; I've tried a rust-red base plus orange-brown sponging in larger, flat areas, but I haven't figured out if the later has enough impact in the finished look -.

Then it is salted - hairspray used for temporally adhering the salt, sprinkling with water can do it too, with far lesser result - and painted over in the "true" base colour.

Once dried, the salt is removed by brushing, revealing the rust beneath.

Maybe not the best example around, but it should do:

Spoiler:

After the salt is removed, the rust patches can be improved by stippling or sponging other tones for deepening the rust effect, and/or adding pure metal scratches for "newer", yet unrusted, damages to the paint.

Hope it makes sense...

Hi Mate! Really like that image...... looks good! I am finding that i am either applying too much salt...... or too much hairspray which is melting the fine salt and adhering it in big lumps rather than smaller amounts..... that is what is giving the me the large areas of rust.... I am going to give it another go.... with less salt and see what happens... but thanks again for looking it!

Ahoy all!

Hope everyone is well!

Ok... i have tried to refine my painting technque and am really happy with the results IMHO.

Really held back with the salt.... and went in a lot lighter with the sponge..... I am pretty set that this is going to be the way i go about painting the Mach.... By the way.. the grey is just a coat of Halfords Light grey primer...... and i would DEFINETLY recoment this to anyone looking for a primer.... large volume for a low price... lovely matt finish and a nice almost Panzer Grey finish!

I will be getting on with the Vanquisher turret tomorrow using this technique.... so will post pics!

Cheers guys!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh... i should probarbly add... i made a light wash... using crushed up used matches to give a sooty / oily finish......

I only gave it one coat using the sponge and tried to concentrate on the rust and damage....

Will give it another coat tomorrow...

Cheers guys,

Wow, that's an excellent effect on the damage!
LooKs awesome!
Will you provide a more detailed "how to"?
Pretty please

Ditto, that's a fascinating idea!

Yeah, that's a good effect.

and impressive detail work throughout.

Now that plate looks absolutely brilliant. Definately need a good little tutorial on that one please. Awesome.

Klaus, not Santa wrote:Wow, that's an excellent effect on the damage!
LooKs awesome!
Will you provide a more detailed "how to"?
Pretty please

inmygravenimage wrote:Ditto, that's a fascinating idea!

Dr H wrote:Yeah, that's a good effect.

and impressive detail work throughout.

Camkierhi wrote:Now that plate looks absolutely brilliant. Definately need a good little tutorial on that one please. Awesome.

Hey guys! Thanks so much for the feedback... thats awesome! I will definetly get a full "How To" written up tomorrow i hope.... Really happy with how the technique is coming along....

Tonight however i have finally managed to extract some of the real rust from the steel wool i have had soaking in water...... i found that smaller ammounts were best and that a small amount of water was good (just enough to cover the wool) then after about 12 hours..... pound the wool with a spoon... and drain off the water...... leave it in a small container.. and then let the water evaporate off.... i sped this process up by putting it in the over at about 60Deg C for about an hour... onse it has dried.. hey presto... RUST!!! IMHO its looking good but ihave not had a chance to test it yet apart from a small piece i painted earlier..... i literally dapped my finger into the rust residue... and dapped it across the piece...... really quick but actually quite a promicing result...... i think a little coat of matt varnish and it should be sound!

More to follow... any comments guys plase fire away!

Again sorry for the crummy camera work!

these test pieces look very good...(which is actually the understatement of the day...)...

using actual rust is one hell of a ballsy move...I only wonder... if the rust would rust some more even after the application?... tho sealing the model probably would keep the oxidation process at bay ...well...I am by far no chemist at all^^...

 Viktor von Domm wrote:
these test pieces look very good...(which is actually the understatement of the day...)...

using actual rust is one hell of a ballsy move...I only wonder... if the rust would rust some more even after the application?... tho sealing the model probably would keep the oxidation process at bay ...well...I am by far no chemist at all^^...

Hey Vik, Thanks very much..... yeh i am getting happier now with the look and will get the courage soon to add it to my actual model! .....

I think the varnish should halt the oxidisation.... but again..... this is just a test... who knows... it may evolve with time i will wait and see! ..... Hopefully it will work as with £2 for a decent sized bag of steel wool this would be a great money saver for anyone willing to try!

Cheers,

Hi All!

I have tried to write down the stages of the weathering technique i have been working on......

Armour Painting / Weathering

1. Use a scalpel to cut and groove the surface to desired effect.(Corkscrew motion to dig out shell hits)
2. Use fine salt around the damage and rusted edges (less is more)
3. Prime/Base “Panzer” Grey
4. Matt varnish coat
5. Small sponge rust colour around damage and damaged edges
6. Sponge light rust colour to highlight new areas of rust
7. Sponge light grey to show bare metal, highlight edges & new damage.(use light swipes of the sponge to give scratches)
8. Matt varnish coat
9. Wash with small amounts of strong black coffee.
10. Crush used matches. Mix wish drops of water. Sponge onto add charred areas and around damage.
11. Matt varnish
12. Graphite pencil lightly on bare metal edges.

Finish

I have also added a couple of pics of the previous armour plates with a simple (end of the finger) applied coat of my home made rust! IMHO i think it could really be good!

Any comments guys or if you ned me to try and explain anything more please let me know!

Cheers,

Well it definately looks effective. Very realistic.

 Camkierhi wrote:
Well it definately looks effective. Very realistic.

Cheers mate! Yeh am pretty happy with it..... now all i need is the courage to have a go at the actual tank and stop messing around with test pieces.... lol....

I was a little surprised at how well it looks when I read the list of ingredients !

However , the fact remains it does look pretty good !

For weathering powders I have used ash from the fire mixed with scrapings from coloured pastels ( Hobbycraft - earthtones £3 for 12 sticks ) with good results if you don't want to use wire wool. Tho , why wouldn't you want to use wire wool ???

 Big H wrote:
I was a little surprised at how well it looks when I read the list of ingredients !

However , the fact remains it does look pretty good !

For weathering powders I have used ash from the fire mixed with scrapings from coloured pastels ( Hobbycraft - earthtones £3 for 12 sticks ) with good results if you don't want to use wire wool. Tho , why wouldn't you want to use wire wool ???

Thanks mate! Haha... yeh i am sure there will be a few purists out there who will baulk at the idea of pouring coffee over one of their models etc.... but thanks for saying so, but it looks pretty good IMHO.......

One thing i am learning very quickly is that it is VERY easy to go to far and just add too much damage or weathering..... Also, one of the down points about using the matches is that the ash seems to float on the top of the water rather than "mix"..... so literally only drops are needed!

Ash idea from the fire is a great idea!! I am getting WELL ahead of myself at the momment but i really want to do a fully burned out vehicle..... ash and all...... so there is a ready made source!

Thanks for looking in mate!

THANKS Mate!
This is really helpsfull and looks very convincing.
I hope you can get this look and feel onto the real model.

I will wathc this one closely

 Klaus, not Santa wrote:
THANKS Mate!
This is really helpsfull and looks very convincing.
I hope you can get this look and feel onto the real model.

I will wathc this one closely

Oh No .... Now there is pressure!!

haha.. thanks Klaus.. hope you can give it a go and let me know how you get on! anything else you want to know just let me know....

Yeh i am really hoping to get this working on the model.... i think if i just take my time it should work out fine..... last thing for me to try is going to be using the coffee to replicate some small oil drips and lines...... but apart from that i am pretty happy!

Thanks for looking in again!

Hey all!

I have taken the plunge and worked on the Vanquisher turret tonight...... followed the same technique as i listred previously... and am a heck of a lot happier with the results than i was before.... the only difference being that i used a slightly stronger coffee for the wash........

Not a huge explanation as time is short... but any comments or queries guys then please feel free to leave them!

Cheers All!

ps. the pics were taken straight after the coffee.... so it still looks a little damp..... but has dried now......

That's soooooo crusty!

Got to admit that looks spectacular.

Coffee wash heh? Must smell damn fine when it's nice and fresh

I have a strange urge to ask you what brand of coffee you use and is it instant or freshly ground

Coffee for rust, hmmmm.