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Hi, all.

Now, I can find a garzillion* posts through a simple Google search about how to weather scale model vehicles, but there doesn't seem to be any for weathering soldiers. Well, I can't find any.

So, I'm just curious, how do you weather your soldiers? I don't mean armour wearing knights or Astartes, but normal fellows wearing fabric clothing.

Other then washing the 'fabrics' with inks and using weathering powder to muddy the model a bit, I can't seem to see a decent way.

However, I'm very keen to improve my painting skills, so I thought I'd ask the experts.

Cheers.

*garzillion: a number that falls between 1 and infinite.

If you mean like this:

then it's just a matter of using smaller brushes & less pigment.
The key is always to build up slowly with layers, fixing each layer as you go once its dry.

Beard stubble, darken the area around the eyes, 'raccoon face' (dust covering the face except that part covered by a mask or goggles). Bare metal on buttons, helmets and E tools, spots were wear has wore the paint off. You can enter a battlefield in parade condition, but rarely does one leave that way. Any camo paint on skin has lost/ losing any pattern that was applied and becomes a brownish green ..... blob. Elbows, seats and knees on uniforms are wearing color out (see if you can find color pictures of the 7th cav, the pants and the coat are really the same color, they just didn't wear the coat when out on the range, ie patrol, so the color on the pants faded quicker.
Generally I say the most convincing would be to fade lines. Troops become fuzzy, less defined blobs of brown, tan, or whatever the color of the earth is in the area, which in a battlefield can be a good if not itchy thing.

If your of a sculptors mind, loose webbing belts, extra ammo/ grenades, E tools, missing canteens, rips in pants, sleeves on uniforms removed, twigs/ extra camouflage in the helmets headbands, cigarettes hanging from the corner of the mouth, loose postier with a hang dog face and the thousand yard stare.

Thanks, guys.

 Mud Duck wrote:

Generally I say the most convincing would be to fade lines. Troops become fuzzy, less defined blobs of brown, tan, or whatever the color of the earth is in the area, which in a battlefield can be a good if not itchy thing.

Thanks. Something I wouldn't of thought about. So, would that be a case of lightening those areas of the clothing?

Also, add squad insignias, personal mottos, kill counts etc. There would probably be a lot of lost helmets, improvised equipment, weapon modifications, tattoos, haircuts... Those kind of things

Tamiya Weathering Powders. Seriously, they are like magic.

Asmodai Asmodean wrote:
Tamiya Weathering Powders. Seriously, they are like magic.

Would that be for mud effect, or a general dirty, gruby, dusty look?

Isn't weathering powder just powdered pigment?

 Zuul wrote:
Isn't weathering powder just powdered pigment?

Indeed.

I use a bit more wash, and later some drybrushing of base colors to simulate dust.