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I know there's weathering pastels and powders on the market, but if you want to be able to mix up a bigger variety of colours at a cheaper price, this tutorial is for you.
What I use
Tacky glue - white glue, but tacky- the good stuff, has more imediate grab than regular white glue.
Flesh and Earth colours dry pastels. I got this from my local news agents for 6.50, look at the variety of colours.
Pencil sharpener, with filing retainer but a hobby knife will do.
Tap water.
An old stiff bristled brush.
An old brush with softer bristles.


Technique 01
Step 01:
Choose the colours you want, I generally throw a few shaves off each into the mix to add variety, sharpen it in the big sharpener, alternatively you can shave the corners of the pastel with a knife, catch them on a sheet of paper and then put them in a container.

Step 02:
Crush the shavings up with the butt of a paint brush.


Step 03:
Dilute the glue with a bit of water and apply it with an old brush, becasue it has that more immediate grab than white glue it'll glug up the brush even if you wash it quickly.


I've put a bit of glue in the mud chute here, where you'd expect a bit of sand to come down after being shaken off the track, it's not too easy to see unfortunately.

Step 04:
Use a puffy brush or gently pour the pastel onto the area you applied the glue.

Here we are lightly applied.

Larger chunks like this may appear, use a stiff bristled brush to break these up and smear the pastel over the working area, as ever use an old brush.




This technique works great for basing, if you want to fine sand etc, just grinding the pastel up, glue on the base, putty where required and the and then pour it over the base. As seen on the figure I was testing techniques on below. The ground is sand, painted, then I decided to put a mix of red and brown pastels, In my opinion it would have looked better if I had forgone the sand personally, for a fine sand effect.
I then decided to make it seem a bit colder, to warrant the greatcoat and scarf, so I added a light frosting of white pastel shavings over the top.
I decided her great coat looked a bit clean for someone living in the field, so I brushed some glue over the lower areas and applied the same colour I used on the ground.

Nice tutorial. As someone still learning techniques to paint etc. I really appreciate such step by step walkthroughs.

Have you tried to use pastels as a (dry pygment dusting effect)?
And then seal it with varnish.

Seen lads use that for terrain and it works quite well, but never on the model. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxhZ7uE7glY
I though about it using on the model, but never tried it me self.

Cheers Mothsniper, I guess I get that effect with my stiff brush, (to a degree, but that does seem the better way to do it), I then seal the finished work with varnish, so I guess you'd not need to use glue, although it does potentially provide a thicker effect.

 OldMate wrote:
Cheers Mothsniper, I guess I get that effect with my stiff brush, (to a degree, but that does seem the better way to do it), I then seal the finished work with varnish, so I guess you'd not need to use glue, although it does potentially provide a thicker effect.

Does the varnish darken the pastels after it has dried?

No I have not noticed that using Testors dull coat.

K. I will give it a try, thank you sir!