Let's see what happens: Part ONE

While I have done some testing on the AMMO mud products (heavy mud, spatter, etc.) on both vehicles and infantry figures, I have not done an all out experimentation session with all of the oil based painting products.

These encompass three key materials.  Filters, standard washes and panel line washes.  I had a decent selection of each of these to try out.  As you know, I used to do watercolor, pastel and even oil painting.  I would have to call upon some long ago experience and memories when it came to oils!

I had a number of vehicles which had been worked right up to the point where these new products would be tested... essentially the shaded basecoat for vehicles!

You can see that the Opel Blitz, Bren carrier and truck have been the original test subjects.  I was not trying to get any kind of specific result or look, it was all about pressing buttons to see what might happen!

I learned a lot about the filters and the panel line washes.  One vehicle was left in the original Shaded Basecoat, and that was the Matilda II.

Have played a number of how to videos, and reading articles in the excellent Ammo Weathering Magazine publications, I could see that the products I have discussed tend to be used separately, and in a specific order. 

Normally, the filters are applied first, with some panel line washes and then the 'regular' washes.

This standard approach is a little more 'mechanical' than what I will be doing.  I do have a typical set of brushes though... and they will be used to apply the paints and then remove them.

As these posts move forward, you will see how the broader, flatter brushes to the right will be utilized to wipe away excess wash liquid and even blend washes long after the original applications.

I had a few different 'colors' set out on the palette.  As I normally do, I have a blue, a red and a yellow.  In this case, the blue was a dark blue/grey panel wash, and then other washes that were brownish yellow, and so on.

Mixing these two materials together would create that dark green which I wanted to shade the vehicle darker.

Usually, the panel washes are meant to be 'touched' to the surface, and allow the capillary action to let the paint to spread through crevices on the vehicle.  However, I added some of the regular washes, which would give this a little more body, and less of the capillary effect.

Still, unlike water based products, these washes will sink deep down into recessed areas.  In addition, water marks are a thing of the past!  I don't have to fret over the precise spacing of the pigments here, because I will be going back over this and removing as much or as little of the wash as I want!

This is a huge advantage.  In this picture, you can see that I have applied some brown/tan mix to the stowage items.  This wash will stay wet for quite a while, giving me that opportunity to go back in an wipe away the excess.

I also do this with my water based glazes, but this must be done immediately, and I have to be more careful to avoid those water marks.

A much deeper, darker wash is mixed for the rest of the hull.  I am mixing some of the yellowish wash with the sea blue panel wash to create a green.  There are a large number of colors to choose from in the AMMO line, but I have to use what's on hand.

I applied this wash color to several horizontal surfaces, but not all of them... just a few selected panels.

I took one of the broader, flatter brushes and began to wipe away some of that wash to reveal the lighter colors underneath.  A 'scumbling' movement was used, which essentially scrubbed the wash away.

Again, since this is an oil based product, this kind of removal of pigment won't create water marks.

I continued this process of washing and removing on various panels.  It's important to leave yourself an area to hang onto, because it will take a while for areas to dry.

I mixed an even larger variety of panel washes with the standard washes to make sure I had a variety colors.  The filters are commonly used to tint the colors, but they are applied in a different way.  These must be placed more evenly on the vehicle, and not allowed to collect or pool in recess areas.  They are designed to gently 'nudge' a light color to a different hue.

I used these to thin down some of my heavy glazes, as a filter is a paint with more of the thinner mixed in.  I forget what the exact percentage is, but it is nearly 70% thinner on the filters.

Take a look at the back panel in this picture, with the dark wash applied. The next image will illustrate what that looks like once I have manipulated it with the dry brush.

Here it is after manipulation. I can also use regular flat brushes for this, or even Q-tips.  For these first tests, I wanted to have as much control over the experiment as possible.  I will definitely begin using the larger flat brushes for the process in the future.

The washing and removing process continues on the turret, but as you can see, there are a lot of surfaces here.  Most of the original glazes were variations of panel line washes, since this is exactly the kind of area they were intended for.

I have also been using the colors that I painted on the vehicle with regular acrylic paints as my base.  All I am doing here is creating more shading, and altering the tints of certain areas.

If I use the blue/black panel wash or the green for camo wash, I will get different tints, but that capillary motion will be consistent through all of them.  As I continued the experiment, I began to realize how powerful this motion would be!

In Part Two, you will see how the sides of the hull were rendered, and the mixing of even more materials together for attaining the desired effects.

This is all very new, so each post it going to show lots of changes, additions, etc., to these techniques.  It will be a very fun journey of discovery, which always helps to keep things fresh and new!  Working with a product that does not fully dry for hours will allow me to work on far more things at once.

Eventually I will be doing this kind of technique on 'regular' infantry style figures, so stay tuned!!

The Big Bad Bugs!

This time we go back to the future of Antares, with the first member of a Tsan Ra Phase squad.  As with the other Isorian figures, this was a chance to get back to the brighter color schemes and the object source lighting.

It was a little challenging to squeeze the brush into certain areas to continue the color transitions and work the OSL, given how many things are protruding in one direction or another.  Having the bright oranges available as a contrast to these highly saturated greens was definitely an advantage, which is one of the reasons I tried to select this particular scheme.

Just like the other figures from this army, the plain gray concrete/deck plating made a nice resting place for the eyes with all the bright colors!

It's gonna be interesting to see the entire squad of three together.  These guys are on 40mm bases, by the way.

Stay tuned!

A clear future

Here's another practice figure for the painting with Reaper clear paints at Reapercon just a matter of weeks from now.

The concept here is to begin with a very muted value 'sketch', just to lay out where the general light and dark patterns should be. 

Using the clear blue, green and purple clear paints,  a series of glazes provides the actual colors that you see here.  The clear paints are very saturated,  so even when thinned with water, they maintain their structure and consistency. 

Once the generic color values have been achieved,  I can start mixing in lighter opaque colors with the clears and get more gradations. 

Blades of Glory

Here's another figure that I used in the dealers room demos at GenCon to illustrate the use of glazes to not just shade, but tint as well.

Now that I am painting so many vehicles, it is interesting to hear the terms modulation and filters being substituted for my more traditional artist names for those techniques.  It was a bit confusing at first... especially figuring out what was meant by a filter.

For me, tinting is a crucial stage, because that is what allows the Shaded Basecoat to be so effective.  The principal behind that is to get lights and darks positioned across the entire figure as rapidly as possible, just like my old 2D painting days!

Once that has been completed, the 'real' colors come out in the glazing stage, where I not only darken colors, but tint them to the hue that I need.  For instance, the coat on this figure was originally going to be blue or brown... but early on the need for something brighter and more eye catching became apparent.

I tried out a few glazes of reaper Clear Red, just to see how that might look.  Yes, this is the prime advantage of the Shaded Basecoat (which I say over and over again... sorry!).  I can completely change my color scheme in mid stream if the need arises, since I have only done a basic framework of lights and darks.

The final colors are confirmed as the glazing and tinting covers over the Shaded basecoat.  I use plenty of different glazes, washes, etc. , that all cover that early shading very effectively.  One of my classes at Reapercon will focus on this element of tinting, using those clear paints.

The lady in Red

One more female character for you from Red Box Games.  She is yet another figure from the giant batch of winter theme characters which spans a number of miniatures companies.

Whenever possible, I tried to reflect a variety of sky blue colors to swords, armor and shields.  This blue was more saturated than what was used on the 'ground', or snow facings.

All this contrasted well with the deep reds of the tunic and shield.  Here and there the tiniest bit of rust was applied.

Mow 'em down!

With the oil based AMMO mud products dry and set, it was time to attach the foliage to the Machine Gun team and get them ready for action!

I really loved how the heavy mud and spatter products worked on the base itself, as well as the figures.  I am now trying this out on some regular standing infantry.

The muted warmth of the mud tones set off the foliage nicely, as did the texture.

These views from above give you a few nice peeks at the mud effects!

It looks like these lads will be out on the table this weekend for the first version two match, so stay tuned...

Land of the Pharaohs

All new from Green Stuff World... yet another fantastic texture roller!  You have seen a number of great textures already, such as the Celtic ruins, Runic Temple and many others.

Instead of putting links to those previous articles that explained some methods for using them, I did a fresh demonstration here.  I was out of the usual grey Extra Firm Sculpey, so I had to use the regular white Sculpey.

This breaks easier than the grey, and is not quite as easy to get an even roll, but it will do for the moment!

Like those previous demonstrations, I have a few materials and tools ready once the sheets have been baked.

To keep things simple, I will put a piece of cork under the thinner sheets.

The cork is broken into shape, and glued in place.

Selecting the piece of Sculpey is more involved, as you want to maximize the effect of the design.  It's also important to think about the footprint of the figure as well, and what that might or might not obscure.

The overhanging bits are cut away for the most part.  It is OK to leave some of that behind, since that overhang can be supported later by adding the glue, rocks, oxide paste, etc.

The second part of the image at the bottom shows that the edges have been chipped away with an exacto knife.  This wears it down and weathers it a little more.  You could also sculpt cracks and other effects with simple carving tools.

Again, I wanted to keep this as simple as possible for the moment!

I usually select a number of different base sizes and shapes, because the designs of these rollers have large and small sections to the patterns.  Square bases let me get more of that design on the base, but there are ways to get more from round bases too.

I have a 'triangle' shape, which only overhangs in a few areas.  Those "open" spots let me get the base into contact with another base, which most game systems seem to have as part of the rules.

When doing a larger or more unusual shaped base, it is nice to have a few levels.  Here the Sculpey sheet is placed directly onto the base as well as on a piece of cork.

This makes the base far more interesting, and prefect for those horses rearing up on their hind legs!

These first few bases were done with thin sheets of Sculpey on cork.  I also have a sheet of texture which is about twice as thick.  Let's see how this looks!

The thickness of this sheet means that I don't need to put the cork underneath.  I also end up with lots of nice broken and chipped pieces for the square style bases.

On the round base, I rested one larger chuck on its side for added interest.

At this stage, the bases are now ready to have some sand and gravel added.  I have also used a variety of the Vallejo oxide paste products for this.

I have my three different grades of sand and gravel, and the extra strong Elmer's glue.

First, all of the open areas are covered with a fair amount of glue, so that I can add the heaviest rocks in the second step.  I always begin with the largest gravel first, so that I can place them exactly where I want, and then 'build' around them, as I do in the third step.

You can see that with each lighter grade that I add, space is still being left for the progressively lighter grades, such as the sand, which was added in the fourth step.

This process is repeated on all of the bases.  Every so often, I put a thin layer of glue over the carved textures, so make them seem like they have some sand blown over the top of them.  As with everything else, it is up to you how much or how little you need.

All of the bases complete!  If you have any skulls, scarabs, broken swords or even snakes, they can be added for an extra touch of ancient desert flavor!  When I put the miniatures on these, I will probably do just that... so stay tuned.

Here's a link:

http://www.greenstuffworld.com/en/22-textured-rolling-pins