Greetings!

I was wondering if folks here could share some techniques they know on how to paint a winter whitewash WITHOUT using an airbrush or rattle can? My tamiya compressor has been broken for a few months and we're currently renting a house so I don't have much space to use rattle cans.

Right now, I've heard that
A) Using white pastels watered down
B) Painting white first, then dry brushing the base color (ala-reverse whitewash)
C) Using thinned oil paints to paint successive layers
D) Using white acrylic paint and then rubbing it off in successive layer with a stiff brush.

Does anyone else have a technique? I would also greatly appreciate any examples of kits painted up using the techniques listed above. Thanks!

Not something I've tried myself yet, but want to. So interested to see what people suggest.

There was an article in I think Finescale Modeller a few years ago that showed a technique that replicated how a field whitewash would be applied. I remember it was crushed white chalk, mixed with water to create a paste. Brushed on and rubbed off where you want to show wear and finally fixed in place with hairspray. Can't say how it would work in practice, it would certainly be messy. Always wanted to give it a try myself.

Worth remembering that it was roughly applied in reality. I have a photo in a book of a US Sherman crew using mops to slap it on their tank! Will have to find it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0sHtUxZizQ

Mostly artistic EYE wash, IMHO. I've seen whitewash applied 1:1. One of the best examples I've ever seen was of course by Shep Paine, showing a dude smearing it on with a mop as mentioned above. Most judges probably wouldn't go for the streaking, which is why I don't build for them.

there's also this AK product, I tried it with the Mission Models paints and it works pretty well, I tested it with the AB but I don't see why it shouldn't work with the brush



https://ak-interactive.com/product/washable-agent/

It pretty much depends a lot on what effect and "look" you are seeking to achieve.

IF you want a really complete "solid white" coat, the AB is your best bet - rattle-can next, and brushing on a solid white paint coat, third - all over a light-colored primer coat w/out any mottled or other "summer" colors camo to cover.

Otherwise... You are looking for some version of a partial coat. The more worn and tired you want it, the less white anything (plaster dust mix, white paint, real white-wash, etc.) you want to apply, and the more this will be a brush or sponge job.

Real whitewash jobs were rarely fine art-work. The stuff was often applied by crew using whatever tools were on hand - mops, brooms, brushes, even actually throwing buckets of stuff - splash! Shades of guys throwing paint behind jet engines to get splash art! So do try using some analog of the real application tools - just to have some fun and see what might come of it!

And the stuff wore off rapidly with rain. So streaky, incomplete coverage was a norm in WWII and later conflicts. Again, the best route to get that streaky and vague coverage is with a brush or sponge...

I actually made a tiny straw broom and used it to apply some white acryls as whitewash on a tricolor FlaKpanzer IV... It came out looking like someone had used a broom to apply the whitewash... Just like I wanted it to look. I left the broom and a bucket on the rear deck just to help show judges understand why the white patches were so streaky and funky-looking... Few have been able to figure it out!

Basically, painting on your whitewash is much like any other brush-painting job. White enamels will brush on better then will most white acryls. So your desired finish-quality and look will certainly call for choices of paints and brushes.

IF you have an AB on hand... worn whitewash effects can be nicely made by using a "hairspray technique" or using liquid mask which you can rub off (along with the whitewash) to create worn looks.

IF you use acryls or a plaster or chalk dust water slurry (but be careful! Whitewash is a paint, not a cement layer...), you at least have somewhat easier clean-up and removal if at first you don't get the LOOK you seek!

Cheers! Bob

I would second that. The washable agent allows for a a very realistic inconsistent finish that you would expect with whitewash/distemper coats and works equally well with hairy sticks.

Coincidentally, I'm currently working on a small-scale Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf.G in a winter whitewash camouflage. I've done various German vehicles in this scheme, and my preferred method is as follows: apply a base coat (either dunkelgrau or dunkelgelb, depending on the period), add decal markings, apply a coat of acrylic matt varnish, and follow with an overall coat of artist's white gouache (available from most art shops). Not owning an airbrush, I brush paint both the base coat and whitewash. It's not necessary to achieve a perfectly solid coat of the white, and once this is almost dry, it can be easily manipulated with a moist brush/cotton bud. A piece of dry tissue can then be used to soak up the wet paint in selected areas. I find this method very easy to control, and if I'm not satisfied with the result, I can simply wash it all away. Of course, appropriate weathering is then required, and for this I tend to rely on ground artist's soft pastels (not oil-based).

Here is another video that may be of interest. Though he does use an AB he also talks about not necessarily needing to using one to achieve the desired effect....Good Luck and have fun with it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVzq0wlNLCo

I used simple white craft paint over a gloss coat. Applied with a brush and then rubbed off with a cotton swab or scraped with a toothpick as soon as it was dry to the touch. Comes off easily and you can vary the amount of wear. You can thin the craft paint easily with water.

Often the white wash was applied to the vehicle with a mop or large wallpaper glue brush ** as Bob said, so I wonder why you would even consider using an air brush? (Unless of course you want 100% coverage.)

Personally I use regular grade school, child's tempura paint and a rough old brush. I feel it looks far more realistic, weather worn and irregular than when applied with an AB.

But as always: "To each his own."







** Somewhere there is even a photo of German soldiers applying white wash with mops and brushes but at the moment the photo escapes me.
Frenchy . . . . HELP!

Some whitewash camo reference:


Patton Museum Photo from the Icks Collection


Patton Museum Photo from the Icks Collection




military images.net - used here for discussion purposes only.



Personal theory: Solid whitewash only works in a freshly fallen snow environment. Partial, blotchy whitewash works far better as snow camo in the much more typical "old snow" environment where there are darkened trees, dirty snow, melting water puddles and dark areas of ground showing through the blanket of snow.

A few I found in some books. My favourite is the tanker throwing a bucket of whitewash over the suspension and rag-on-a-stick.

Of course, each to his own, but I tend to agree with Michael Koenig's comment ... winter whitewash was generally applied with brushes, rags etc. It follows, therefore, that the most realistic appearances are achieved without the use of an airbrush. Also, using water-soluble paints allows you to remove portions easily, replicating the patchy/worn whitewash, and revealing the underlying base coat.

Oh I'm not disagreeing, just showing some examples of how it could be applied in the field. I'd like to think bucketman just thought 'Screw it!' at that point and threw the last of it up the sides!
I'm really going to have to pull something out of the stash and try something.

Thanks folks! Your feedback has been quite educational. I'm going to try out a combination of oils, pigments and acrylics to add a whitewash to my Sig33B. I hope it works well enough.

I've only ever tried the hairspray technique with white airbrushed over. I'm excited to see how different my work will look like this time around.

I took an old paintbrush and cut the bristles to about 1/4 inch long and did a crappy paint job with it. Some places were almost solid white and I kept painting until the brush was about out of paint, almost dry brushing before I put the brush back into the paint. Looked authentic.

Exactly. Though I always seem to have several small brushes on my bench that I would describe as "scrub". I have never had to actually manufacture such an item.