Hi there

Would anyone share what techniques they would use to weather a soldiers personal weapon such as an mp40. I have painted it the gun metal colour, now I need to add some wear and tear to it. What would I do.
Second what would be good to wash a german tankers black uniform (1940 colours)?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks
HastyP

Hello HastyP, when I paint metal weapons I usually mix a bit of silver with some black for a dark "gunmetal" colour and paint a base coat, when dry I do a wash with black and when dry I lightly drybrush with silver to bring out the highlights. For black uniforns I actually use a very dark grey (almost black), wash with black and drybrush with a slightly lighter grey than the base colour. Then I lightly drybrush with appropriate colours to show dirt and dust around the lower leg area. It works for me although it does tend to be a bit trial and error as sometimes I have to redo areas to get the results I'm looking for.

Rather than drybrushing silver, try pencil lead rubbed on sandpaper, and then applied with your finger. I usually do this over a coat of flat black paint to keep the shadows non-reflective. The effect is a smooth metallic sheen that doesn't look "drybrushed" because the graphite is so much finer than any metallic paint pigment. Good Luck, Rob

Zoomie's method can look really effective but if you use it just check the graphite on your finger before you apply it to make sure there are no gritty bits stuck there. They can lodge in the nooks and crannies of the kit and removing them can mar the base coat of paint. Also be careful handling the model as it is quite easy to forget you've got the graphite on your finger and leave a smudgey fingerprint. ( I know because I've done it )

What I do is a good dark wash (usually black) and then bring up detail with a 3B graphite pencil with the tip sharpened at a 45 degrees angle just to get better control of what you do with it...
Ciao

Once again it depends on the scale of the weapon, perhaps more complicated is simulating wood.... any comments? jim (++)

I do a variation on the techniques described.

First (after cleaning up the weapon and drilling our the end of the muzzle), I paint all metal parts Humbrol Satin Black (Humbrol number 85).

When the paint is dry, I rub a No. 1 Soft pencil lead on a small scrap of sandpaper, then apply lightly with my fingertip around the areas that wore the heaviest: around the muzzle, the trigger guard and trigger, the moving parts of the action and the sight (The parts soldiers touched most often.).

Then I carefully paint the stock with a light tan or gray acrylic paint. When this is completely dry, I work it with a dark brown or reddish brown oil paint. With a little practice, you can replicate woodgrain.

BTW, I paint the metal parts before the wood because I think it is easier to touch up if I goof and slop a little paint.

Just my 2 pennies worth if I may.

I have tried pencil but find its non permanent nature sometimes frustrating.

My method is to paint the barrel matt black and when dry dry brush with Humbrol Metalcoat Gunmetal. When dried buff it up with a soft cloth and presto, instant metal finish that stays on and looks good.

Peter Mealing
Trackpins