I find watercolours are sometimes quite effective for weathering, especially rust

they are widely available and inexpensive, and can be removed with ease


be careful though, water + painted things with decals on doesn't always mix!

You do chipping/scratches over washes and filters. How do you blend the chipping /scratches effects with washes/filters so that they don't overpower the washes/filters. Do you apply more washes to tone down the chipping? Thanks

I do most of my chipping and scratching with NATO Black, so they don't stand out much. They look like dark steel with the paint scraped off, so they blend in with the paint that's still there. Once pigments are applied, they look natural.
Of course if you are doing 2 color chips and they need to be toned down or blended in, you can do another wash to tie it all together. It's how it looks to your eye, not a hard and fast rule.

I was wondering, is it ever beneficial, or required, to apply a coat varnish (specifically flat/satin) between filters? Or is waiting for each filter to dry enough? I was worried that underlying filters could be affected by the high thinner ratios of the newer filters.

No, you don't want to clear coat between filters. It will dull the filter and not give the new filter a chance to meld and compliment the previous filter. Giving filter #1 time to dry is sufficient, but the beauty and magic of working with oils is that they always gently nuance each other.

As a novice painter, I'm trying to understand the core strategy of how to paint vehicles. Which are "core concepts" and which are "extra, not necessarily required" steps more designed to add extra effects if you so choose. If you were going for a more basic job, would you do (if using acrylic):
1)primer if you wish
2)acrylic base/camo
3)acrylic clear
4)decals
5)acrylic clear

And how exactly do you determine if you should use clear flat and clear gloss? And which color of primer to use (I was guessing grey, white or clear primer is fine).

Brian,

Those are REALLY stripped down to the bones steps, but if you don't get them right, the rest doesn't matter.These are the foundation and the rest are effects. If you clean the model you do not need to prime. Especially if you are using rattle cans, you don't want to blast the fine details of your model with waves of paint. So,
1)Base coat camo
2)Clear Gloss
3)Decals
4)Clear Gloss
5)Clear Flat

The reason you pick Clear Gloss before and after the decals is that decals adhere perfectly to a smooth surface, then the second Clear Gloss seals the decal in to the clear layer and makes the edges of the decal disappear so that they look painted on.
You pick Clear Flat because military vehicles are not showroom shiny, they're flat to hide in nature.

Ah, thanks for the advice Tom. That's why I couldn't figure out why I saw so many posts with clear gloss for WW2 vehicles. I will probably keep my first kit or two this basic until I've grasped the basics. Or just get a really cheap model to destroy

Thanks for this link, its very helpful for me who's just starting to get into this hobby.

You're welcome Dan, and welcome to Armorama! If you have questions, always feel free to ask. When I started this thread, I never thought it would turn into a book, but hey, the more people it helps, the better it is!

Matthew, et al.,

No posts since late 2014 so I'll bump this thread for those new folks who may not have discovered it yet.

Great information. Thank you.

This is useful isn't it

thank you !!

I do not use the "General Wash" any more, I prefer to go only with the "pin Wash" more precise,do not shift the base color and I do not have to waste my time cleaning up the mess on panels.

In some areas or pieces I still use the old "Dry Brushing" technique, but without overdoing it

I like to use Artist oils paints, they are very easy to control, they give a lot of time to play and in case of mistake it is easy to wash them away and start again, I use a bit of the technique that Mike Rinaldi calls "Rendering", his books are awesome IMHO.

if you look for these names on youtube there are several videos, the links posted by you are a bit 'old, those techniques are still current but have evolved a bit' and with them were born dozens of related products.

if you want/can spend some $$$, its books are a nice addition to your library

https://www.rinaldistudiopress.com/

also this one...

https://ak-interactive.com/product/faq-2-limited-edition-english/

I am rather new to weathering. I have never done any of it and I have been doing a lot of reading here and on Facebook groups such as the Weathered Models groups. I have a few questions I am hoping to find answers to before I begin purchasing supplies.

There is much mention of Tamiya Panel Wash, Vallejo wash and Ak interactive Washes. Is there a reason why these would be used instead of an oil wash?

Also, I have recently been told that Future is a very old technique that has been surpassed by newer products. Is this true or is Future still a widely practiced technique that has no issues with the modern paints?

Short answer .... no and no

Vallejo are acrylics so a bit different but AK, MIG, Ammo, Tamiya etc ... they are very thinned oils/Enamel, it's just a personal choice,i use both,i dont like acrylics washes they dry to fast and for me are not so easy to control like the Enamel/oils ones but is a personal preference.

The Future/Pladge/Klear is still used by many modellers, part of the problem is that over the years the formula and the name has changed several times and in many countries it is no longer available any more because it came out of the market, in the meantime some companies have tried to copy it, like AK or Humbrol, as here 'in Oz has not been found for years and buy it from overseas is often not as cheap as before so people have found other products to replace it ... also in this case it goes to personal preference and depending on where you live.

When you say you use both, you are meaning you use both oil wash and ready made washes?

may I ask, if you had nothing (like me) and you were buying products for washes, what would you buy?

I use either oil or ready-made products, it depends on what I want to do.

For which products a little depends on what model you want to do and on what stage, a Panzer in North Africa will be different from a T-34 to Kursk, both for the color of the vehicle and for the terrain.

however the ones I use most often are:
Tracks Wash
Dark Brown
Rust Streaks
Light Rust
Streaking Grime
Engine oil
Fuel Stain
Dust Effect
some are AK and some Ammo by Mig are equivalent there is no difference between the 2 brands

For oils, the ones I use the most are:
Ivory Black
Titanium White
Burnt Umber
Raw Umber
Burnt Sienna
Raw Sienna
Vandyke Brown
Gold Ocher
Yellow Ocher

These are clearly those who like me, everyone has their preferences the best thing is to try and see with what you find yourself better

Matt,
after you do your chipping detail,and your armor piece has been dull coated would that be a good time to add your oil and fuel stains?
Jody

Yes it would because fuel and oil stains should look slightly wet. Fuel and oil stains can also be added over the pigments to make wet spots.

I am new to Armorama so don't know yet the correct way, but as chipping is in your list I do have a question. When using the Vallejo chipping medium, how long does it do the job? In other words: can I wait for several weeks before starting to chip the model and does the medium act as if sprayed on one or two days before?
Best,
Cees

Cees,

When using a chipping medium, it is best to get to work on it within 24 hours. If you leave it a few weeks you are in for a LOT of scrubbing and you may not get the effect you want.

These is very helpful for me, thanks