Greetings all. I have a Tamiya Tiger I. I would like to give it a whitwash effect. The base coat would be dark yellow (primer underneath that) I while back I found that mixing pastel chalk with isopropyl alcohol makes a great paste-like substance. I was thinking of doing that for the whitewash. Concerns? Comments? Are there better ways to achieve a whitwash finish? Thanks.

-Joe

Hi Joe,

I am a fan of whitewashing, but its always hard to replicate good whitewash.

I have not tried before but I have seen some chaps using the pastel and alcohol method on T-34 kits, it seems okay as it is easier to "undo" the white washing off the pastel with water/alcohol if one goofs up.

If you are using Tamiya acrylic colors as the base, alcohol may lift some of the colours up. I think might be wiser to top with a clear protective layer.

Just my 2 cents worth

Kiong

Thanks mate.

Joe;

Hi!

Actually, Tamiya flat white, slightly diluted with water, does a nice whitewash when brushed on. Likewise, ModelMaster flat white enamel does well, as does their acryl flat white. These paints will give varied coats when brushed, and can be used to emulate both sprayed-on and broom, mop, and brush-applied coats.

The below pic shows my old Tamiya Wirbelwind wearing whitewash "broomed on" over a faded tri-color camo job. The build surfaces include both painted styrene and DIY zimmerit (spackle, in this case)- and the washing job worked well on all surfaces and performed differently on each (just as it would in the real world). The camo job is Tamiya acryl cured 2 weeks and pin- and over-washed using Georgian oils and turps prior to the whitewash. NO SEALANT was applied.

The whitewash was done using diluted Tamiya acryl brushed on with a crappy nylon-bristle brush (I specifically wanted a crude coat). In some places, I went over the Tamiya later with some MM flat white enamel - also using the crappy nylon brush and sort of abrupt strokes. I'm not sure it shows in the pic, but the real coat shows brush-streaks- intended to be "broom streaks" with some dribbles. There's a lot of unevenness and varied coverage.

NO erosion or visible damage to the camo scheme occurred during the washing job.

To emphasize the intended "broomed-on" nature of the job, I later added a whitewash broom and pail...




Cheers!

Bob

Thanks, Bob for the info. I am planning on doing an "all over" whitwash but thinly so that the base colour shows through. Question though. In real life, is whitwash applied with a broom and what exactly is it? Is it like paint or some sort of other liquid. Thanks

-Joe

Joe;

Whitewash is a really cheap and old-fashioned water-based "paint" made of "slaked lime" or calcium hydroxide mixed with finely-powdered chalk. Interestingly enough, whitewash is pretty close to the "calcimine lotion" folks apply to dry out oozing rashes and the like... The "vehicle" is water plus... any of many available agents which could add some stability to the dried layer. These could include water-soluble starch, glue, egg-white, etc. When classical whitewash dries and has a chance to cure, it will oxidize to form calcium carbonate or calcite- and become relatively durable in the face of weather.

While it could be sprayed on with a crude spray-gun, it often goes on with a brush or mop or broom - hence my approach.

The "patchily-applied" "thin coat" approach would be appropriate. That's what I was trying to achieve, in part - letting some part of the camo show thru a variably-thin coat. BRUSH it on, and you will get exactly the type of un-even bleed-thru coat you want!

Cheers!

Bob

Thanks Bob for that info. Can you tell me how this whitewash looks to you?

-Joe

Joe;

Just my opinion, here - and you asked me for it!

Looks mostly pretty good, to me! (Now, let's see if I'm seeing what you wanted to show...)

I see some application with a rather lightly-loaded stiff-bristle brush or broom (upper hull side) - The tank front plates show a different thing: slopped on with a loaded broom or maybe a "swab" mop dragged from up down toward the applying person. The part of the fuel tank shows a similar slopped-on look.

To me, the upper-hull patch is perhaps your least-convincing- why? The "lightly-loaded broom" effect is pretty nice - I'm imagining a cold guy scraping his dwindling bucket-supply and trying to eke it out as much as possible - but it seems likely that the perp would be standing on the ground... so I might expect either some lateral sweeping (swinging arcs which a broom held up at arms' length and scraped side-to side to spread the bit you have), or some pretty distinct vertical banding showing him dragging his broom down the side. Your effect is good for the
light loading" but does not present as much clear directionality that, again, IMO, I MIGHT be looking for. So this upper side gets a "B" for the above quibbly reasoning! Again, It's NOT bad - just not as really convincing nor exciting (if w-w can be exciting...!) as it could be.

The front plates and glacis? look MUCH more convincing and distinct! I see some nice streaks (directionality) with decidedly inconsistent coverage, here. The guy slaps his loaded broom or mop up-plate and drags it to him. There's enough wash to pretty much make the pass. I'd "buy it" as being a slapped - on wash job. I can see it happening as I look. This one rates pretty much an "A" by me!

The fuel tank also rates well- it's a slapped-on splat - maybe a loaded mop or a rag or loaded big brush. There's no finesse and no attempt to fit all and cover evenly - again, a nice inpromptu application that I can "buy" as being a field application. One thought that occurs when I see this heavier application is that the stuff runs, drips, and dribbles... getting a little of this in would make this pop! Some drips and runs down that lower front plate would also add conviction to your ww there.

Hey - what you've done so far looks good to me! Real white-wash is a crude layer - not art nor much technique. Capturing this crudeness call for us modelers to try to move into that cruder "zen" and purposely ignore or forego our skills! A couple of goes-around and practice at looking non-practiced, and maybe stare for a while at some photos of "jobs" or examples you like, and you'll be off to the races!

There are other real approaches to whitewashing- plenty of pics do show us vehicles wearing full and complete white coats, and others show us what happens when these well-and completely-applied coats wear off- this is a very different set of looks than what you are going for here, and take somewhat different approaches.

Nice start and good "broom work"!

Cheers!

Bob

So the first picture is a no-go but the second picture is? I was trying to different wasy to put on the whitewash. In the first picture I sorta "dabbed it on with a stiff bristle brush. And I have to agree with you, it wasn't the most convincing. Thanks for your help Bob, I'll use it on my next tank model.

Thanks a ton!

-Joe