Hi All,

I am going to have a go at airbrushing the soft edge camo scheme of Kurt Sowas King Tiger 222 in the Ardennes.

As a novice airbrusher I have a few queries on how to get the camo right:
1. Do you guys attempt this free hand by eye?
2. Would you use a mask template - such as paper rasied on bluetack?
2. do you sketch the schem on the tank in pencil first?

Thanks for any help?

Jon

I always do mine freehand, I start by outlining it with a light fine line. Then go back and fill it in. I keep the air pressure down, and the airbrush close during the outline.

Thanks Kevin,
I think I will be comfortable with copying your technique.
Jon

Hey Jon,

In addition to what Kevin said, if you're trying to replicate a particular cammo scheme, I've found it helpful to photo copy a set of plans and then sketch the cammo on the photo copy.

You can then easily find key points on the model based on the plans to start the outlining that Kevin suggests.



HTH

Mike

I like your idea, I might steal it for the next time....

thanks
Kevin

Great idea Mike

Hey Jon,

All of the suggestions are good. I also like to do the following. When I think about a camouflage, I try to avoid "marching" where I go section to section at a time.

What I find is I look at a turret side for example and I spray a line. Then I see if there is space remaining and I spray another. I do this until the turret is complete. Then I move to the next section and keep doing this until the whole model is covered. To me it doesn't give enough character, variance, and also cohesion of the camouflage.

I now try to focus on the tank as a part of a bigger backdrop. Where the tank falls on the pattern is random, but I find gives a more exciting feel.

1) Marching technique - It looks ok, but doesn't really have that pizzazz. It is very predictable.



2) Bigger picture idea - While this isn't as snakey as the previous one, it gives a good idea.




You don't have to follow this, it is just something I have developed and tried to use. It might just be that I am a very predictable person (and airbrusher ) and I need to impose / force randomness.

Hi Jon !

All my models, except the Sweden and Berlin Brigade cammo, was painted freehand.

Many times, the wash, filter and dry brush bring the edges to something near to real vehicle.

Like Kevin, I start the paint job with a fine outline. Low pressure and patient are the key.

Cheers !

Marco

I trace the outline with a fine line(.3mm tip) and fill in with a larger nozzle(.5mm tip). I always freehand my camo patterns. For hard edge, blue tac works great. When brushing the fine line, keep your hand slow and steady. Unlike bristle brush painting, it is better to have a light outline and trace back over it. Even the fill color should be applied in light coats. Never open your ab all the way up. Doing this will cause pooling.

For soft camo, even when going free-hand, I like to have a piece of cardstock, cut into some varying curves to use as rough stencils, which I hold with my other hand. Kinda like a French curve. It can really help when you're trying to avoid excessive overspray when other features may get in your way.

Also, with any camo scheme, always paint it with the tank assembled. They didn't take the turret off when they painted the real thing.

Thanks everyone for the good ideas and tips.

I will start the painting and post a picture when complete.

You know, it's VERY interesting how many varied opinions exist on this site (bet you didn't know that, huh !) I notice Rouse 713 provided what I personally think is a really cool looking idea for a camo pattern, but it is what I've heard called the 'hand of God approach' or technique. I'd not realized until recently what that meant, but it means a pattern that is applied as if some huge person (like US, compared to our models) is doing the painting, in contrast to the idea of painting camo patterns in a fashion like a 1/35 scale person would have been painting such a tank. I have not seen enough examples of real, genuine camo patterns to know if the 'hand of God' type patterns really were never seen in real life or not, but I do think they have the advantage of a more 'integrated' look, though some would say that this type of pattern makes the model look like model, and not like the real thing, which is what we are (or most of us, anyway) are striving for. Again, I don't have an opinion about whether one or the other type of pattern is 'better', but some folks certainly DO seem to have definite opinions on that score. Just something for you to think about, even though your topic was 'soft edged camp' and not patterns.

Good luck!

Continuing the pattern onto another plane of the vehicle or onto another surface (off the vehicle) is the primary aim of camouflage patterns, to break up and hide the shape and lines of the vehicle. The US Army published a TM in 1941 that had instructions and illustrations on camouflaging vehicles and buildings, Quonset huts, oil barrels, everything in the inventory, so that you could park a jeep next to a building next to a fuel dump and they would all match!
A Hand of God approach is when we paint camo patches on a model that in scale would be 5-10 feet across. Easy to do when you get too enthusiastic with the airbrush, but nothing you would do on a 1:1 scale tank with a spray gun. Think about spraying stripes wider than 1 foot or 3 color soft camo in patches larger than 2 feet or so...on a real tank you wouldn't do it.

I like it. Thanks