Hi. Just wondering if anybody out there has attempted doing a 'sloppy' white wash job on an AFV. I see nice air brushed winter whites washes, but hardly any, if any at all, really nasty, half-a-- applied white wash. Something like the crew only having a really short period of time to put it on and just do a little more than dip a mop or rag into a can of paint and slapping on here and there, helter-skelter like.

I've tried the white oil paint and also white pastel chalk, but wasn't too thrilled about how they came out. Maybe I was expecting too much. Then I thought it migh tbe better if a person were to use a real short stiff bristled brush and just dabbed the ends into some white oil and sort of 'stabbed' it at the vehicle in question.

Anyway, I thought I would ask here for any thoughts on the subject and see what others have tried, or not.

Thanks and take care, sgirty

Hi sgirty

I know just what you mean... I build aircraft and trying to reproduce temporary finishes convincingly isn't easy.

I find the hardest thing to depict is an original that's "badly" painted in the first place!

I'd like to build some Luftwaffe aircraft in winter finish, so any pointers from this topic will be a great help.

All the best

Rowan

hmmmm,

anyone sell 1/35 scale mops?

Although I think Shep Paine did a Calliope diorama on this subject. Winter scene, the crew is applying white wash with mops and rags to a Calliope Sherman - as far as I remember it looked very realistic. Don't remember the technique he mentioned however- maybe someone else would have more info.

Peter

Peter

I am presently doing a sloppy white wash on a King Tiger (Porsche Turret). I will have the photos in a day or two of the progress. I used a very thinned flat white Model Masters paint. and a large brush. I am pleased so far with the outcome. The tree color camo bleeds thru very nicely.

I did a Panzer III L with a white wash, base of dunkelgrau enamel,then a really thin (around 25 percent )spray of flat white acrylic, then I thinned out some flat white acrylic to about 50 or 60 percent, and use a number 1 or 2 brush to do layers. Kind of a melting snow ice rain marks on the vertical surfaces. On the flat surfaces, I used a more chipped paint thing with a piece of stretched sprue, dipping it in pure white, and also then with the dunkelgrau, for a really random appearance.

I would just suggest trying a bunch of stuff on bunk parts or scraps of styrene sheet first. It helped me, and another big help was a ref photo of the tank in operation. HTH!

I know in a MMiR issue from a year ago there was a DML sdkfz 250 done in whitewash. It was to have more of a worn look as if the spring had arrived. The person who did it used alot of pastel chalk then applied water and brushed it to have the weathered effect.
I do have the issue still, so i could look it up if need be.

Hi. In my quest for the 'sloopy' I decided to try something on a Dragon Eelfant model, using a sloopy method to apply the 3-color camo effect. I found a brush called a #2 fabric stain brush over at the local arts and crafts store whose bristles are around 1/2 long, very stiff, and whose brush head is circular in shape and flat across the tip.

So by dipping just the ends of these bristles into some paint that was on the inside lid of the German Green and later Red-brown jars, I used a 'stabbing' type of method of application on the vehicle just here and there, with no particular pattern in mind. Just applying it hap-hazardly, making sure I had a little paint on the brush tip all the time, not too much.

Now it's not the best looking camo job in the world, but a sloopy, half a--, quickily-applied job it most certainly does represent, which is what I was going for. And I do believe that this will probably work for the sloopy winter white-wash effect too that I want on the Nashorn.

Nothing tired, nothing gained. Every now then something does turn out kind of half-way right after all. Ha!

take care, sgirty

sgirty,

I dont know if the pics below are of any help or not. I pulled these from ML a long while ago and Im afraid I cant remember who they were originally done by (apologies to the modeller).

I do know that in AFV Modeller there has been a number of articles done on messy white-washed vehicles: Adam Wilder issue 2,3. Dave Parker issue 4, Doug Jameson issue 2, Dinesh Ned issue 2, Mig Jiminez issue 13. Hope some of this helps!






Lee

Whatever you do, do not use the airbrush. Brush painting is best. Most of all, it is more realistic. Whitewash is not very neat. If it's sloppy, it's right.

One simple way to do it, is to paint your base colour or camo with enamels first. Let dry for several days (or paint with acrylics first and use an enamel clear cote). Then paint with acrylic white. After half an hour, sprinkle washing powder all over and run under the tap. Using an old tooth brush, brush all the edges and corners and the acrylic will lift, leaving the base paint to show through.
I did this on a panzer II as an experiment and it does work. I suggest you try it on an old tank or cheap kit first to practice. Do the hull first and then do the turret, and leave for different times, 30 mins and 40 mins so you can see which works best for you.
If there are some points of fine detail, dry brush the base colour on afterwards as you dont want to be too rough with delicate parts.

Two articles explaining two different methods, from Stockholm IPMS homepage

Article # 1 by Fredrick Lundbeck.

Article # 2 by Anders Isaksson.