Hi all;

Apologies if this is something that has been answered before, but I couldn't find anything on this network or Google that satisfied my question.

Right now I am attempting to paint some Masterbox Vietnam-era figures. I am looking for a way to show heavily faded uniforms, but my current techniques aren't getting me the result I want.

I start with Tamiya acrylics, thinned for brushing. I have NATO green, olive green, and deep green, and I used buff for lightening the colour. Generally these take two coats for proper coverage. Then I go back and hit the top of the clothing folds with a lighter tone. After sealing the paint job with Future and letting it dry a few days, I applied a thin brown ink wash (Citadel 'tone'). Finally, a dry brush with an extremely light green tone to try and achieve the fading that I am looking for.

Here is one example of how my process turns out:


What else can I do? Is there something in the paint job itself that I can change? Should I be using a lighter green 'tone' instead of a brown wash? Or is it all in the dry-brushing?

Thanks in advance for any tips or tricks. This is the first serious WIP that I've posted on the internet, ever.

you are on the right track with the buff, it is a very common colour which is used for fading all sorts of objects.

Personally I would stop using Future, any gloss coat makes paint look darker and therefore less faded. If you apply ink sparingly you need no future coat.

Hand brushing Tamiya acrylic makes it more glossy than airbrushing, so you end up with a sligtly more glossy look. I would advise to add a flat varnish over you figure, like the one from Vallejo.

Drybrushing on figures is something I would not do, it makes a figure look....drybrushed. If you want to have lighther colours in higher areas, remember that the top side of that higher area has to be light, but the bottom side has to be darker (if the sun is directly above the figure) with drybrushing you cover the whole high area, which makes the look less realistic IMHO.

If you want to advance in figure painting, I would advise using aryclics such as Valleyo or Andrea and they also dry flat (and that helps with faded look). Oils also give excellent results, but take some more practice. Tamiya acrylics are most suitable for airbrushing.

HTH

Matthijs

Thanks Mat, much appreciated. I look forward to using more Vallejo products, however the nearest dealer is almost two hours away. Until then I will keep your tips in mind and dig out the Tamiya flat base.

Tamiya flat base....be careful. I am not sure if you already know this: as long as you mix it with the paint thoroughly it's okay, but if you use it as a varnish or you don't mix well, you'll end up with a completely white figure.