Ok. Work hath progressed far on my sherman. But I'm still in weathering mode (just like mother nature is outside right now..) and I have a few (many) questions. First off: how do you achieve a good barrel residue effect? I hear oil paints work best but then how do you apply it? Second, for gas cans (called blitz cans?) how can you get an oily-gasy effect on it? Not sure how to work it but I hope you understand. Next, (I know this one is going to be initially off topic buy hang with me) T-66 tracks, where they all metal or was the inside of the shoe that ran against the road wheels rubber? If metal then what would he a good way to weather it? And which would be a good way to weather the track guides I think? The piece in the middle of the track that sticks up. Lastly for now, what is the "dot-method" with oil paint weathering?

Let me just say that WWII tanks did not have soot or residue on the end of the gun barrel.

Ok. That makes this project much easier. Thanks.

You can get premade stuff, with instructions from AK and Mig. I've been doing it haphazardly, but the premade is worth the money.

What pre-made stuff do you mean? I know about the weathering stuffs and I plan on picking up a few soon.

Yes, the weathering sets. One should be for weathering the engine compartment, one for the interior, etc.

Michael,

Dot-method and oils: sveral basic colors, red, yellow, blue, some greens. Tiny little dots randomly applied in close proximity. Then use clean thinner - something different than the thinner for the paint, many people use Turpenoid - to brush over the surface. This dilutes the dots and blends the different colors to create a modulation of color over the base color.

A how-to with photos (down the posts) by Mike Roof [SdAufKla]:

http://armorama.com/forums/134458

Wilder makes it too: http://kitmaker.net/review/10480

Is that anything near spot filters ?

Thanks for the link. Would that also work with acrylics or enamels?

With a lot of control and custom mixed paint, I believe it is possible. However, acrylics will not blend like alcohol based paint. That being said, Wild's paints are acrylics. Or the ones I saw were. Of course, they could be like Tamiya's acryls that require a special thinner and aren't true acrylics. And, that being said, Vallejo also have a specific thinner(but you can thin them with water). I recommend practicing on a spare model or piece of styrene, first.

Well if it's not going to blend like oils would I might as well just get oils. Would these be available at AC Moore or Michaels Craft Stores? And specifically what kind of oils would I be looking for? Not necessarily the brands or names but the type of oil paint..

Michael, artist oil paints are all generally formulated the same across brand lines- pigment mixed with either sunflower seed oil or linseed oil. There are some other oils, like walnut oil, that are also used, but generally the oil is sunflower or linseed.

The pigment is the powdered coloring agent and the oil works as both a carrier and, when dry, the binder which "glues" the pigment to the painted surface. Because these oils take a long time to dry, they give artist oil paints their long working time. Artist oil paints can be thinned with ordinary mineral spirits, as well as turpentine ("turps") and many other proprietary thinners. As for myself, I use ordinary hardware store mineral spirits.

Across the brands, there are three general "levels of quality" - beginner or student oils, hobby or amateur oils, and professional oils. Various brands call these by different names, but for our purposes, the main difference is price. The price per tube goes up from "student" to "professional." The quality of the paint may also vary somewhat in the ratio of pigments (more pigment creating "richer" colors) and the "fineness" that the pigments are ground (finer grinding making a less "grainy" paint). However, the reality is that there is really very little difference. For model painting, to include figure painting, I've never noticed any significant difference in quality between brands or levels.

One big difference in costs is often found between colors. Some pigments are much more expensive than others, and so the paints made with those pigments are often much more expensive. Chrome yellow pigments are quite expensive, and you'll note that even within the same brand and quality level, the chrome yellow paints are often 2-3 times more expensive than, say yellow ocher of the same brand and quality level.

So, what does all this mean for the modeler? In my opinion, you can walk into any big box arts and crafts store and buy artist oil paints from any brand and at just about any price level and get the same basic quality for your money as any other brand from any other source.

The two most common brands of oil paints that you will find in the US are Grumbacher and Winsor & Newton. I use oils from both brands interchangeably, and I have found the quality of both brands to be equal. I also have a lot of "off-brand" inexpensive student oils that I have picked up on sale from places like Walmart. These are a good source for those colors you don't use much of. Again, I've never noticed any significant difference in the quality of these compared to the major brands.

Because oils are so common and easy to use and blend, I've never purchased any of the "modeling" brands like Mig or AK. I would strongly suspect that these are just like the regular oil paint brands, although I'm equally sure that the manufacturers would argue that their paints are superior in some way or another.

Finally, I should mention that there is a "new" class of "oil" paints that can be thinned and cleaned with water. These paints have emulsifiers incorporated into their mixtures so that water can be introduced into them. I have never used any of these (and I don't know of any modeler that has), and I see no advantages to them for modeling over traditional artist oil paints. These paints are marketed at the casual, recreational oil painter as easy to clean and odor-free. If these qualities are important, then they may be an option, but I think you would be charting new ground using them.

Here's an article in one of our club newsletters that discusses using artist oil paints for weathering. It explains some of the many different techniques that can be done with oils:

AMPS Central SC::Wildcat Newsletter::V5-N7

Scroll down to page 7 for the start of the article.

Oils are one of the most versatile of all the available weathering mediums, and you will open up whole new areas to your modeling art when you start using them.

HTH and happy modeling!

Wow. Long time since seeing this thread. I did pick up two tubes of oil paint a couple days ago. Haven't used them as I'm not wanting to waste them while having not a darn clue what I'd be doing. And they are, ironically, water-mixable from Winsor & Newton. I'm currently trying to find anything I can find on using oils and trying to soak up whatever I find. Which has been sparse in some places and abundant but hard to find in others. As they say, life is an adventure. Or as Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump says: "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." Probably going to have to wait until the next club meeting to get some visual information on this.