Maybe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG2dF5PS0bI

I thought I was going to see something modelling related!

You got me that time...

Now I will have to scheme and plan waiting for an opening...

Gaz

Thanks Peter

Oh so many lines, so many options... but

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhgry9MPaJ8

hah! . Do you think you'll get me again?

Instead I'll pick your brain. Do you have a picture of an engine for the Valentine?

I'm considering a diorama for the campaign, but without a good shot of the engine from above it will be difficult to present correctly.

Thanks mate.

Gaz

https://50travels.wordpress.com/valentine-tank-motat-nz/

http://tankarchives.blogspot.se/2017/11/infantry-sweet-spot.html

Nope

Guys,
Thanks for the great references!

Gaz

Enjoying the builds and references...

I am getting ready to prime my Dorchester.


The interior call out is Dark Sea Grey. Checked my paints and discovered I have 4 bottles of XF-61 Dark Green, but no Dark Sea Grey...

-Nathan

Nathan,
Looks like you're off to a good start, except for a paint issue. That's quite a long frame the thing has.

Gaz

Hello All,
Had a few hours a couple of weekends ago to paint the tires and road wheels with AK Interactive Rubber. You can barely see the Rubber but once I spray the RAL 8000, it should pop out.











Sprayed the interior and....







....the clamps on the tools with RAL 7021.



All comments are welcomed.

Thanks
JohnA

Hi John,
Are you planning on filling those circular marks caused by the mold ejection pins? They are visible on the insides of the side armour panels. Maybe they will be hidden from view later when the whole thing is assembled or covered by other details?

/ Robin

John,
That's some great work, and I love the macro images. I've noticed that the guys with the best looking rubber on military gear, tend to use some brown on it whether it be as a weathering effect, or on the base coat.

Not that rubber is brown, it just seems to get a patina that isn't necessarily dirty. It just seems to add something if done correctly.

Keep up the good work!

Gaz

Hi Everyone,
My first attempt with the hairspray technique. I'd really appreciate your honest opinions about my results on the pictures below. Please be as specific as you can.









Thank you for your thoughts.

Gaz

Gaz,

I think you've done a really nice job of depicting wear. This is actually one of the harder things to do with hairspray technique. Usually folks chip right through the whitewash, but depicting worn surface is tough and you've captured it well.

Now, if it were me, I'd look to now chip more down to the dunkelgrau surface to create more contrast and then I would do some mapping with white- using white paint to add back some white to certain sections, but again that's just my taste.

From where you are you could easily just move to pigments, and finish off the weathering.

Nice job!

Is the "whitewash" inside the gun barrel an optical illusion or is there actually white paint in there?

The angle of the front fenders makes me dizzy. They look undamaged so I assume that the slope to the right in the image is unintentional and that it is a pure coincidence that they have almost the same angle.

The whitewash gives me the impression that it has been washed out by spring rains. Not really a chipped effect. Joes advice sounds good (never done this myself).
If we go for the 'washed out by spring rains' effect then some mud and dirt below the fenders could enhance the feeling of spring. The whitewash is still there, sort of, and the thawing ground is starting to make everything dirty/muddy again. No white on the wheels, covered or worn away by mud. Very little white below the fenders, covered/replaced by mud and dirt splatters. Some dirty/muddy footprints topside but not all over the place, just to get up on top and into the hatches.
The whitewash around the hatches to the fighting compartment could be more worn away. Lots of mittens and clothes rubbing of the paint there.
/ Robin

Hey Gaz,

I’m confused. Why whitewash?

—mike

I like the look of the whitewash, and I think this looks more realistic than the harsh contrast one usually sees when the hairspray method is used. The chipping technique gives results that infer that the colour underneath was exposed due to impact from a hard object(s), so when the whole subject is displayed this way, it does not look right, to me anyways.

The white paint used on panzers was a distemper, a temporary paint that wasn't durable like factory paint, it would eventually fade off through wear and wet weather.

Gaz,
What was your technique for creating wear effect vs chipping with your white wash? I would like to mimick it on my build to show some dunkelgrau showing through the RAL 8000.
Thanks

Robin,
Thanks for your response. I appreciate the input.

The 'white' you see inside the barrel is actually the reflection from the Alclad polished aluminum paint I use at the end of a gun barrel to simulate the highly machined metal inside.

Both fenders came off while I was removing the tracks. I glued them back on, but not so carefully since I have consigned the model to experimentation.

I realize that the chipping effect didn't work. It may be that the paints I used are too 'soft'. I'll explain that in another reply below.

I'll try to get more done around the hatches. It's kinda hard to judge what is too much and what is not enough.

Thanks again,

Gaz

I went with whitewash because because it went well with this ugly little StuG's possible history.

I suppose that I could have gone with desert tones over it, but figured the color didn't really matter as I was going for the possible effect. Instead I got a more gradual wear appearance though I was after a chipping effect.

Gaz

Jack,
Thank you!

Gaz, I think the question about why the Stug in whitewash has to do with the current group build being an African theme?

I assumed you had the pictures posted for an opinion on the results of the hairspray technique ... or did I miss something?

Bryan,
To understand how this effect worked for me, I have to explain that my entire painting method is different. I don't use model paints. I save tons of money by using artist paints from a tube. I mix my own colors from about 12 tubes of paint. Each tube costs around $2 and goes a lot further than any bottle of model paint. I'll explain how:

I use only a few ingredients to make two different grades of paint. I call one grade "durable finish" and the other grade "weak finish".

Durable Finish: is Artist acrylic tube paint thinned entirely with Future, or Pledge, or whatever name it goes by in your area. Once in the airbrush I may add a few drops of my own homemade thinner.

Homemade Thinner: 1/2 cup glass cleaner (like Windex) + 1/2 cup of tap water + a few drops of glycerol. (I have heard that liquid dishwashing soap works, too) The glycerol breaks the surface tension of the water.

Weak Finish: is Artist acrylic tube paint thinned with Future until it reaches the consistency of latex house paint. It is then thinned with my homemade thinner until it reaches a consistency for airbrush use.

I learned this technique watching Youtube videos once I learned that some other model builders were also using these amazingly inexpensive paints. I have some specialty model paints, but most of the major work is covered by artist acrylics.

I have been using the same $50 dollars worth of paint and Future and Glass Cleaner and Glycerol for over two years and 20 models. My models cover IJA Aircraft, Luftwaffe Aircraft, USAAF aircraft, WWI aircraft, and Panzers. I have a color recipe book that gets me close to the shade I want. The rest is done by eye.

The StuG was originally painted with a shade of Panzer Gray I mixed as a "Durable Finish". The paint was applied over a year ago.

Yesterday I applied the hairspray and let it dry. Then I airbrushed on a "Weak Finish" of pure white sprayed on until most of the Panzer Gray couldn't be seen on the upper surfaces. I used less paint on the lower surfaces, allowing the Panzer Gray to show through a little.

The wear was done with a Stiff paintbrush, a Soft paintbrush, and a medium toothbrush and tap water.

I hope you find this useful and inexpensive.

Gaz