Hello,

If i'm going to use filters on a matt finish (1-2 filters) for German armour.
What would be the best colors to use and what kind of paint?

Thanks
Rick

Rick,
As the original purpose of filters was to alter the hue of basic color schemes I believe you need to find complementary colors. If your base is Dark Yellow, try using earth tones such as umbers and siennas. Those would be a safe choice as both would "stain" the base yellow enough to accomplish the mission. Panzer Grey would more than likely require lighter colors to act as filters, such as ochres and even greys. The thing is don't confuse filters as a way to create dust of other weathering effects. Filters are best suited for creating tonal alterations to your paint job. I also would certainly recommend using artists oils for your filters. They are very forgiving and also the pigments are fine enough to provide terrific results. Now the way I understand it, filters were developed to be used over a semi-gloss finish. A dead flat finish will actually absorb more of the pigment, thereby creating more of a stain effect, rather than a glaze. But, I actually prefer this technique on a flat or matte surface.

If you have any questions you can email me direct at [email protected]. I'd be happy to help!

Later,
Mike Kirchoff

Hi Rick,

You may like to see the article on the Missing Lynx website regarding filters. It may assist you.

Mark

Greetings,

Going to try some filters on my current build which is a Tamiya Abrams in desert camo. The research I have done suggests that a filter is tinted thinner that is brushed on. It is best put over a flat finish other wise it will act more like a wash.

Ditto on what Mike said about this is best done using oil paints. In one of the links I read the builder took little dots of different colored oil paint placed around different areas of his model. He then loaded his brush with mineral spirits and brushed the color away until it just left a little tonal difference on the base color. Can't wait to try it. HTH.

Chuck B.

Hi Chuck,

Could you possibly post the link about the little dots... , although I read about it I just forgot where it is...

Thanks

This is a turret that I used to illustrate the effects of 'filters' The oil paint is left on the model for 5 to 10 minutes and then removed using a flat brush with just a faint amount of Humbrol thinner, almost like drybrushing. Too much thinner and you will take off the underlying base coat of paint.

1st stage, finished painted model



2nd stage, dapple on the oil paints, leave for 5 to 10 minutes



3rd stage, removal of most of the oil paints with a partially dried out Humbrol thinner flat brush



Final effect, filtered painted surface. This happened to be an old Tamiya KV-2 painted in Tamiya acrylic paints.



These are the oil paints used for this filtering...

Thanks for that info Frank. That's the sample I needed . BTW, are all those color necessary and would the same color apply to a 3 color camo scheme?

Cheers

Those are good questions, ones that I do not have answers to. I would imagine that one or two colours would do, keep in mind that some pigments are much stronger than others. Do what I did, and experiment on an old model (just make sure you dust it off first )

Frank

Arvin,

At the moment, I can't quite remember exactly where I saw the "dot" demo but it was very similar to what Frank just posted on this thread. I'll post the link if I can find it again.

Chuck

Clanky.....thanks for the demo. What colors did you use for the "tutorial" ??

Thanks

Arvin,

Still not what I was looking for but maybe this will help you

http://ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2003/01/stuff_eng_tech_afv_weathering.htm

Chuck B.

The acrylic paints airbrushed where either Tamiya or Polly Scale thinned out with Tamiya thinner, too long ago to remember the exact paints used. The oil paints where, Yello Ochre, Titanium White, Burnt Umber, Burnt Sienna, Prussian Blue, Olive Green, Payne's Grey, and Naples Yellow Hue. I used Humbrol thinner to remove the oils from the turret sides, (after scrubbing off most of the thinner on a napkin)

Frank

Clanky,,,just came up with another question, when adding the filters. Do you filter before using "future/gloss coat" or do you filter after ??? Thanks again.

Hi Lou,

The Model was built about 10 years before I experimented with filtering on the turret. The turret was glossed with Polly Scale gloss (acrylic), then decaled followed by a flat coat by Poly Scale. Nothing was done once the oil was removed with the Humbrol thinner.

Frank

Thanks for the reply. Another question, do you think it would be ok to do the filter with the gloss still on? And once that was done to go over it with a flat to finish and seal everything?

I can't see why not, parts of the turret I worked on had the gloss, decal, and flat and others had just the paint. With this said,...... the amount of pigment that remains on a glossy surface might be reduced, due to the lack of 'voids' on the surface.

Frank

Interesting about the "less" with the gloss. Ok, im done, I think for now, picking your brain. Thank you once again for the help.

here is a link where I first saw someone do the dot technique on grey.. which is why I plan to try it sometime to make panzer grey look good...

Article is by Vinnie.. aka Teacher..

Building the Italeri 232 6-Rad

the photo's showing the dot technique is on page 4..

Thanks for the link....briliant