Is there one simple recommended color to use for drybrushing woodland camouflage on AFVs? I normally use light gray as a frosting, but am open to other suggestions. I normally don't drybrush each individual color though.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I remember asking a similar question awhile back and someone replied the best color for all armor drybrushing no matter what the color is would be a khaki or sand color. I took the tip and ran with it. I've had great success with it on various colors and schemes. It just seems "right" when you look at it. My .02$

Actually, you could go with lightening each color individiually and then dry brush each color individually. Its a bit more, but the end result is very nice. IF you want only the one color approach, then yes khaki for darker (green based) colored camo. however, I don't know how well that would work on lighter colors like panzer yellow or grey.

Sean

IMHO, the colours to dry brush a kit depends on the setting you hope to place the kit in.

I dry brushed this challenger tank with red brown and nato black even though it had a desert sand colour.



I did that to depict dust, road grime and dirt.

For woodland camo, definitely utilise a combination of khaki, buff, red brown and even black.

Thanks for the replies. I would drybrush each camo color; however, that's just more chances of making a mistake. :-)

IM kind of in the same boat youre in as far as drybrushing nato 3 color camo. I am doing a humvee at the moment. I wanted to try a bit of experimenting with pigments and soft pastel chalk since I havent used them before. I first used MIG light tan pigment on the 3 color camo. That worked out very well. You really dont need to drybrush raised details with pigment. Then, I cleaned the pigment off, and gave the 3 color camo a light wash using dark green, dark brown (for their respective color on the model), and I left the nato black alone. I then gently brushed on light tan colored pastel chalk, and the end result looked fantastic. The chalk covered up the excess wash, and as well, stuck great to all the raised details like drybrushing would do. But the chalk looked much more realistic then drybrushing. It was even easier to apply. One more thing I experimented with when using the chalk was "splash marks". I had read an article some time ago where a modeller mixed chalk with alcohol, and dipped it with a stiff bristle brush. He then flicked the bristles to "splatter" little water marks on the model. Again, the result was great. I had tiny little water droplets that looked appropriate to the scale. After the droplets, I gave it another dusting with dry chalk and it looked as if it were weathered like the real thing. So my suggestion would be this......

1) do a wash with a slightly darker green on the nato green and slightly darker brown on nato brown to deepen the shadow of the lower recesses of the model and leave the black alone.
2) if you want splash marks, mix up some light colored pastel chalk with a bit of alcohol. Dip a stiff bristle brush in the solution, and flick the end of the brush with your finger to simulate previous water marks. Note: cover up any areas you dont want marks to go as this stuff flies everywhere.
3) with a soft brush, gently brush the chalk and then brush the chalk dust on the model to bring out the high lines (kind of like dry brushing).
4) one last note: it is a good idea to wear rubber gloves while dusting the chalk and try to hold the model by its base. The oils on your fingers will remove the chalk.

That seemed to work well for me. Good luck, have fun!

Thanks, Gary, for the helpful information. Did you seal the chalks with any sprayed on dullcote?

Honestly, I havent gotten that far yet! LOL I think dullcoat would ruin the matt finish of the dusty appearance. This HUmvee is still a work in progress. Honestly, I am thinking I really wont need the dullcoat. This model will be on a small diorama base, so it wont be handled and therfor, the dust should stay on. I experimented with this over the weekend and as of yet, it seems to be sticking well. One thing to note though, if you have decals to apply, I would gloss coat your model, apply the decals, dullcoat the model, then add the chalk dusting last.