introduction

After reading Matan’s review of the same product, just different colors, I felt as though I must have missed something. For the price, the pigments are a good value as there is a lot in the jars, but I didn’t have quite the same results with my set as Matan had with his. The set I reviewed was the Stone and Cement /City set. It came with the following colors; light sienna, natural sienna, dark slate gray, & carbon black. As Matan stated in his review the pigments themselves are very finely ground and mine were no different. I didn’t find any lumps or other extras in my sample. I doled out my four colors onto a 3x5 card for photographing and then transferred them onto a 6x6 ceramic tile I use for a multitude of things as they make a perfect pallet.

review

My test subject was an old Verlinden Products middle-east building ruin I had lying around. It had been previously painted so I primed it with a generic Krylon gray, and then painted it in a neutral tan…also from Krylon. The last thing done was a good healthy dose of Floquil Figure Flat from a rattle can to impart a nice flat finish to aid in giving the pigments something to bite into. I mounted my test subject onto a piece of pink insulation foam that had my tried and true soil mix applied to it. It is nothing more than colored sanded tile grout applied liberally and allowed to dry for 24 hours. It readily accepts paints and has a nice texture to it. Once dry I used some of the Natural Sienna around the rebar that is jutting out from the damaged roof section. My goal was to add some rust-type staining around the rebar and it did just that. It was subtle yet noticeable.

I tried mixing some of the pigments dry for some different looks. I added it along the creases of the stairs, and edges of walls where it would look like accumulated dirt. I used some of the carbon black to represent smoke damage from two of the windows which it did okay, but I have had better results using other materials/products. I had problems elsewhere getting the pigments to adhere well as they wanted to smear more than stick. I found myself applying them heavier and heavier to achieve the look I was after and I realize this is common with pastels, but have never had it happen with pigments.

The slate gray was the only exception to this. I used this color on the pock marked areas to darken them slightly and it worked well as it imparted a slight contrast between the two areas. I also used it on the small piles of rubble sitting on the stairs and on the top of the walls. I tried to mix a darker tan from the colors to put into nooks and crannies to simulate shadows and worked in grime and dirt. It didn’t work as well as I had hoped it would. The pigments merely slid down the walls and collected at the bottom creating a huge pile of pigment dust that had to be distributed elsewhere. I tried turning the building on its side so the walls would be flat hoping that I could work them into the finish, but as soon as I stood them upright, the same thing happened. You can see the results in the pictures where it collected at the bottom of the walls once they were stood upright.

conclusion

While these are a good bargain compared to other pigments on the market, I have had better results using pastels I bought 25 years ago. Your mileage may vary. The limited amount of colors in the set is also limiting; black, gray and a couple of tans only go so far. If bought individually the modeler has more options as far as color selection, but to me the sets are pretty restrictive. If you want to purchase a jar or two to see if these are right for you, these would be a good option based on the price. They may take some tinkering around with to the get the hang of using as evidenced by my attempts. It is nice to see new options such as these coming out for modelers to try and experiment with, but I will have to pass on these as they seemed just a tad bit finicky for this modeler with some colors working they way I envisioned them, and others not.