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09.01.2006 » Chip, and Fade

Armor chips were added to this Light Armored Vehicle using a mixture of Tamiya Flat Black, Nato Brown, and Dark Gray while aluminum chips were done with Rub-N-Buff. These were done with a very small paintbrush and very carefully. I didn't add too many for verious reasons. The vehicle would not be too old and would be well maintained, plus there will be a lot of sand dust covering the vehicle. I'm going to mask though so that I'll have some scrapes of the sand revealing the base-coat. I also put the interior together and dusted it with a Mig Pigment mixture of Beach Sand, Gulf War Sand, and Light Dust. Here's a couple pics before the fade info...

09.01.2006 » Chip, and Fade - Part 2

Next up on the Light Armored Vehicle before I do a sand-colored wash was "fading/discoloring". This is a technique I learned from Xtreme Military Modeling and from my FAQ book. It worked great on my KV2, Mosquito, and Raptor so I used it here as well. Basically you dab some oil-paints on the surface, I used UM Blue, White, and Sand, then blend them into the surface with clean thinner. The result is fantastic and gives you a surface with a nice worn look. Here's some pics. Next up will be a sand-colored wash followed by rain-marks (yes, the desert gets some precip) airbrushing sandy dust along the lower half and rear panels of the vehicle.

09.01.2006 » Grit and Wash

Before my wash, I added some finely crushed talus on the underside of the Light Armored Vehicle where mud and crap would get kicked up and stuck. I applied it by first brushing on flattened Future then pouring on the grit and brushing off the large chunks. This will later be painted over with a sand color.

For my wash I mixed up a sand color from white, yellow and burnt sienna oils with just a slight touch of blue to dull its brightness. This was mixed with mineral spirits and washed into crevases and all over. the end result looks fantastic. As if dust collected around every bolt and jutting object, but it also left splotches of what looks like random dust all over. I'm thrilled with the result. Next-up pre-dusting...

09.02.2006 » Pre-Disting

The next step was a predusting with my airbrush and a sand-color I mixed from Tamiya Buff, Desert sand, and white. This mixture was thinned with Tamiya Thinner at a ratio of about 20:80 paint:thinner to get a very thin mist. Before I could spray it on however I needed to mask off a few things. I masked off the centers of the windows as if they were wiped clean. I also masked off the large insignia on the side and back doors. This was common for JGSDF personel operating in Iraq. I also masked the lights as if they needed cleaned too to function properly. I also taped the doors on from the inside so that I could remove them afterwards and position them open or closed. I then sprayed the dust mix randomly all over the vehicle, but concentrating on where it would build up the most such as the rear panels and lower half of the vehicle. Next up is the Mig Pigment dusting to add to the effects.

09.03.2006 » M151A Mutt Time!

In case you don't know, the LAV is done! Click here for pics »

The next vehicle for painting in this diorama is the M151A Mutt... your basic and classic Army Jeep. This one was sold in an arms deal to a Middle Eastern country. Years later and long after a new coat of paint it ended up in the hands of some militia. Retrofits were made, blah, blah, blah... basically I have a Jeep I won in a raffle and this seems like a great place to use it!

I built this the same time as my LAV so all I had to do today was a few minor tweaks, prime and paint it. Before painting, I decided to try a new technique using the same grit for under the wheel wells. This time I mixed the grit with Mr. Surfacer and dabbed it around the wheel wells. This turned out great! Afterwards I primed everything and 6 hours later decided I couldn't wait any more and started painting.

I painted the main body of the Jeep white with my airbrush. The underside was later hand painted with dark gray. When the white dried enough I mixed some black, brown, and gray and started on the paint chips. I want this vehicle to have a VERY worn, out of date, and poorly maintained look so a lot of chips were in order. I first painted chips onto the entire vehicle with a small brush. Then I took a small ripped-off piece of cheap spounge and dabbed the smaller finer scratches and worn areas. Here's the result. There's a sharp contrast, but after filters and weathering, they'll all blend in better. I absolutely love how they turned out in the bed!

09.04.2006 » Painting is done!

Almost of the painting and paint chips and clear-coats for the Mutt are done. All I have left are the clear-colors for the lights, but need to do them after the filters, but before the washes. Below you can see all the parts laid out awaiting a plethora of filters tomorrow when the satin coat dries. I tried to vary the colors I used for the accessories to give it some more realism and depth. I think I used 5 different greens, 4 grays, etc... I especially like how the wheels paint chips turned out.

09.05.2006 » Filters

Today I applied the Filters to the Jeep. The first was a yellow-orange (pic 1) and the second was a grey-orange color (pic 2). Again I used oil paint thinned with lots of oderless mineral spirits. The change to the color is subtle, but it makes the tone look more desert-like. As if a buff-color was very faded after years in the sun. It also shows up better than the one I did on my LAV. While I waited for the first filter to dry, I started on the two 1/35 Gasaraki Raiden kits. No pics of them yet as they're just a pile of parts.

09.06.2006 » Discoloration and Base Layout

I applied the "discoloration" to the Mutt. This was done as I did with the LAV, buy applying dabs of oils and blending them with clean thinner. The result of the filters and discoloration are great and make the white jeep look very "deserted". Next up is the sandy wash, but this needs to sit and dry for a while before that.

So while the Jeep dries I started messing with the base layout and building the TA Raidens. I placed the main items on the base as I initially intended and noticed a problem. The standing Tactical Armor obscures the LAV. (image 1 & 2) I wasn't sure how I felt about that so I played with the layout a bit. I basically just swapped the Jeep and LAV and 2 Raidens, but this layout gives me more base room for figures and puts the things I want to show off in the front which is the sitting TA, figures, and LAV. Plus the taller items end up in the back like the palm and standing TA. This however REALLY obscures the Jeep.(3 & 4) I like this layout, but as I gather boxes and such for the supply depot, I'll have to play with it some more.

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09.08.2006 » Filters

Last night I added my sand-colored wash to the Mutt. This really brought out the desert feel of the kit. Scroll up and compare the image below to one of my first white ones to see the difference the filters and washes made. Next up is initial pigment powders for the rust then predusting with the airbrush.

09.08.2006 » Rust and Dust

Now for the final steps of this piece which is the weathering with pigment powders. First I added the rust pigments I did these first since realistically they'd be covered by the layers of dust. I applied them mostly with water then dry-brushed them with a clean dry brush to fade them out.

Then after the rust was applied, I added a pre-dusting of the same sand-color-mix used on the LAV with my airbrush. When that dried I began applying the various dand colored pigments. I still have some of the Jeep, the tires, gun, and the extras to go, but here's a pigment progress shot: