Desert weathering - A first attempt

Steve Jones

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Nice work on the pin washes. Did you use acrylics or oils? Also what colours?
 
B

Big Red

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Thanks Steve.

I opted to try oils, but not being confident I didn’t want to spend too much on a technique I may not be comfortable with. Fortunately ‘Wilkos’ came to the rescue, £3.50 got me a set of 12 colours. Whilst the quality may not be up there with artists oils, it will get me started.
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I opted for burnt umber as a dark brown would compliment the camo, but provide a dark enough contrast. I used a rough 80:20 mix of thinners to paint.

Jim
 
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Big Red

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So, next stages! A bit of a large update.

I added some chipping where I thought the most wear would have occurred. I think I got a bit carried away, but given that it will be further ‘dirtied’ I was happy with the outcome.
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I sprayed a light dust coat of light tan to dull down the gloss finish prior to my next experiment.
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Next was an attempt at a oil dot wash. For this I used 4 oil colours; white, vermillion, ultramarine and yellow ochre. These were randomly applied as dots to each panel and then blended using a flat brush barely wet with thinners. On sloped or vertical panels I used a brushing motion to give a streaking effect, whilst on flat panels I used a stippling effect.

Before
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Dots applied,
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The point at which I panicked!
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Part blended
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The finished article B49990F5-4F91-416E-9EDF-D3B2285727A0.jpeg
The overall effect has given a ‘warmer’ finish to the colour, and a dusty/grubby effect (I hope). The vermillion was the dominant colour, so overall the dust effect appears on the pinkish side.
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Finally I primed the tracks, gave them a base coat of dark grey, with a thin coat of rust over the top. I then applied some weathering pigments.
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Sorry for the mega post, but a couple of days of work has given plenty of bench time for a change. All comments welcome.

Jim
 
B

Big Red

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After a little bit of tinkering with the shading using a bit of dark umber oil, I'm calling it done. I fear if I do too much, I may mess up what I've achieved.

Final pics in completed builds.

Jim
 

colin m

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Well it looks flippin' good to me. I'm just starting to play with oils myself, and do like the effect they give.
 

Steve Jones

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Will nip over and see the finished work. Looks like it all went well.
 
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