Some old and new stuff from a new member.

[Alexandre]

Thank you very much guys.

[Alexandre]

Still in my Ethiopia-Somalia-Erythrea serie, after the Mogadishu vignette I've completed last week.
I had this little Tamiya T-55 Turret already built and waiting for paint, so it was the occasion to experiment a bit for the new project.
I want to paint this as a former Ethiopian T55 wreck in the Ogaden desert.
The challenge here is to have a sun-bleached and desaturated look in the old rust and camo color, far away from the very orange/yellow rust streaks that can be found in damper areas.   

Also, this is a nice change as it's done old school. I mean, I used Hairspray for the chipping, but no ready-made rust mixtures have been used.
It's all home made oil washes, with basic colors. I felt I needed a bit of "traditional" painting and I like to mix paints myself, sometimes it's funnier than to just open a premixed jar.

So it's the very first steps, plenty to do, but here some pictures to see where it's going.

Steps :
Vallejo Black Primer
Russian Green Acrylic airbrushed.
Mix of Tamiya brown paints as the rust base color, airbrushed
Layers of Hairspray, brushed with a small round brush, in irregulars coats.
Sprayed the top light green coat while the HS was still wet, this giving some blurred pre-chipping and interesting discoloration in the paint.
Chipping with water/Lacquer thinner/acrylic thinner depending on the areas and an old brush
Airbrushed enamel ochre-grey filter on the whole
Dark brown pin wash around all the details   
Ultra-thinned dark brown washes (made randomly from 4 oil colors so all different) applied over the model repeating layer after layer until the blending and look are interesting.

So the next steps will be to add a bit more tonal variation in the camo color and the rust, then more acrylic chipping and detail painting, dust, etc...

[marc_reusser]

Just beautiful.

Vallejo Black Primer
Russian Green Acrylic airbrushed.
Mix of Tamiya brown paints as the rust base color, airbrushed

So, the Tamiya browns...did you just lightly and randomly brush these over the Russian Green? No HS in-between?

[finescalerr]

You are pretty good with paint. I guess, by definition, that makes you an artist. -- Russ

[Alexandre]

Thank you Russ, my fine art and design studies help for this. This is the only help they're giving in my daily life, and sadly not the most useful. 

Just beautiful.

Vallejo Black Primer
Russian Green Acrylic airbrushed.
Mix of Tamiya brown paints as the rust base color, airbrushed

So, the Tamiya browns...did you just lightly and randomly brush these over the Russian Green? No HS in-between?

Marc,

Actually the first russian green layer was an happy accident. I first wanted it painted in regular green scheme, but changed my mind in the process and gone for a wreck. So, no HS in between and I've just painted the dark brown over the green, trying to cover everything but staying light in the thickness of the coat. Then when I started chipping later, some gentle rubbing with acrylic thinner made the first green layer appear. Everything's blend after with the filter, so it just gives a sense of depth in some place but it's not so much visible.
The process isn't very controlled and regular, because by brushing the Hairspray, I've often done successive layers of chipping on the same place. There's no definitive Rust + Color layers in the piece, but rather successive worked and reworked areas. Sometimes I've airbrushed rust again on top of the already chipped light green, but always trying to keep the previous coats viewable. So staying light and thinned at each steps.
Also, sorry to be a bit boring, but this is the kind of thing you can't say with pictures. But I think that processing by really small areas really helps for the general look. I mean, I can't have this result by doing the whole turret at the same time. It's just plenty of different zones, and when I had pin washes done at some places, I was still in the base rust color at others.
At the beginning it seems weird because of the patchwork look, but at the end, everything's blend with filters and dusting.

Going back to previous steps for enhancing some areas is really the key.
On the very rusted area at the bottom of the turret, e.g. I had all the pin washes and all the streaking done, but I thought it was looking to wet and grunge, so applied over this already weathered area a very thinned coat of tamiya brown acrylic, to desaturate and blend the whole.

Many AFV modelers are being used by the HS technique instead of using it.
Once chipped with water, this is by no mean the end of the chipping process and many are just going to the next steps because that's how things are written in the magazines. But often then, it gives too harsh and sharp chipping even though the reality is much more layered and delicate.
If you're staying light and thinned, you can literally add hundreds of new layers on top before having a thick feeling and hide details.
Every time I'm spraying over already chipped area, just to blend, and create finer and finer layered chips.
It's just a bit like 3D impressionism. It's the global visual look against the definitive and delimited "steps to do".

Sorry if I sound a bit know it all on this, it is not meant to lecture anybody, just trying to say what we never read in magazine's SBS because I'm sure many are working that way.

[finescalerr]

That is the kind of detailed information everybody wants, Alex. It's not a lecture -- it's a clinic! -- Russ

[Junior]

Alexandre, although I don´t know much about various colors on turrets  that´s a great and very useful SBS. As you might have figured out I´m more into your dio of the Mogadisho building which is truly awesome.

Anders

[Alexandre]

Thank you Russ & Anders. 

Toying with some bits and parts here and there on simultaneous projects :
90's LandCruiser pick up dashboard and passenger seat in progress.

The sculpture and details are great on the Meng kit, which really help for painting.
The somewhat difficult part (and not 100% success so far) is to make viewers feel the materials : discolored cheap plastic, velour fabric on the seat, rubber etc...

The AK-thing is from Trumpeter. I've sanded the seat in the shape of the AK so it would fit nicely on the seat and show the weight, and yes, forgot to re sculpt the seat's pattern. 
The wood parts are painted bright orange first, then toned down with dark brown oil paint, and the veins drawn and blend with oil paints too.
The metal parts are just raw black primer burnished with a stump and AKinteractive Steel pigment.

[Alexandre]

Don't sit in the corner, and be a sour-puss, drink Reinberg's Superior Lemonade : It's most satisfactory. ®



I've been doing some test pieces and experiments on various customs vintage labels and boxes for always popular workshop scenes.
Here are two of them :
They're printed on white heavy mat coated smooth paper, then weathered.  

First one :
Quickly done design, inspired by 1920's era lemonade label, good coloring, but perfectible box design and layout.
The fold markings need IMO to be removed.



Second one :
Refined logo design and layout, better box without fold marks, but the color is not as good than the first one.


Now I need to see if I can go smaller without loosing too much definition. It's 1/20, and I want to go 1/35.
More to come  , if I'm one day able to leave the corner.

[BKLN]

AWESOME!!! 
Lemonade for grumpy old men...

Is there a bikini in the making, too?

[Ray Dunakin]

Wow! If it wasn't for the Bic lighter, I would have taken that for a prototype photo.

The paint can spills are a nice touch.

Personally, I liked the first logo better than the "refined" version.

[kneighbarger]

That label is classic... well done.
Ken

[finescalerr]

You think you are being clever, Alex? See below -- something I found online. -- Russ

[Junior]

Ha, ha, great idea  ! Those boxes look fantastic! The lemonade would probably go well with Dallas´ burnt laser bread. Nice touch with the paint can mark and splashes.......a classic on this forum.

Anders

[Alexandre]

 
Thank you very much guys, glad you like the joke.
I'm still working on these and modifying the logos and writings so nothing definitive yet.
As we all make some painting, I thought we may need some Ferguson's soap for our dirty worker hands.




More to come, as I make them while paint's drying on more serious projects.

Talking about more serious stuff :
Finished interior for my Toyota pick up :



And some work done on the cargo bed :
There's 5 main layers so far on it :
- Black Primer > Dark Brown > Light Grey (to represent automotive primer) > Dark green > Grey+Green enamel filters as shown on the picture.
It's a bit "flat" for now, but next steps are some oil painting and pin washes to bring out the details.