Tiger I 1/48 Winter camo "Part 3"

...

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012 to all of you!!

The best way to start a new year is making models, so, here my contribution to this new year. This is the 3th chapter of the whole painting process of a winter Tiger I in 1/48th scale. If you haven't see the other two, please, read first the chapter I and the chapter II.
Now is time for chipping and oil paint effects.


We start using the dark bromw 70922 from vallejo. It's a good color for paint dark metal chips. Use a very fine brush, new one and sharp.



Start doing small dots, and lines...very small, and keep gorwing it as much as you want.

Treat each detail in a different way. Example, more intense chipping in some parts, while others remain more new. That contrast will help to the model to give bigger realism.

The oil paints is always a important step in each weathering. This paint is very flexible, easy to blend and colorfull. The oils can help us to give contrast, deep, shadows, and much more effects to our models. In this case, we will use few basic colors to create a contrast effect in some mudguards and some horizontal areas. Maybe, in anotehr kind of subject we can use more oils, or less. We must adapt this technique to each model and evoirement.

Use the white color to reiforce the white camo. Use a medium round brush for this task.

Apply the color only in one side of the mudguard section.

Just in the next section, apply a grey-brown color.

Clean the brush or take a new one and with a litle White Spirit stump the color.

See the result. The transition is soft, but each color, both , the white and brown, are gradually more intense to the union of both mudguards sections. It create contrast, a subtile and nice visual effect to give volume to our model. You can use this technique not only in the mudguards, but in any other part of your model, like panels, hatches, engine compartiments and much more. Just selct the apropiated color for each subject. In this case I used white because the base color is winter camo.

Another example. This time we use a dirty grey to represent the acumulated dirt over the horizontal surfaces, like around the turret ring.

One more time, paint and stump with a clean brush and a little White Spirit.

Use the white Oil color to make the highlights in the winter camo. After the washes adn streaking effects, the look of our model will be a little dark, not as white as we can expect of a winter tank. Now is time to bring to the life the white camo adding small dots of white color in some areas. Don't over do it and be RANDOM with this process. And of course, stump or blend the color to make it softer and natural.

Ok, another step is already done. Very slowly, our model is getting contrast and tonal variation. This is very important in this kind of vehicles, to avoid the monotonie and boring surfaces. Note how you can see the original camo under the winter camo, faded and damage by the envoirements and elements. The chipping is adapted to the scale. These ones must be small and not excesive. And the new shades that we have give to our model will give volume and a rich surface. Now is time to paint all small details before we made the mud and dust and the final effects.
In the next chapter, I will explain how to give the final touches to the model. We will work with the spare links around the turret, painted also in winter camo. We will add the earth, mud, oils and grease and much more. Keep tunned and thank you very much for read this. I hope you like the progress of this small example of a winter tank. It is really easy and simple if you follow these steps.

...

Tiger I 1/48 Winter camo "Part 2"

...
Welcome again to the second part of this interesting article about how to paint a Tiger I with a winter wash. In the preview chapter I explained how to use the Worn Effect fluid to make a Camo with chipping. Now we will use it again to make the winter wash.

Apply a nice coat of Worn Effects fluid over your vehicle. remeber that it is water based, it is clean, no bad smell and easy to use, just pour it in your airbrush and apply a coat.

After a couple of minutes, apply your white color. tamita will work very well in this case. Note that I applied a soft and random layer of white color. Not too thick.

Now we can start scratching the surface. Apply a little water over it and start moving your brush over the surface until see that the paint come off. It is very easy.

See how random is it. Some areas can be very damaged and others almost new.

Now is time for the washes. The color AK 066 Wash for Africa vehicles will be a good color also for winter vehicles. It is a bit neutral and was designed for light sand colors.

Apply a drop over the lines, joins, details and rivets. Don't worry if you are not accurate. We will clean the excess later. be sure your base is SATIN, and NOT FLAT. this is very important to avoid the expansion by capilarity.

Now using a clean brush and thinner, we will clean the excess of wash. The wash color must be dry. I usually wait for 3 or 5 minutes after apply the wash.

This process is very easy and simple. if we follow the rules (satin surface, controlled application, let it dry and clean the excess) we will obtain always a good result.

Let's go for a funny step: Winter Streaking grime

This technique is very simple. Just draw fine vertical lines in the vertical or inclinated surfaces. Make some of then shorter than others.

After it is dry for a couple of minutes, use a flat clean brush with a little Thinner and stump the lines with vertical motions. Don't try blend the color at once, but in several attemps.

You must get a look like this:

If you reomve to much, just repeat the proces after few minutes.

In the next chapter we will see how to make the metal chips and we will work with oils too.
Thanks for take your time to read this and I hope you like it.

Don't be shy and post your comments or feedback. I am working on this right now, so....your suggestions can help me to be focus in this or that subject or problem.

...

Tiger I 1/48 Winter camo

...
Hello friends.

I know that I was too much time in silence but was because a good reason. i was making the new FAQ2. And now that it is ready and printed, I can back again to apint models. I have some different projects in my workbench and one of them is this little Tiger I out of box that I build time ago. Now I ampainting it in winter camo, using the Chipping fluid (the soft one) to make the chipping. I will try to post the whole step by step so stay tunned.



First I painted the dark yellow, just plane without modulation or other effects.

The worn effects fluid was applied inmediatly after the base color and once it is dry I painted the other two color camo with an airbursh.

I used a small plain brush to humidify the surface and scratch the camo colors. The zimmerit texture helped me in this task.

Now I have ready the base for the second step: the winter was , also very damaged. Ahh, right now we must apply a satin varnish coat to protect the preview work.

In the next chapter I will explain the winter wash camo step by step.

Thank you for watching.

...

WHY NOT??? WHEEL MASKS!

...

Few weeks ago I was thinking about this new product. I have seen it in internet since long time ago, but reciently I was thinking seriusly about it. I always painted the wheels by brush, I means , the rubber. It is always a hard work, specially when you have a panther tank in your hand, or even a PzIV. I am always looking for fast tips and technqiues, and I thought this stuff from QUICK WHEEL, can help me. So...i decided to take some of these masks, and by the way, some of their new resin wheels for some vehicles.

I just wanted to try and I was not sure how is the quality of this stuff. But when I recived it (the service is just superb) I was shock with the quality. This tool is very professional, made in hard plastic and have a special design that help to the modeller to mask the whels easily and all of them at once. The plastic wheels fit perfectly in the holes , and them you can paint with airbrush the center of the wheels with the tank color. previesly you must paint the whole wheel in rubber color!!

In few seconds you paint the rubber of all your wheels....and the result is just PERFECT!!!!!!!

I cannot say anymore except that it must be necessary for me since now. the important thing is that the mask can be used forever in all your future models.
I recomend you this new stuff.

You can get it directly form this site:

QUICK WHEEL


I hope upload a short step by step very soon.

Thank you.

...

MODULATION AND WEATHERING

...
In the last months I have made some trips to otehr countries to make some paint demostrations. the last ones was in Japan and France. In both places I decided to make some experiments of weathering which I show here finally. The experiment consist in paint the whole tank with Color Modulation and then, weather just half tank. In this way, the people can see how the weathering is affected by the Color Modulation base, and then, they can understand how this technique works.

This is the only way to demostrate that an exagerated modulated base color, can be good enought to be a good base for a weathering process. As you can see now in the next photos, all high contrast get softer after the weathering.

This E75 from Trumpeter was painted completly in around 12 hours, including the primer and Color Modulation, plus the rest of steps like streaking effects, dust, mud, rust, chipping and much more. The main purpouse of these exampels was to explain to the modeller that we can achieve a nice look in few time, using some specific techniques, and avoiding another ones. But one more time I must say very clear that this is just one alternative, and we can choose it or not, according of what we need or want for our model. Even my self I use sometimes very complex process which need many weeks or months, and other times I use fast techniques to paint a model in one day or even one hour!!!

And...why I push the fast techniques? because I think that almost a big part of the modelling comunity have not enought time for modelling and all that they want to do is to achieve a nice look in short time to get motivated in the modelling. I doesn't means that this must be the way for everybody, but just that this is a way for those who need save time and finish something as soon as possible.

Here the results in the E75 made for Paris demo:

Color modulation was applied in the whole model in a couple of hours.

Half model was masked and then only one part was weathered. Note how the high contrast with the Color Modulation get soft after the weathering.

The Modulation helps to give more dramatism to certain areas or highlight other ones. We can bring the attention to the espectator to some areas or others , always thanks to the Modulation. This could be really important in vehicles made for dioramas.

As you can see, the weathering will make dark the surface, so, some parts of the base color must be very light.

the green camo was applied using the hairspray technique. This method will help us to create a very chipped green patches with a very damage look. The dark areas of the green camo was created thanks to blue oil paint, ochre and brown.

Note how the Streaking effects in the side armor plate is very random and unregular. You can see also some chips created by hairspray around the hatches.

The splashed mud was created mixing some Ak products with plaster, projecting air with an airbrush over a brush loaded of mud! 5 or even 6 layers was applied to create that texture.

As you can see in the turret side, there are yellow and blue areas in the green camo. It was made with oils, blending it with white spirit. It helps to the Color Modulation and give a very colorfull look to our model.

Even if the model was not finished, we can see that the look is enought good after paint the chips and rust streaks.

Here we can see the other example that I made in japan. It was also painted in around 12 hours, but the color modulation was painted before the demo. I used the same method and techniques in both cases. Note how the dark areas in the side rear plate is destinate to the splashed light mud.

A look of my JadTiger just after the color modulation was applied.

But, what is the Color Modulation? It is Real?

Well, since Adam and me developed that technique some years ago, I have read millions of comments about it, in forums, webs, magazines. Seems that now everybody know everything about this style. Some people say that this is just art, other say that it is shit and unrealistic, other say that is fantasy.... of course there are many smart comments talking about the light concept, about 3D computer games and many other stuff. To me, all of these fights, comments and discursions are not interesting for me because is hard to explain to the whole world what is the modulations or why it was developed. And, anyway, I doens't take care what is the modulations for each one of you. the ONLY important thing is that people who have used the modulation with good results, feelt happy with what they made, and that's all. But also I feel happy when I see other modellers using another techniques and styles. Each person must choose his "tools" to paint his models. Some people can use dry brush, anothers preshading, another ones just acrylics, and another just modulation. The important point is that we must enjoy our models and our hobby. There are too much fights and wars in the world, and we don't want more garbage in our garden. We want arrive to our home, get confortable, open a drink and sit down in front our workbench to enjoy our hobby!. So...I don't take care how others think the modelling must be. Today I will paint my model with modulation, and after tomorrow, I will paint another model with classic techniques.

And...is the Color Modulation realistic?...

of course....NO! It is just an interpretation of the real thing and we use the light , shadows and contrast like a way of expresion. In fact, the WHOLE MODELLING is FAKE, not real. is just plastic! And the mud that we add in our tanks...is FAKE TOO, is just paint with plaster.

I have fun when I see a modeller that say: " My model is very realistic because I painted it with the real color from the factory!!!

Oh my God, what stupid thing! he use the real color of the tank over an amount of plastic parts...PLASTIC!!!! So...where is the reality? the reality is just in the real things, and the rest is just reproductions, copies, or replics of the real one. In defintily...just interpretations made with other materials.

But the same stupid thing is when I see that the same modeller feel proud of his very realistic chips....which was just PAINTED!!!!!!!!!!! LOL! So, if that modeller want realism, why not he build the model in steel and them paint the tank with the real color, and then he just go around the stree with his tank, crossing roads, water, mud and crossing some bonsay forest? he will get realistc mud, and scratches, right?

Dear reader....if you are reading this, forget about reality and just have fun with your hobby. because, even if we try to search the reality, we always will find a noob judge who will tell us that that color is wrong!

Here I post some pictures of some models made by defferent modellers, using the Color Modulation like a way of expresion. This is just a small example and you can find nowday dozens of other great works!

Finally, I would like to add that for me , the modelling is like a Hollywood movie: I like to enjoy it, I want to have fun and I want dream during 90 or 120 minuts. This make me happy. But if a model doens't make me happy, even if it is super realistic, then, that model have not value to me. Is just BORING!

Thanks

Mig Jimenez

...