Building up dirt and decay.

So I've been adding thin wash layers of dirt.
Pin washes, spatter, streaking... all using oils. And as requested by a mate I took a lot of pics...
Here they are.

First I did a thin wash/pin wash to blend together the colours of the flaked paint and rust that's underneath and to make those panel lines pop a bit more. Add some contrast.
I used lamp blank and burnt umber.

Then I added some rust tones around the flaked and chipped areas. I applied a thin 'aura' of the rust tone around these areas and also started painting some streaks. The rusty tones are a varying combination of oxide red, yellow ochre and burnt umber.

For the streaks I tend to put down to much paint at first.. I then simply blend it in with either q-tips of a dry brush. Sometimes I dab on little dots of untwined paint, let that site for a few minutes and then use a dry (or very lightly terpenoid moistened brush) and pull down the paint to create the streak

After this, I added more streaking, some dirt splattering and oil and exhaust stains/dirt.
Still keeping everything thin and transparent. Building up layer upon layer.

Next I want to put down a thin layer of clear varnish, and add a heavier stain to the bottom half of the hull and underside of the turret and engine. And after that add some more 'fresh' streaking here and there and I think we're about done at that point...

So stay tuned.

Cheers,
Martijn

Oskar, Rust Details & Decals

So this thing is breezing along very nicely.

When the flaking effects were done (by pulling off the masking liquid) the rust marks were still a little coarse, so I added some details, by applying acrylic pain with a 0 brush and stamping it on with this green textured stuff that architectural model builders use to indicate hedges and other greenery.
Of course I forgot to take a picture.. I'll do it next time, ok! Get of my case!!

Anyway rust details done. Put down a layer of clear coat to prepare for the decals.
Decals went down like a dream.

Then another layer of clear coat went on to seal in the decals.
Hence all the shinyness...

Oh and I also painted the bottom.

Cheers!
Martijn

Oskar rust damage

I rubbed off the liquid latex masking fluid and now the thing looks all rusted up.
I will add some finer speckles or rust here and there, but the result sofar is pretty good.

Also added some more graphics to balance out the big 5 on the front. It's a Japanese four kanji idiom meaning "Death holds no calendar" Or in other words 'you never know when death might strike' or "Death strikes young and old alike".

This will get a lot of washes and streaking but it's starting to look pretty good, I think.

Oskar in the meantime.

The MK44 I was building got quite complicated and took actually quite a bit longer than I had anticipated... anyway I needed a break and wanted to build something quick so I could paint it.
I love painting.

The kit practically fell together and when the build was done I was struck with an idea for a bash...

but also abandoned it as quickly. I didn't want to get into another dragged out building process. I just wanted to get to the painting.

So anyway the build was done. I added some wires to the smoke dischargers and textured the hull with some Mr.Surfacer 500 to mimic cast steel parts.

Then it was one to paints.... finally.

First I put darkened the edges and panel lines with water thinned Tamiya Nato black, building up saturation with several layers. And then I added some colour in on the larger surfaces. Mixes of flat red, yellow and dark brown. All Tamiya and thinned with water. Applied in thin translucent layers.
Putting highlights on the horizontal areas (catching more light) and darker shades on the more vertical areas.

When this was all down I added a thin layers of Flat red and dark brown to the whole.

When this was dry I put down a solid layer of Mr.Super Clear matt varnish. When this was thoroughly cured, I added splotches and specs of liquid masking latex in the spots where the more wear and tear would occur on the paint.
When the final paints are on and I rub off the latex this will simulate flaking and rust damage... I hope.
It's basically a 'hair spray technique' but without using an airbrush.

I used Winsor and Newton Art Masking Fluid and that Molotov masking pen thing... it's nice the the pen leaves marks that are too 'round. The look too much like they were done with... well a pen. Duh.

Anyway, base paint done. Latex making done. On to top layer paints.
I use brushes and when I put on the paint I make sure it's quite thin (thinned with water) and use kind of a stippling technique to put it on.
I start in the center of a panel and then work out towards the panel line.
The colour is a mix of Tamiya medium blue and Tamiya sky blue in variable balances but mainly the latter (obviously).

So when the paints were mostly done I started thinking about the next step... decals.
Looking at the decals I found that the numbers felt a bit small. The Oskar has such big surfaces I really wanted one stoking big number on there... so I didn't really have a choice but to hand paint one on.

With the number on I had to look at some other details and I couldn't really leave out the iconic Strahl banding.
And after those were one and another small 5 on the little shield I pronounced the paint job done.

So have a look. Next time I'll stick on the other decals.

Thanks for looking.

MK44 paints

Just like the last time it's been a while since I updated this build so this is going to have quite a lot of pics... I'll keep the reading to a minimum...

Here goes:

The idea of an open cockpit got me thinking about one detail I had kind of ignored before.
I put a strip at the bottom of the front part so that there is a clear barrier between the inside and the outside... It wouldn't make sense to me having this thing be in outer space without the possibility of sealing the cockpit.
I realise it won't be visible and it would have rubber sealing strips of some kind and that this is all just fantasy anyway... but I just didn't like the cockpit to be as 'airy' as it was.

With the build finished it was time for the paints...
With the 'prototype/maintenance I wanted a unconventional paint scheme. And after doing a little test in Photoshop I went for a bright orange with dark grey/blue parts.

Next up decals... which turned out to be a minor nightmare.
I finished up the paints. And started the decals, but they kept tearing and seemed to stick to the model really fast (like right at touch down). I had put down a coat of clear gloss varnish, which usually prevents this from happening but this time something was obviously different.

Anyway, ripping and frustration galore. I would slide the decals on a layer of micro set (or sol... the blue one), but it would just settle really quick and be stuck. Or only partly, which would cause it to rip.

I had done the '3' on the top and wanted to put the big 3s on the hip plates too... but of course the first one ripped.
So I ended up painting them on by hand... a bit weird painting the decals as they come with the kit, but since the first on went on pretty well I had to stick with the 3s

After this was done, the project ground to a hold. The figure needed some arms and I had ordered a kit of 1/20 F1 pit crew figures from Hobby Link Japan but it took a while for them to arrive.

Anyway when they finally did I grafted them on and added some aves to make him look like Frankenstein's monster.
I also modded toe helmet to open up. An idea I admittedly stole from Love Love Garden who put out some AMAZING 1/20 scale figures and add-on parts for MAschinen Krieger kits.

Anyway this is how the figure turned out:

And that's it for now.
I'm still undecided on some added white details to the outside of the machine. Just something to make it a little more special, give some more personality... as soon as I come up with something I'l slap it on and start weathering this guy...

Until then, thanks for looking.

Cheers,
Martijn