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Filters and washes
Now it was time to move on and apply the filters. I don’t own any commercially available filters as I prefer to mix my own (or I’m too tight to buy something I can make) from other products in my arsenal. I use AK Interactive’s weathering products and thin them with white spirit until they are translucent, when applied the difference should be hardly noticeable as we need to build up the effect in layers. For this model I used Streaking Grime, Dust and Fresh Mud. I try to vary some of the panels as well, this creates natural contrast which makes the subject look busier to the eye.
The next stage is the pin wash and for this I use Mig Productions’ Dark Wash. This is touched into areas surrounding raised detail and when dry after around 10 minutes the excess is cleaned off and blended with a clean brush moistened in white spirit.
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Fading with oils
Fading using oil paints is an effective way of distressing a camouflage scheme and simulating exposure to the elements. The light colour oils are dabbed on in areas of high wear and highlights and using a dry brush are blended into the paint work. Try to be subtle, in some cases it may be appropriate to use a little white spirit on the brush if the oil paint is a bit too prominent.
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Following a conversation with MIG Jimenez I decided to do a little corrective action with a few elements of the model. The first was with regarding the red oxide hatch, MIG suggested that this sort of feature had become a little clichéd so I repainted it. The offending hatch was masked off and a layer of hairspray applied, followed by the base coat. It was then weathered in the same way to match the rest of the vehicle; I must say I do quite like the effect. The muzzle brake was treated in the same way.
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The next item on the agenda was the tracks; I’ve done a separate mini article about using the metal Fruil tracks (see your Techniques Bank) so I won’t duplicate that here.
