How to paint modern Chinese PLA woodland-camo vehicles

Today I am going to share how I do paint modern PLA armor camouflage for woodland areas. I don't claim my way of painting this is right, nor do I say my colour selection works best (but I took the colour table from a 1/35 kit producer). However, given the amount of questions in different forums it seems like people like my vehicle's look. So here is a quick tutorial on "How to paint modern Chinese PLA woodland-camo vehicles"!

What do you need?

-model (obviously *LOL*)
-Tamiya's Grey Basecoat coloured primer spray
-Vallejo's Model Color Iraqi Sand (70819), Saddle Brown (70940) and USA Uniform (70922),
-Games Workshop's Chaos Black, Boltgun Metal, Chainmail, (Foundation) Mechrite Red, Blood Red, Hawk Turquoise, Enchanted Blue, Blazing Orange, Vomit Brown, Bestial Brown, Graveyard Earth, Scorched Brown and the washes Devlin Mud and Badab Black,
-Tamiya's NATO Black,
-Mr Hobby's H321 Light Brown, H303 Green (=FS 34102), H309 Green (=FS 34079),
-matt varnish spray
-Tamiya's weathering master (set A)
-brushes (sizes 2-3 down to 0)
-"drybrush" brushes (one with flat tip, one with round tip)

Step #1
Assemble the kit and put it on your base (if you prefer to). Use Tamiya's Grey Basecoat primer spray and give it a full coat. Allow the primer to dry completely, then start painting the base with GW Bestial Brown. Drybrush the base with GW Vomit Brown afterwards and add a drybrushed layer of Vallejo's Iraqi Sand on top.
Paint the whole vehicle (apart from tracks or wheels!) with Mr Hobby Light Brown. I normally tend to paint the sides of the bases with GW Graveyard Earth. But that's a personal choice, you don't need to.

Step #2
Time to apply the outlines of the camo pattern. I paint all areas that later will be green (no matter which shade of green) with Mr Hobby H303 Green. These colours do require some thin layers. Don't blotch huge amounts of it at once, rather go with more thin layers!

Step #3

When the first green camo pattern has dried, use Mr Hobby H309 Green (which is slightly darker) and add those blotches of the pattern. At this time you could basicly also start painting the wheels with Tamiya NATO black and paint areas that will get a metal surface with GW Chaos Black, to make sure the metal tone looks alright.

Step #4

Step #4 is by far the longest and takes a tremendous amount of time. First you will have to pinwash around all panel lines and recesses. Use GW Devlin Mud to do so. It will help to break the flat bright brown surfaces and add more realism to your model. Use the Badab Black wash to add dirt to the engine grilles on top of the vehicle.

These washes need some time to dry, so don't paint anything else until they are (otherwise you will touch areas of still wet wash and have your fingerprints all over the model!)

Step #5

The last step requires a lot of paints as we obviously need to paint up all details.
The lenses and windows get a base layer of GW Enchanted Blue. Once dried, add a thin line of GW Hawk Turquoise.

Drybrush the Light Brown areas of the camo pattern with Vallejo Iraqi Sand. Be careful and try not to touch the green areas. For the green edges use Vallejo USA uniform and drybrush them as well.

The tail lights I paint with (Foundation) GW Mechrite Red, followed by a center highlight with Blood Red.

All tools (the metal parts of them) and the towing equipment get a layer of GW Boltgun Metal, followed by a highlight with GW Chainmail. I also use this technique for the headlights. Paint them Boltgun Metal, then add a dot of Chainmail to the center.

The wooden parts of the tools need to be painted in a brown tone. I use GW Graveyard Earth to do so.

The exhaust needs some steps for a rusted look: give it a base layer of GW Bestial Brown, then use Scorched Brown to add random dots and lines (I really mean random!). When you are done, add same again on different spots with Graveyard Earth and Vallejo Saddle Brown - if done correctly the exhaust will look like rusted metal (check the entry of the finished ZSL-92 in my blog for a detail shot).

Paint the gun barrels of the 25mm autocannon and the co-axial MG with GW Chaos Black.

Use Vallejo Saddle Brown to add marks of rust on areas that might got shot at or damaged in previous missions. Don't go crazy with this - you don't want to paint a wreck!

Drybrush the wheel houses and their direct vicinity with GW Scorched Brown, Graveyard Earth and Vomit Brown to add dirt for the weathering (don't forget the lower hull on front and back). You can also softly brush over the tires, but I prefer to use pigments and powders for those.

Last step is adding the powder of the weathering master set (A) from Tamiya. I use the applicator to "paint" them on the flanks of the tires and into the wheel houses. Afterwards the brush side of the tool is used to "dust" all lower hull parts and the road tread of the wheels.

That's it. Take a good look at the ZSL-92 IFV article on my blog. The various shots from there will help you to undestand what paints go where.

Chris

Modern US Army: Abrams tanks WIP - turrets finished

Thank you, real life - for letting me have off from work for once. Oh happy day, I was able to put finishing touches to the Abrams turrets. Due to a lot of feedback that my vehicles appear to be too "clean" for frontline armour, I had a go on those turrets with Tamiya's superb weathering sets. These sets come with three boxes of pigmet powder in various tones and a dual applicator (one side a brush, the other a pen-type Weathering Stick). Please note that no matt varnish was applied when I took these pics. It is absolutely necessary to apply a coat, otherwise the pigmets will stick to your fingers everytime you grab your toys!!! See the frontside of the armoured turret hull - the vertical weathering was done with the applicator stick.

A close up of the weathering in various tones of pigment.

Another shot of the frontside. I used "Sand", "Light Sand" and "Dust" to apply those faded lines.

See the dust and pigments on the turret top? These were applied with the brush side of the applicator tool.

I mixed all pigments that came in the sets from Tamiya and used the applicator tool's brush to "drybrush" (the technique is the same as with a acryl or enamel paint) dust and sand into all recesses. Note the duffel bags in the lower part of the pic - it shows traces of multiple tones of pigment.

With the pen-side of the applicator I brushed carefully over all weld seams. I also applied dust to where the crew would most likely have went over on the top of the turrets.

The barrel of "Columbia 2", 2nd platoon, Charly Company, Task Force 1-64

The barrel of "Carnitore", 2nd platoon, Charly Company, Task Force 1-64

Multiple pigments were mixed and applied heavily over the complete stowage, just as it would have been in a sand storm.

The strong amounts of powder in-between the items in the stowage bins creates a very realistic look.

How to paint modern US desert camo vehicles

Today I am going to share how I do paint modern US armor camouflage for desert areas. I don't claim my way of painting this is right, nor do I say my colour selection works best. However, given the amount of questions in different forums it seems like people like my vehicle's look. So here is a quick tutorial on "How to paint modern US desert camo vehicles"!

What do you need?

-model (obviously *LOL*)
-TheArmyPainters' Desert Yellow coloured primer spray
-Vallejo's Model Color Desert Yellow (70977), Beige (70917), Iraqi Sand (70819) and Pale Sand (70837),
-Goya's oil paint Burnt Umber (32519) (you can also use MIG products, Schmincke etc.)
-thinner (like substitute for terpentine for oil paints)
-matt varnish spray
-empty mixing pots (two)
-brushes (sizes 2-3 down to 0)
-"drybrush" brushes (one with flat tip, one with round tip)
-a well ventilated area to work in (thinner has a strong odour!)


Step #1
I tend to assemble the models completely. Mostly I do not glue MGs or turrets into place - first off because its easier for me to handle them for painting and also I want turrets that can be pivoted. In the picture above I applied TheArmypainters' new colour primer called DESERT YELLOW. It comes in a huge spray can and has good hiding power. I normally use black primer, so why the change? Simply because it is easier to paint black over desert yellow than the other way around. :-) Let dry for at least 3-4 hours!

Step #2

Once the primer has dried completely, I apply the first layer of paint. I have tried a lot of different makes of paint, but none ever has given me a result that would justify to use only one colour instead of a mix. Lesson learned: mix it, baby! For the layer of paint you can see above I do mix one part Vallejo's DESERT YELLOW (70977) with two parts Vallejo's BEIGE (70917) in a mixing pot. Apply to the whole model, try not to cover the details with too much paint. Try to leave out any recesses, this will later help to add natural shadows.

Step #3

This is a tricky part. I assume most wargamers never worked with oil paint washes. This is a step I use because it is done by most professional kit-modellers and gives a lot of opportunities for awesome results. Oil paints can be found in countless colour tones. Each can be used for adding shades and help making panel lines, recesses or surface structures "pop" out better. For US desert camo I use Goya's BURNT UMBER (32519). You need to thin down oil paint for washes heavily. I mean really heavily. To thin it down, I apply into a mixing pot about a tea spoon of thinner (Goya's SUBSTITUTE OF TERPENTINE) and add a knife point of oil paint. Don't use too much oil paint, go with less first. Stir it until you have a dark brown, thin wash. The substitute of terpentine has a strong odour, so you better work somewhere with good air circulation! Apply the wash over the whole model. If the model has good detail, I recommend to use a matt varnish first, let dry and apply the oil paint wash afterwards. I didn't do on these Abrams tanks, but if you have some particular kits, the terpentine might etch the matériel, so be careful! Oil paint needs time to dry out completely, at least 24 hours. I go with even 36h to be on the safe side.

Step #4

The last step before you can start painting details and do the weathering, is drybrushing the models. Again, I have tried many different colours and found that mixing some is a better solution.

For the drybrushing of the US desert camo, I recommend a mix of one part of Vallejo's IRAQI SAND (70819) with one part of Vallejo's PALE SAND (70837). I drybrush the whole model, putting most effort on edges of armour plates, engine grilles or turret hatches. With the darker recesses, thanks to oil paint wash, the model gets a fine textured surface. I use two different paint brushes for drybrushing such models: a large, flat brush (like GW's CITADEL FLAT DRYBRUSH) and a smaller, round brush (like GW's CITADEL LARGE DRYBRUSH). Use the round tip for the details on the turrets and the flat one for the hull and large armour panels. Important hint for this: use the flat brush to drybrush up and down (don't go crazy in all directions), as the effect of applied brighter colour on the darker surface makes it look like stains of water that has run down. It's a simple but effective first step of weathering right there.

Finally, you can paint the details like stowage, lenses or mounted machine guns etc.

I will later add a pic of the finished tanks. They aren't yet. Questions? Just comment underneath this post, I'll answer. :-)