Painting Guide - Hard edged vehicle camouflage

Disclaimer

I wrote this painting guide a few years back already for Pats (https://wargamingwithsilverwhistle.blogspot.com) excellent 2nd Volume of Setting The Scene 'Creating a Wargames Layout for the Mediterranean'. As far as I know all three books of the series are currently out of print, but if you come across a copy on sale somewhere go get it! Pat has graciously given his OK for me to release both of the painting guides I wrote for the book here on the blog.

As I feel the guide on Italian Infantry, especially the pictures, could do with a little updating, here's the guide for how I paint hard edged camouflage on vehicles. And remember: You can use this for any hard edged camouflage scheme you want. Not just Italian tanks.

Painting tanks - Hard edged camouflage

There are probably several hundreds if not thousands of tutorials on this topic out there already. Starting from a very basic approach for those amongst us wanting to bring their toys on the table as fast as possible up to display masterpieces by the likes of Mig Jimenez and others you'll most certainly find something to meet your own needs.

What I was aiming for with this short tutorial here was something in the middle ground. Something that wouldn't take ages to complete while still looking the part when put either in your display cabinet or on your gaming table of course. Due to the use of Oils and Enamels you'll need some patience because of the relatively long drying times, especially when compared to Acrylics. But not factoring in the drying times it took me about three hours to complete the whole tank.

As always the model was thoroughly cleaned before the actual painting begun. It's also during this stage that I add some bits and pieces like sand bags made from green stuff, fuel drums, bags and blankets available through many different manufacturers out there. It's details like these that will help to tell a story and transform a standard kit into the center piece of your force.

Step 1: Base Coat

For the base coat, I use the same Vallejo Surface Primer German Panzer grey RAL7021 as for the figures. Letting the primer settle overnight helps to make it as hard wearing as possible. That's especially important with resin and white metal pieces as the paint comes off much more easily than with plastic kits.

 Step 2: Green Camouflage Stripes

It may sound curious, but the paint for the green camouflage stripes is applied first. On a real vehicle this would have been applied on top of the yellow base coat. So the base colour of AK 031 Russian 4BO Base is sprayed all over the vehicle using an airbrush. 

This is followed by AK032 Russian 4BO Light Base sprayed onto the middle of each area, making sure to leave most of the previous paint visible around edges and crevices. This is followed by a last light spray of AK033 Russian 4BO Highlights again be careful not to cover too much of both the previous paints. Now let the paint dry for a few hours in preparation for the next step.

Step 3: Masking the camouflage stripes

After letting the camouflage green dry thoroughly it's time for masking the green camouflage stripes before applying the yellow base paint. Here I use UHU patafix reusable glue pads. Other brands like Bostik Blu Tac work just as well as do more expensive offerings for scale modelers like MXpression Panzer Putty. No matter what you use it's important to press the edges of your masking medium down to prevent  paint from seeping under it and ruining your camouflage scheme. I used a toothpick to press the masking putty into every nook and cranny. It was at this stage I decided not to bother with camouflage stripes on the lower hull section. 

Step 4: Yellow Base Coat

Now A.MIG-902 Dunkelgelb Base is sprayed all over the tank, making sure nothing of the previous green camouflage paint remains visible. This again is followed by A.MIG-904 Dunkelgelb Highlight. Again make sure to only apply the paint to the middle of each area or panel leaving the Dunkelgelb base visible around the edges of each area and in the crevices. Now a last careful light is sprayed on all the upper horizontal areas using A.MIG-905 Dunkelgelb Shine. As before it's important not to spray over too much of both the previously applied shades of Dunkelgelb or you'll lose the shading effect.

Once the paint has dried thoroghly you can remove the masking putty. The putty can be used several times so instead of throwing it away you can put it into a ziplock for use on your next project. Before we get to the next step give your model a short coat of varnish. At this stage it doesn't really matter if you use Matt, Satin or Gloss Varnish as it's just meant to protect the relatively thin coat of paint you've applied thus far.

Step 5: Oil Dot Filter

A Filter basically is a rather easy way to subtly change the appearance and intensity of your vehicles colours. It helps to give a slightly faded impression and adds interesting colour graduations to an otherwise rather flat paintjob. A Filter thus is the first subtle step in weathering your model.

Small amounts of different oil paints, I simply use cheap ones from the craft store, are put onto some kitchen paper. Generally it's not that important which specific colours you use, but more the overall effect you're after. For this tank I was aiming for a warmer appearance and thus used various warm browns, reds and some yellow but only a little bit of green.
Let the paint sit for a few minutes so the kitchen paper will soak up the superfluous linseed oil. Then apply small dots of your oil paints all over the tank. It's usually best to apply brighter colours to the upper parts of the vehicle, where light would usually shine on, while darker paints work best on the lower parts like the running gear.

A soft brush, dampened (not soaked!!!) with white spirit is then used to dilute the oils. Use soft and careful brush strokes from top to bottom to almost completely remove and blend the different colours. Make sure to wipe your brush regularly on kitchen paper in between. When your brush is dry and leaves almost no traces on the paper reload it with White Spirit. 

Sometimes you'll need to repeat this several times till you get the desired effect. Less is definitely more in this step as all you want to achieve is a subtle change in colour, no stark contrast.

On the picture below you can see the difference between our tank with the filter applied and a vehicle which has not yet recieved the oil dot filter. As you can see the difference is quite marked.

Once the oil paint has dried overnight a coat of satin varnish is applied.

Step 6: Chipping and Highlighting

Using A.MIG Dunkelgelb-905 Shine diluted to a milk like consistency we know carefully highlight all the corners, bolts and edges by drawing a fine line with a brush. I tend to interrupt the line in irregular spaces so it looks more like faint paint chipping than an unnaturally straight line, thus incorporating the highlighting into the weathering.

Once your edge highlights are done the Dunkelgelb is diluted even further and small scratches and splodges are painted randomly all over the tank using a brush with a sharp tip. You really don't want these fine marks to stand out but give more of an impression of worn off paint. 

To simulate deeper marks in the paint some of the previously applied scratches are picked out with VMC German Camo Black Brown leaving a little of the Dunkelgelb visible to give a certain 3D effect. Make sure to concentrate mostly on areas which would normally see the most wear and tear like along the edges or on horizontal areas where crew might step during maintenance. 

Don't over do this step as the whole effect would get lost.

Step 7: Pinwash

AK Enamel Wash for DAK vehicles is then painted around rivets, in recesses and along the seams of armour plates. While it's important not to flood the whole vehicle with the wash but to let the capillary effect work for you to let it seep into and around the features you want to pick out, we don't need to be overly diligent. Any mishaps can be easily cleaned up afterwards. Give the wash about 20 to 30 minutes to settle.

As the effect is yet a little too stark a brush damp with white spirit is used again to remove most of the wash, leaving only faint traces around rivets and in the recesses. This is usually enough to give an impression of depth but we can always repeat this step to increase its effect. Now the enamel is given time to settle properly over night and then a coat of satin varnish is applied to protect our paint job thus far.

Step 8: Streaking

Once the previously applied varnish has dried it's now time to come to the weathering proper. Random streaks of enamel based AK Streaking Grime and AK Rust Streaks are now painted onto the vertical surfaces of your tank by simply drawing a vertical downward line starting around some of the rivets and scratches in the paint. At this stage it doesn't really matter how long those streaks will be in the end. Just keep in mind not to overdo it as together with the previously applied Filter and Pin Wash the whole appearance might get too dark. Leave the enamel to dry for about 20 minutes.

Now we work on the streaks using a brush dampened with White Spirit. The brush is run downward over the streaks removing most of the paint in the process. This step is repeated till the streaking is only just visible. During the process you can use the brush to carefully manipulate the pigments creating thicker and longer or thinner and shorter streaks. Variety is key here so make sure that not one streaks looks like the ones just next to it.

Again the enamels based paints need some time to dry before apllying another coat of varnish. It's best to leave the tank sit for a few hours or even over night.

Step 9: Painting the details

Now is the time to paint all the details like headlights, stowage and eventual crew figures. Also during this stage the rubber on return rollers and road wheels is painted using VMC German Dark Grey while the tracks get a coating of VMC Flat Earth to represent mud and dirt.

Step 10: Rusted exhaust

Exhausts on tanks and vehicles are the perfect chance to break up the otherwise relatively drab colour scheme and add some bright focal point to the vehicle. First the exhaust is painted with VMC Mahagony Brown. The actual rust effect is then dabbled onto the exhaust with a stiff bristled brush using the goo which has accumulated in the bottle cap of AK Enamel Wash Light Rust. When applying the last coat of varnish later on, some of the effect will probably be lost. To rectify this just dabble on some more of the goo after the varnish thus also adding more depth to the rust.

Step 11: Pigments

The final weathering step is the application of pigments, especially around the lower hull, to represent dust and dirt accumulated during use. The dry pigments are liberally applied with a flat, stiff bristled brush, paying close attention to where dirt would accumulate normally. Once satisfied with the look Pigment Fixer is used to seal the pigments in place.  Be careful not to flood the area in question with the fixer but apply it in small drops and let the capillary effect do the work for you. Once the fixer has dried give your model a final coat of matte varnish. After the varnish has dried you could now give the tracks a last, very gentle drybrush with a bright metallic paint to simulate where the dirt had no chance to accumulate due to the constant contact with a hard surface.

I feel a word of caution is necessary here. I think it's important to use pigments which if not matching the basing of your infantry, that would at least not stand apart too much. It would look rather strange if your tanks running gear was caked in red dust while the bases of your foot sloggers have the distinct yellow of desert sand.

The finished piece

Early War French Colour Guide

I've been away from Blogger for more or less two and a half years now. Admittedly sometimes I've felt the urge to share some of my work again, but than reason always asserted itself again. I simply can't see me putting the effort in to really make it worthwile for anyone. I always loathed having to spend hours taking halfway passable pictures only to then spend even more time editing them afterwards so they wouldn't be too dark, too light or whatever. Something I failed in more often than not anyway. That time I feel is  better spent painting… or reading. With other, more transient, social media a quick snapshot with your phone is usually enough. And that's the appeal for me. Combined with the fact that Blogger has become more or less unusable with an iPad… but that's a rant for another time.

Anyway, the one thing I feel I still want to continue doing are my painting guides. I'm still amazed that, while I didn't share anything on here for quite a while, those painting guides still seem to attract quite a number of people. So if you happen to be about to start a French Army for the Early War period, todays guide might be something for you.

Figures by Colonel Muller over on Wargaming3D

Waffen-SS Eichentarn Winter Colour Guide

Well, OK. I've promised to write this Colour Guide for way too lang already. And in actual fact I already posted it on Twitter way back, but as that's not really the most well suited platform for such a thing, I thought I should finally get my finger out and post it over here as well. For posterity so to speak ;-)

Waffen-SS - Erbsentarn Colour Guide

Following on from last weeks Colour Guide on the summer version of the Oak Leaf camoflage pattern today it's time for the Erbsentarn or Pea Dot pattern. Both camouflage patterns were widely used at Arnhem. But beware Pea Dot pattern was never used on anything else than uniforms and field caps. There were no smocks, no helmet covers, no mittens or even Zeltbahnen in this pattern.
Thus I went for the Oak Leaf pattern for all of these items as this was the most widely distributed at the time.

My painting style is based on the so-called Triad-System or Foundry System in which you use a Shade as the darkest colour. Then you paint over it using what is called a Base Colour (in general the actual colour you want to achieve for the piece you're just painting) leaving the Shade show only in the folds and recesses, followed by a Highlight on the points which will catch the most light. However, I'm using intermediate steps to make the transitions between the different colours much smoother.
Thus typically the steps I use would look somewhat like:

Shade - 50/50 mix Shade/Base - Base - 50/50 mix Base/Highlight - Highlight

In general what I'll give you in this tutorial is the three colours as if used as simple triads. If you prefer the more elaborate approach just add in the intermediate steps mentioned above, or start from an even darker Shade or end with a lighter Highlight.

If fractions in brackets are given these are just approximations. Just try what looks best to you.


Note: I haven't documented every single step for this Colour Guide, so you might want to refer to some of the guides I wrote earlier. To do so just go to the top of the page where you'll find a link to a page containing direct links to all the Colour Guides I wrote to date.

Step 1:

The uniform is painted using a base coat of VMC 70.871 Leather Brown. As I won't add any highlights later on I made doubly sure to let the black primer show in the recesses and seams thus adding some depth

Step 2:

This was followed by random spots of VMC 70.876 Brown Sand. Again I stop at seams and crevasses to add interest and hint at the uniform being sewn together from printed cloth instead of camo being painted on afterwards like with the British Denison Smocks for example

Step 3:
Now dark spots are randomly applied next and partially on top of the light spots using AC Fieldgrey 2nd Shadow. Any other dark-greyish green can be used just as well. Don't use pure black though as the contrast would be too stark

Step 4:
Now the last layer of bigger splodges is applied using VMC 70.881 Yellow Green. As before make sure not to cover your black lining but instead let the different coloured spots slightly overlap

Step 5:
Now comes the fun part. The small dots. Using a brush with a sharp tip I painted small dots of VMC 70.871 Leather Brown over the brighter (i.e. Sand Brown and Yellow Green) spots. Don't bother with spots on the Dark Green as they'd disappear due to lack of contrast

Step 6:
This is followed by small dots of AC Fieldgrey 2nd Shadow. Don't over do it as less is sometimes more

Step 7:
Now in a final step small dots of VMC 70.876 Brown Sand and VMC 70.857 Golden Yellow are painted on top of the darker areas. It's not necessary to paint dots on the brighter areas as with the dark spots before these would disappear do to lack of contrast.

So, there you go! Quick and easy Pea Dot pattern camouflage for your SS thugs.

I hope this short guide was of use to some of you. As ever, should there be any questions or you'd want me to do a specific Colour Guide just let me know in the comments below.

Waffen-SS - Eichentarn Sommer Colour Guide

Due to a variety of reasons I'm not very active hobby (and blogging-) wise at the moment. So apologies to everybody on whom's blog I failed to comment recently. I still read all your blogs most of the time but simply can't find the time to actually comment. At least if I'm not to comment with just a hollow phrase like "nice" all the time.

Be that as it may, I've done yet another Colour Guide some of you might find useful, especially those preparing for the release of the long anticipated "Arnhem" supplement for Chain of Command.
Todays topic is the Eichentarn camouflage (oak leaf camouflage pattern) in its summer version as used by the Waffen-SS on Zeltbahnen, camouflage smocks and helmet covers.

My painting style is based on the so-called Triad-System or Foundry System in which you use a Shade as the darkest colour. Then you paint over it using what is called a Base Colour (in general the actual colour you want to achieve for the piece you're just painting) leaving the Shade show only in the folds and recesses, followed by a Highlight on the points which will catch the most light. However, I'm using intermediate steps to make the transitions between the different colours much smoother.
Thus typically the steps I use would look somewhat like:

Shade - 50/50 mix Shade/Base - Base - 50/50 mix Base/Highlight - Highlight

In general what I'll give you in this tutorial is the three colours as if used as simple triads. If you prefer the more elaborate approach just add in the intermediate steps mentioned above, or start from an even darker Shade or end with a lighter Highlight.

If fractions in brackets are given these are just approximations. Just try what looks best to you.


Note: I haven't documented every single step for this Colour Guide, so you might want to refer to some of the guides I wrote earlier. To do so just go to the top of the page where you'll find a link to a page containing direct links to all the Colour Guides I wrote to date.

Step 1: Basecoat:

This is applied using VMC 70.826 German Cam. Med. Brown

Step 2:
Random splodges and small dots of either AC Fieldgrey 2nd Shadow or VMC 70.896 Camo Extra Dark Green are applied liberally

Step 3:
Dots of different sizes of 70.850 MediumGreen are painted on top of the Dark Green splodges. Make sure not to completely cover these over

Step 4:
Highlight the Medium Green dots using VGC 72.030 Goblin Green. Yet again make sure not to cover too much of the darker colours

Step 5:
Finally use VMC 70.825 German Camo Pale Brown to highlight the brown areas of the fabric. Make sure not to cover the Medium Brown in the recesses and leaving a little space around the green splodges. This would probably work just as well when done directly after step one, but I like the look, thinking it adds a little more substance to the green areas

So, here we are. Nice and simple Oak Leaf Pattern Camouflage for your SS thugs. Admittedly I still don't feel comfortable to paint a force of these but for Arnhem there's not much choice on the matter. At least when I don't want to restrict myself on the more obscure proceedings around the edges of the cauldron, which might still offer some fun though.

I hope this short guide was of use to some of you. As ever, should there be any questions or you'd want me to do a specific Colour Guide just let me know in the comments below.

Soviet Colour Guide

Still in full swing I decided to take advantage of my enthusiasm and do another Colour Guide. After a popular vote with overwhelming majority (2 vs. 0) for a Colour Guide on Soviet Infantry that's what I set out to do. You see? Voting Does make a difference ;-)

Luckily I had still some assembled Warlord Plastic Soviets lying around. So the perfect excuse to finally get that Tank Rider Platoon finished.

-Figure painted earlier-

My painting style is based on the so-called Triad-System or Foundry System in which you use a Shade as the darkest colour. Then you paint over it using what is called a Base Colour (in general the actual colour you want to achieve for the piece you're just painting) leaving the Shade show only in the folds and recesses, followed by a Highlight on the points which will catch the most light. However, I'm using intermediate steps to make the transitions between the different colours much smoother.
Thus typically the steps I use would look somewhat like:

Shade - 50/50 mix Shade/Base - Base - 50/50 mix Base/Highlight - Highlight

In general what I'll give you in this tutorial is the three colours as if used as simple triads. If you prefer the more elaborate approach just add in the intermediate steps mentioned above, or start from an even darker Shade or end with a lighter Highlight.

If fractions in brackets are given these are just approximations. Just try what looks best to you.


Note: I haven't documented every single step for this Colour Guide, so you might want to refer to some of the guides I wrote earlier. To do so just go to the top of the page where you'll find a link to a page containing direct links to all the Colour Guides I wrote to date.
Step 1: Brown Uniform
I might do another Colour Guide on green-ish uniforms later but my existing force sports brown, so that's what I went for.

A: VMC 70.826 German Camouflage Medium Brown
B: VMC 70.921 English Uniform
C: VMC 70.819 Iraqui Sand + 70.921 English Uniform (7/3)

Step 2: Rolled Greatcoat
Yes, that's right. It's no blanket, it's a rolled greatcoat some of the figures are wearing. It was used as a blanket as well, though. Allegedly it was worn this way to give added protection in a bayonet fight. Don't know if that's true but it definitely was a custom introduced well before WW2.
When looking on the Internet for Soviet WW2 Uniforms you often happen across Reenactors wearing brown greatcoats. These were only introduced in the Cold War era but are readily available and dirt cheap, so that's what many seem to go for. Some of the Soviets I painted earlier sport brown greatcoat rolls, so you see a little research before delving into a project would sometimes help.
So, the "correct" colour for a Soviet WW2 era greatcoat would be grey. Admittedly a brownish grey, but still grey.

A: VMC 70.889 USA Olive Drab
B: VMC 70.889 USA Olive Drab + VMC 70.884 Stone Grey (4/1)
C: VMC 70.884 Stone Grey + VMC 70.889 USA Olive Drab (4/1)

Step 3: Green Helmets
Like with many other armies Soviet helmets came in a variety of different shades. Personally I think a strong green works well with the brown uniform as it adds some much needed contrast.

A: VMC 70.889 USA Olive Drab
B: VMC 70.894 Camo Olive Green
C: VMC 70.881 Yellow Green + VMC 70.894 Camo Olive Green (3/2)

Step 4: Webbing pouches, rifle slings and Putties
Putties and pouches also came in a myriad of different hues of greens and browns. I went for a very light, almost white canvas for the pouches to represent undyed linen and a marginally darker colour for the putties.

Putties:
A: VGC 70.062 Earth (VMC 70.983 Flat Earth would work just as well)
B: VGC 70.062 Earth + VMC 70.819 Iraqui Sand (1/1)
C: VMC 70.819 Iraqui Sand + VGC 72.101 Off White (1/1)

Webbing:
A: VGC 70.062 Earth + VMC 70.819 Iraqui Sand (1/1)
B: VMC 70.819 Iraqui Sand
C: VGC 72.101 Off White + VMC 70.819 Iraqui Sand (2/1)

Step 5: Brown leather equipment
Soviet leather equipment was generally not blackened. So I went with a reddish brown to represent slightly aged natural leather.
For a change I used the colurs straight out of the pot, so no mixing required at all.

A: VMC 70.895 Hull Red
B: VMC 70.982 Cavalry Brown
C: VMC 70.818 Red Leather
D: VMC 70.981 Orange Brown

Step 6: Wooden rifle stocks
When I'm after a more aged look for treated wood I use a darker triad than I did in my Guide on British Paratroopers.

A: VMC 70.985 Hull Red
B: VMC 70.984 Flat Brown
C: VMC 70.984 Flat Brown + VMC 70.876 Brown Sand

As the above pictures were all taking using the camera of my cellphone I thought it'd do the paint jobs more justice to include a picture of a squad I painted earlier. Interesting to see how much difference proper lighting and a good camera make.

That's how they should look when photographed properly (older figures)

So, just like with earlier Colour Guides:

If you found this guide useful, have a question or remark concerning this or earlier Colour Guides or you'd like me to do a particular Colour Guide in the future just let me know in the comments below.