Recently I have been emmensely busy with work, the chaos caused by having the builders in (and subsequent decorating by yours truly with a much bigger brush!) and family life in general. I've also been putting the finishing touches to an article or two - the first, my rules for ancient naval warfare " Fleet of Battle" will be out in Wargames Illustrated next month (complete with playing counters). Consequently, this blog has been neglected of late - it will be for another month or so. But I have had time, just, to take a few shots of the basing I'm using for my desert stuff.
Bases are 2mm MDF (bought in 4 x 3 foot sheets - 5 for £20 - from a picture framing materials supplier), with painted 'sand and glue' texturing, woodland scenics coarse turf, and grass tufts by Mininatur. Minis are FoW.
First up, a British 'battle group' HQ stand - my C-in-C.
My first Germans - 2x 8.8cm flak guns and prime movers.
10 comments:
These are fantastic, particularly the flags on the autos and half tracks. How do you do your black lining? Brush, technical pen or a wash?
Hi AJ,
Base coat, ink wash (burnt umber), drybrush base coat overall, ink over some lines (the 'deep' ones), first bulk highlight (carefully painted), second bulk highlight (carefully painted), then do tyres, etc., to finish.
The lines are the burnt umber ink bits, so they are infact darkish brown in real life, but look darker in photos.
All paints are humbrol enamels, the ink is artist's acrylic.
The bases are painted with artist's acrylic ink, drybrushed with artist's acrylic paint (yellow umber and burnt umber) and household emulsion paint (which is also has an acrylic base so mixes well and, lets face it, is as cheap as chips).
PS
First ink wash 2:3 dilution with water. Relined neat(ish). For bases 1:3 dilution with water.
Artist's acrylic comes with an eye dropper top so dilution can be regulated accurately. It also tends to be better and more constistant than some 'wargamers' ink (IMHO).
Awesome painting. I did some western desert Germans and Aussies a while back but they certainly dont compare to yours. Great work.
Thank you very much for the detailed description of your techniques. I may try some test figures to replicate the effect using your technique.
Very nice! I particularly like the way you highlight black. Would you be able to briefly describe the paints and technique you use? Thanks, Aaron
Hi Prufrock,
I'll do a step by step 'how I do' with pics the next time I paint some tanks.
James
Thanks James; apologies if I wasn't very clear - I only meant to ask how you highlight your black, not how you do the whole shebang! You always paint black well and I'd love to hear how you do it.
Cheers, Aaron
Hi Aaron,
I start with 'deep' black. first highlight is black mixed with mid bright blue, 2nd highlight is black mixed with mid bright blue and white. The blue 'softens' the tone - it is not as 'harsh' as a straight grey mix.
In Humbrols it would be: 33, 34, 109.
BTW folks, 109 is a very useful blue. If you mix white 34 with 'true' blue 25 you get a very funny looking blue, mixing 109 with 25 gives a much more useful shade.
That's very much appreciated, thanks. I'd never thought of using blue as the highlight. That's a great tip. Thanks very much for sharing!
Cheers,
Aaron
Post a Comment