Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Big Book of Modeling
The Big Book of Modeling
Rivets
A water filter contains a lot of very small balls smaller than 1mm in diameter. These can be used to
make rivets. Just drill a small indent where you want the rivet and glue the ball. Measure the
space between rivets with a ruler to ensure they’re equidistant.
Brass strips
Brass strips can be cut from the waste runners of photo etched parts.
AIRBRUSHING
Marble
Prime black-spray scale75 inktense wood-dried old baby
wipe and stretch it to separate the fibers-wrap around the object and spray white in 2-3 layers
(use hairdryer to speed up the process)-remove the wipe.
Marble Base
Smooth base with files-paint black-dab silver with a scrunched up plastic bag-
dab leadbelcher with same method- Apply Tamiya clear coat in the desired
colour.
Marble
Required items
DRY baby/wet wipes
Chosen paint colours
Airbrush
Base the whole area in your darkest colour German grey for me and
make sure it’s fully dry.
Once it is pull and stretch the wipe in different directions.
Lay the wipe over the area trying to keep the “veins” running in the
same direction and then spray your 2nd darkest colour. Here I used neutral grey.
Repeat this step for each colour slightly moving the wet wipe each time to give some variation to
the colour veins.
I wasn’t too worried about the paint drying after each layer or washing out my airbrush each time.
Sometimes the wipe would stick and pull a bit of the paint off but it’s ok as it just reveals slightly
more of the colour underneath.
Decals
Basecoat area with Gloss Varnish-Cut out decal and soak in water-put Micro Set/Vallejo Decal Fix
then apply decal-remove excess with cotton swab-apply Micro Sol/Vallejo Decal Medium and
leave it for 2 min- remove excess with cotton swab-reapply Micro Sol/Vallejo Decal Medium if
needed-when dry use Satin Varnish to dull down area.
Metallics
Scale75 metallics are really good, especially Bronze/Gold.
Brushes
Before painting wash the brush in some hair conditioner. This makes the paint flow better and
helps keeping the tip.
Weathering
Rub a pencil along the border to make a weathered effect. Different hardness pencils give
different results.
Graphite can also be applied to tracks and barrels with the finger, to give the impression of
polished areas.
Hairspray+sand Weathering
Mask off the area, then apply hairspray. While still wet add
some sand, then let dry. Then apply the colour you want to
weather. When dried scrub gently with a cloth, the sand
will fall off and weather the colour.
Hairspray Weathering
Varnish the area, then apply multiple coats of hairspray. Apply the
colour you want to weather. The less uniform the better the
effect. After a few minutes (paint dry to the touch) scrub with a
moistened paintbrush. Use warm water for better results. Then
seal with varnish and weather.
Pin Washes
The first thing to do is put a gloss varnish over the model- ensure it is smooth and consistent
otherwise the spirits will ruin the acrylic paint. Apply the wash in the recesses, letting the wash
flow for capillary action. Clean up with white spirit afterwards, then let dry and seal with satin
varnish.
A similar effect can be achieved with gloss varnish and GW gloss washes.
Blending styles
Wet Blend: Paints unthinned or with a small amount of drying retarder. Place a
band of one colour one side of where the blend is to be, then next to it place
another band of the colour to be blended to, and whilst both are still wet on the
model, take a slightly damp brush and using small side to side motions to blend
between the two colours.
Two Brush Blend: The paint is thinned with just a bit of water (or medium) to the
consistency of what you'd normally use to paint a layer of a colour. The second
brush is then damp, not saturated, and the small amount of water is used to drag
paint out from the bounds a bit onto the other colour, smoothing the blend.
Glazing: Thin your paints with water or medium or flow improver or a mix of those. Next, apply a
thin glaze at the part you want a different colour, let it dry, apply another glaze further towards
the different colour part, let it dry, repeat until the colour build up sufficiently. The good thing
with this technique is less thinned paints will build up the colour quicker for a fast paint, whilst
very thinned glazes can give seamless blends. About the quantity of colour on the brush: you need
to have wiped off most of the paint. It should be so thin, the paint dries almost instantly and has
no time to run around or pool. Any more than that is too much. If applied correctly, you won't see
a difference for at least three or four layers, if not more. You also need to ensure each previous
layer has fully dried before applying the next one, and that the colours are not too dissimilar from
each other. So don't glaze white over green or something. I have the best results when I glaze with
a mix of the two colours I'm trying to blend.
White armour
Basecoat VGC Ghost Grey (Ulthuan), shade with Codex Grey (Dawnstone), highlight with VMC
White (White Scar)
White armour 2
Basecoat VGC Ghost Grey (Ulthuan), shade with Agrax, highlight with VMC White (White Scar)
White armour 3
Basecoat Ulthuan Grey, gloss varnish, wash with a few drops
of Russ Grey in a pot of Lahmian Medium.
IMPERIAL FISTS
Prime Obscurium Mechanical Grey or Vallejo Grey primer.
If primed with Obscurium do a base with VGA Dead White.
Basecoat Averland Sunset (go for 2-3 layers)
Spray VGA Dead White from above and at a 45° angle to catch top areas. 2 light coats.
Spray VMA Burnt Umber or VMA Hull Red (for a redder shade) in recessed areas.
Basecoat in 2 layers of VGA Gold Yellow.
Matte varnish to preserve airbrushed layers, then gloss varnish in preparation to wash.
Pin wash with AK Paneliner Brown and Desert Camouflage (for a more weathered look, oil paints
tend to tint the surface) or Reikland Fleshshade Gloss (for a warmer and cleaner look).
Edge highlight with Ushabti Bone.