Jump to content

New to weathering


Recommended Posts

Hi everyone,

 

So, with the Betrayal at Calth box out I decided to take my first steps into the Age of Darkness and paint up some Sons of Horus.  I've got a couple models mostly finished (basing aside), but I wanted to try my hand at weathering, since I really think it fits the Sons of Horus' aesthetic and character of relentlessness.  Unfortunately, I've never done it before, so I'm looking for tips and tricks from those who've done it before, as well as any tips on what colors and techniques might work best.

 

Just to throw this out there, I'm not looking for weathering powder magic or anything like that.  I'd like to get away with just using GW paints, sponges (I've got pluck foam lying around), etc.  I'd like to get some scraped metal (especially on gold trim and weapons) and maybe some dust on their legs.

 

SoHTest1

 

SoHTest2

 

As you can see (or in some cases can't, neither I nor my camera are good at taking photos), I've tried some scraped metal, but I'm not very pleased with the effect.  Would stepping it up to a brighter color help?  And for the dust, I'm planning on using a reddish rusty color, what might be a good shade/application technique for some dusty coloring on their lower legs?  I can try to take some better pictures later, if need be.

 

Thanks in advance!

Link to comment
https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/318611-new-to-weathering/
Share on other sites

You could use a brighter metal if you wanted, but that's not the problem here. The reason it looks unsatisfying is because all you did was paint some metal on it. That's like painting your miniature green, and then leaving it at that. Won't look nearly as good, right?

 

The best way to make chipped paint and exposed metal really pop is to add more steps to it. Start with brown for a primer or rust color, then sponge or paint the metal on top of that, leaving a bit of the brown on the edges. Or take a brush and carefully edge highlight your scratches with either grey (for scratched black paint) or black (for scratched light colors) to create shadows, giving your scratched paint the illusion of thickness and height, so that the metal looks like it's a few centimeters below the rest of the model which still has unscratched paint on it.

 

For example, this guy decided to show grey paint scratched away to reveal a dark composite material underneath (or just shadows from the craters of bullet holes). So he used light grey on the edges of the damage to make it look three dimensional.

 

6d0fd797ba2429fa04b550b5d6d4f7a9.jpg

If you want to age your Gold use some orange washes its a bit more subtle than brown or sepia washes.

 

Here is a good vid for sponge chipping:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wpq-Byucm6E

 

 

For dust effects here is a good tutorial for using pigments:

http://www.wampforum.com/VB4/content.php?r=921-Weathering-Powders

 

The problem is, what look do you want to achive in the end? To know that would help more to suggest a way to go.

I've found that sponging (as detailed in the video linked above) works well on both vehicles and individual marines, assuming you want a relatively heavy amount of battle damage. One thing to keep in mind is that light metal/dirt colours will work well on darker minis, whereas a darker metal/dirt will work well on lighter colour schemes.

Thanks for the tips, everyone!  I've given the scraped metal another go, pictured here:

 

SoHTest3

 

I went the route of highlighting the outer edges, but given that it was two gray colors, they didn't differentiate very well, so I instead painted gray scrapes, painted some black under it, and painted the metal over that, leaving just a little black.  It sounds pretty involved, but it goes pretty quickly since it's supposed to be a bit sloppy.

 

I'm still stewing and letting my opinion settle.  What do you think?

Brazentooth, are you working only on the chainsword or is there another place the I should be looking?

 

One thing I noticed that I feel might make it stand out a little more is that there is nothing really differentiating the teeth from the scraped up chainsword housing. Maybe try a black shade along the bottom edges of the chainsword teeth to really make a good separation there.

 

You may also want to try and fake some deeper gouging along the centers of those more extended parts by painting some Nuln Oil in thin stripes down the center, then highlight up with a brighter silver on the back edges of the gouges where it would catch the light.

There are a few things and tools that may help you with weathering - each is effective and has its appeal, and each is fun to try and experiment with^^

 

- Sponging - you can use the spong-things that came with GW blisters for this f.e.

- Chipping Medium - especially useful if you have an airbrush, it will give a really realistic chipping effect

- Scratching tools

- Drills - nothing is better than a REAL bullet hole

- Oil colours - can help you to achieve great rust

- Technical paints - both Vallejo (imo they are better than GW) and GW have technical paints in their range, from rust to blood and verdigris 

- Weathering powders - just tried them and i love it, you can also manipulate them to achieve a lot of cool things

 

(i can go into details and give you examples if you are interested in some of these^^)

@Atia I would love to hear/see how you work with weathering powders.

smile.png

As I said, I just started to work with them, used them to tint the ends of the robe of my Davinite Priest f.e. smile.png

Hidden Content
gallery_79873_10492_62890.jpg

Like with oil paints, there is a lot of stuff you can do with them actually, for the priest i used it straight out (first dark earth, than medium earth and lust but not least light earth) and fixed it with purity seal.

Edit: oh and i also used black weathering powder for the gun, and vallejo effect paints (verdigris and bloods) for the model ^.^

For tanks I want to try the FW mud effects method:

Hidden Content
gallery_79873_10492_73765.png

I have been painting for about 3 years now, ive always avoided weathering or just kind of half assed it. I finally downloaded Mig Jimenez weathering magazine and use his powders. His magazine is a god send. It's only like 5 bucks and available for digital download. If you have some spare time i would highly recommend them.

Plain graphite from pencil lead is your friend for weathering colors that are darker. It makes an amazing analogue to scraped metal. I know it isn't just GW paints, but it happens to be something everyone has around. Just get a sharp number 2 and run the side of the lead against the edges you want to weather. If you want to weather flat surfaces, put a primer color where you will apply the graphite. For example, if you are going to add weathering to flat surfaces, add a slightly brighter colored area, (such as a one part white, nine parts your normal color mix,) then fill it in with graphite leaving the edges the brighter color. Dull out the pencil first so you don't get lots of sharp lines.

 

Then if you want it to be an old bit of damage, use a sponge or stipple in a little orange rust or pale turquoise verdegris over the graphite, depending on if it should be steel or brassy beneath.  Terracotta or Rhinox Hide first then ryza rust to flavor. Lots for flash rust, on recent damage, very little for old rust on older battle scars. The pale turquoise can be light or heavy and should be kind of thinly applied and let to dry, since it has more of a "bloom" appearance, than rust does.

 

After you are all done, you can use an airbrush to put a very light dust coat on everything, but it should be very very very light. That will tie all of your weathering together and tie your model to it's base. If you don't want to use an airbrush either, a very careful and light drybrush with very dry paint , while avoiding the edges as much as possible can have a similar effect. The paint just has to be super dry.

 

If I have time, I'll drop some photos for you later today or tonight.

I have been painting for about 3 years now, ive always avoided weathering or just kind of half assed it. I finally downloaded Mig Jimenez weathering magazine and use his powders. His magazine is a god send. It's only like 5 bucks and available for digital download. If you have some spare time i would highly recommend them.

betrayer41, could you post a link to the specific magazine that helped you so much? I am seeing quite a few Mig Jimenez magazines on weathering alone. Forgive me, but this is the first time I've heard of Mig. 

 

I have been painting for about 3 years now, ive always avoided weathering or just kind of half assed it. I finally downloaded Mig Jimenez weathering magazine and use his powders. His magazine is a god send. It's only like 5 bucks and available for digital download. If you have some spare time i would highly recommend them.

betrayer41, could you post a link to the specific magazine that helped you so much? I am seeing quite a few Mig Jimenez magazines on weathering alone. Forgive me, but this is the first time I've heard of Mig. 

 

No problem!!

 

This is the only one i have read so far, and i haven't finished it.

 

I figure i would take it one step at a time and chipping and what not seemed the best place to start.

 

http://www.migjimenez.com/en/english-version/108-the-weatherin-magazine-issue-3-chippings-english.html

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.