Trying some new techniques on the new Battlescape, Everything finished... mostly... September 25th Rating Options

[Agatheron]

As most of you probably know, the Battlescape scenery piece landed in stores yesterday. I grabbed one because I thought it would be a great way to experiment with painting a rusted/knocked out vehicle since there's one built right into the piece. I figured this piece is quite Orky, because it doesn't look like Imperials have fared too well in this particular part of the battlefield.

Anyway, I wanted to try out the so-called "Hairspray" technique for painting/chipping models to see how it worked... It's a study of a technique just ahead of doing my Stompa to see if it might be worthwhile to actually do it. Here are the results of the first try.

The first step is the undercoat. Basically the idea is to put colours on the model that you want showing through the upper layers. This can either be a single colour... or in my case 2-3 colours. I initially airbrushed several areas of the busted Rhino with Astronomican Grey... this would give the impression of paint scraping down to a ligher/older layer, or a grey primer. The other colour was Dark Flesh, airbrushed in areas that would receive more wear, and look somewhat rusted. I then lightened the dark flesh with some Macharius Solar Orange.

I also came back and retouched areas that would be more scorched with Chaos Black. In retrospect, I don't think I needed to do that step at all.

So here's how the undercoat looks:


The second step I can't really show in pictures. Simply put, get some Purity Seal... spray the model down with a good, solid coat... 2 thinner coats if necessary. I was happy with the single coat.

The third step is also not really show-able in a picture... but get some hairspray. You know... that stuff... doesn't really matter the brand. After the Purity Seal coat has fully dried, spray the model down with hairspray. Let it dry. Apparently you can use a hair dryer to dry the hairspray if need be. Makes sense, but I didn't myself. Once the first coat of hairspray is dry, apply a second coat... and let dry.

Step four is to take the base colours of what you want the model to be... in my case, I wanted Ultramarines Blue for the outside parts of the model, and a bleached-bone colour for the interior. Interestingly, I used p3's Menoth White Base as the interior colour, but found that compared to the citadel paints, it doesn't airbrush as well. I will know for next time...

Anyway, here's how it looked after the airbrushed base coats. Keep in mind this is over purity seal and over 2 layers of hairspray:


The next stage is where the magic happens. As Phil Stutcinskas points out in the Imperial Armour Model Masterclass, hairspray is a fixative that dissolves in warm water. I had both a standard brush and the new Stippling brush on hand... after letting the paint dry after airbrushing for around 10-20 minutes, I applied a liberal amount of water over the areas that I wanted to show wear and tear. I then used the brushes to gently scrub away at the paint in various places. In doing this, the paint, of course, reveals the colour of the base coat underneath it, showing what is hopefully a realistic wear pattern of old paint:



I found that more water and a softer brush worked better than hard scrubbing with the stippling brush... but each created their own effects. Apparently toothpicks work well for doing small chips and dings, but since I had no toothpicks at the time, I didn't try this. As I was working on this, I also used a paper towel to soak up excess water so that the paint removed and in the water didn't dry back onto the model.

Here's a few close-up shots of how this looks:












The paint in this process is VERY delicate, even after drying. It's not for excessive handling... yet. So the next thing for me to do is to seal it up with a layer of gloss varnish, and then a coat of matte, so I can continue on with the weathering and detail on this. I do plan on using some decals to see how they work as well... and then the rest of the scenery piece should paint up pretty quickly.

I do plan on doing some more obvious scorch marks, and general weathering... the end product will look even rustier and burnt-out than this... but I wanted to at least have some semblance of an original colour, rather than the totally brown-and-black one in the cover pictures.

Thoughts? I plan on using this technique with my Stompa... or at least parts of it.

[gubnutz]

First off very nice effect IMO. Seems that the Macsterclass book holds tones of useful stuff. I red the review that was provided for the book, you did it IIRC, and it was solid. Now i see cool stuff like this hitting the board and I am envious of your skill and resource material.

I think that this will look good on the Stompa, though a more proppa color might be in order

Gub

[Fishspit]

Dude....thats brilliant!!

Beautiful weathering on that rhino...I'm definitly looting this technique!

[DocNuK]

i bought the book myself a few days ago.
but seeing the technics applied by someone to orky stuff helps a lot.

thank you.

[Not Santa Klaus]

Wow, those effects look very good and you managed them very well.

Eventhough delivate in the process, the result is quite convincing.
Reading through your notes, you seem to have sprayed the whole model with hairspray, right?
Maybe it would be better - and help the protecting remaining paint job - if you could concetrate the hairspray on the areas you plan to work on?
Not sure how easy it is to manipulate the nozzle of the hairspray *sheepish grin*

Again, good job, and thanks for showing, gives plenty of ideas for experimenting - oh and yes! the masterclass book is a must-buy.

BTW, what do you think of the battlescape set itself?
Cheers

[Gorok Gorz]

Great stuff. As a novice painter this really helps

[Agatheron]

The Battlescape is a neat piece... I think in my case the busted-up Rhino is the real attraction. It's a very solid well-cast piece of scenery that has an underside grid similar to the Realm of Battle Gameboards. While bearing the usual imperial markings and such, it's clear that this piece of terrain is not intended to be exclusively imperial... because with several spiece of panzee dungons, beakie helmets strewn about and the destroyed rhino, it's clear that it's not necessarily under their control.

The hairspray technique is tricky... as I've been reading even experienced military modellers have trouble with it because they skip a step, don't let something dry properly, or don't use the proper materials while attempting this. Phil Stutcinskas posted his official formula on the Mig Productions website... it mirrors what is in the Forgeworld book almost exactly, but he then explains why it works that way.

The base coat can be almost anything, but the important part is that without a laquer varnish over the base coat, the whole effect will be impossible, because the hairspray will bind to either the matte paints below it, or the wrong type of varnish. I had originally planned on using Future or a satin varnish that I could fire through the airbrush... but Phl is specific about using Purity Seal as the best varnish on the market for this kind of work. Apparently Purity Seal is a Laquer-based varnish. Once dry, the hairspray can't bond to the varnish below it, which makes its removal possible.

As for the hairspray, it matters not the brand. I can't really manipulate the nozzle on what I have... and trust me, don't be shy with how much of this stuff you spray on. The more hairspray, the better results. I sprayed one full coat, let it dry completely, and then sprayed a second coat to get the above results. I had tried once before with the ram on the battlewagon, but I was a bit too light on the hairspray... I can see how it works now.

Reading through your notes, you seem to have sprayed the whole model with hairspray, right?
Maybe it would be better - and help the protecting remaining paint job - if you could concetrate the hairspray on the areas you plan to work on?

I sprayed only the Rhino, and not the rest of the scenery piece... and since I planned on working on the whole Rhino, it worked well that way When I work on the Stompa, I only plan on using this technique in a few selected areas where the paint would see the heaviest wear. Chipping in other areas will be handled by the tried-and-true "sponge" method. I plan on masking off the areas that I wouldn't want the hairspray to go... that's the only way I could limit the spray from the hairspray can.

The other important part about this technique is now that I'm happy with how the paint has stood up to its wear and tear, my next task is to take some Future/Johnson's Klear and fire it through the airbrush over the model. As a non-laquer gloss varnish, this stuff is apparently the best. I've not used it as a varnish before I got my airbrush, but since, unless I need a laquer-based varnish... this is the way to go. The Future acrylic will then bond to the remaining paint and even the hairspray and seal it to the model, securing the paint chips against additional wear-and-tear.

Once I seal it up with the gloss, I'm going to add a few decals. This was painted in Ultramarines Blue, but because it is an older knocked-out model, the UM blue could even work with Crimson Fist Decals, and not just the standard Ultrasmurfs. Any votes? Should I do Crimson Fists, or Ultras? After the decals are secured (and re-chipped), I'll then be sealing the whole model again with a matte varnish to take away the inevitable shine, and make it ready for accepting weathering pigments...

[jono]

well I vote for fists (it will look good either way but I bet most people have done ultra Beakies)

also this is looking really good and I may try it myself if it will work on a trukk. will it???

[hakbash]

Looks excellent Aga. I'd go for the Crimson Fists only because they dont like proppa Orks.

The hairspray technique gets some cool results...but way to much work and way to many steps for me. When it comes to painting a scenery piece or model I'm to lazy for that approach.

I really like how it looks. Cany wait to see the finished piece.

Jobs a gud un.


WAAAGH! da krumped Rhinos

[Agatheron]

It's actually less work than it looks... I spent more time waiting for stuff to dry and cleaning my airbrush than I did applying paint!

After priming, the undercoat took 10-15 minutes...
Then the spray with Purity Seal... wait for an hour or two...
First layer of hairspray... let dry for a few hours... (or use a hairdryer)...
Second layer of hairspray... let dry overnight (or use a hairdryer)...
Airbrush topcoats of bone and blue... including airbrush cleaning took about 15 minutes...
Once I cleaned the airbrushes enough time had elapsed to proceed to the removal process... which probably took another 15-20 minutes...

So actual painting time to get this effect was 45-50 minutes...

I think that's what's cool about a trick like this...

[bruno]

Great work. I like the way it turned out and can't wait to see it finished. You mentioned Purity Seal. What company makes this product? Also, did the book you mentioned provide the detail information or did you have to visit the website for additional information?

[Dribble Joy]

Purity Seal is GW's satin varnish spray.

A similar trick to this is to apply the hair spray, then before it dries, sprinkle fine salt/sugar on the areas you want weathered. Then after it has completely dried, spray on your next layer of paint. Then you either brush off the grains or dissolve them in water. This can give more texture to the chips as the top layer of paint is much more sharply broken.

[Grimbadd Zaggasn...]

here's a rubbish example of the dribble joy method!

that was done using the games workshop spraygun.
Step 1: to spray two watered down browns onto the pipes
Step 2: spray with purity seal
Step 3: spray with hairspray and apply large clumps of salt.
Step 4:spray boltgun metal over the top, once the the boltgun is dry
Step 5: wash off the salt with water
First brown of Step 1

Step 3

[Agatheron]

I've not tried the salt/sand technique yet, but I do plan on using it for faded-out checks on the Stompa once I do it. The big difference between the "salt" technique with hairspray and the "hairspray" technique is that I believe the "salt" technique in the with hairspray trick in the Forgeworld Book does not lay down a coat of purity seal before the mask and the salt/sand is applied prior to the applicaiton of paint. I'll have to double-check though!

Tonight I'm hoping to spray the gloss varnish over and apply some decals. I didn't get to any painting at all last night.

[GrogDaTyrant]

Very interesting. Thanks Ag, I think I'll be trying the hairspray technique on my next big vehicle project(s).

[Agatheron]

Right... update on the busted Rhino. Following the hairspray paint removal parts, the next step was to seal up the model with a gloss varnish, add the decals, seal them, and then to add the first round of rust.

I decided to go to with Crimson Fists, given their run-ins with Orks... and makes this piece a more credible piece of "Ork" scenery. Once I added the decals, after hitting them with Micro-Sol, I was able to chip away at them carefully to match with the wear pattern below it. Once that was about what I wanted, I painted a layer of gloss varnish directly over the decals to further seal them and hold them in place.

The next step was to do a "pin wash" of black and a smaller amount of burnt umber oil paint thinned substantially with white spirit. I touched the wash around the various details, and through capillary action it flowed nicely around the details. I then let this dry for a bit... until the white spirit had evaporated. This can take a little while, or you can speed it up with a hair drier. The important part is to let it dry enough so that it's not glossy. Once it dries to this point, I took a flat brush and carefully pulled the edges of the pin washes down, to make it look like dirt had collected and flowed down around the rivets. It's fairly subtle, but it works. I let this step dry for a day...

The rust was achieved with the method I've used before... by mixing a standard rust pigments with burnt umber oil paint and white spirit. I then flicked it across the model in a random pattern, and then immediately airbrushed white spirit over the spots to soften them. In some cases, it actually flowed and pooled into areas that looked surprisingly natural. I then let the white spirit dry in the same way as the black/burnt umber pin-wash. It allowed for some of the rust spots streaking downwards.

Once this step was done, I let it dry for a another day, and then sealed it with matte varnish fired through the airbrush.

So... now onto the pictures:










The next steps is to do some additional rust, and eventually carbon scoring from the fires from when this Rhino was clobbered by what looks like several heavy artillery hits. I still have a bit more rust to do, because I want to experiment with this stuff:



I will also be doing a few different tones of rust with straight pigments as well... and eventually onto dirt and such.

In all honesty, this was not a lot of work at all. Again, mostly waiting for stuff to dry... the actual application of paint for this step was about 10-15 minutes at most. I spent more time on the decals!

C&C is always welcome...

[Zazzdakka]

That is some outstanding work sir! I really need to get one of those sprayers, but I degress. Are you going to highlight any particular areas on the rhino anymore? I know you are still going to do some charred and blackened areas, but are you planning on some straight highlites to offset the dark ones?

Thanks!

[DaBlackGobbo]

Im sure youve mentioned it before, but what are you using to thin GW paints to run through your airbrush? Ive tried water, but that just makes a mess.

[Agatheron]

The thinner that was indirectly recommended in the Forgeworld book is Tamiya's X-20A acrylic thinner. It's not a formal airbrush thinner, but for acrylic paints it really works a treat. It's denatured alcohol... although it doesn't seem to evaporate at the same speed as standard Isospropyl Alcohol.

Here's a picture of the big bottle that I have:


I even use this stuff when using GW's spraygun now. Much better consistency, and dries very quickly after application. Just make sure you have an eyedropper/pipette for transferring the fluid. Don't try pouring it. The surface tension is much too low.

Are you going to highlight any particular areas on the rhino anymore? I know you are still going to do some charred and blackened areas, but are you planning on some straight highlites to offset the dark ones?

Thjs style doesn't really lend itself well to doing the traditional "extreme" highlights that we have come to expect from GW models. Normally before doing a model like this I would use the airbrush to do some highlighting... particularly a style called "colour modulation" from some in the Military Modelling set... but because I was using the hairspray technique, it required me to quickly apply and then remove paint, and not leave any time to really do some highlighting.

Even so, the additional highlighting that will happen will be a variation in the rust tones that will come as I do more work on the model and the rest of the piece. I'll be posting more pics, of course, as I work through that.

I'm also thinking adding some Orky graffiti to the Rhino. Any suggestions?

[jono]

possible clan tags like: bloo is best, goff's R the 'Ardest ect

maybe imperial put downs like: '0omies suc ect

ork just some klan logos