World War II Project - Painting a German Infantry Platoon - Pt 1

These German troops are from Brigade Games Disposable Heroes Miniatures Kickstarter and have been sitting around for quite a while now. I needed to refresh my airbrush skills a bit and so I decided that these would be the victims. I wanted to try out a couple of different techniques on these, trying to reinforce some of the stuff I have learned over the years. My intent here is to achieve a good table top paint job and get some troops on the table. I have been diving into Chain of Command from Too Fat Lardies and I would really like to play one of the Pint Sized Campaigns that they have published.

Bare Metal, let the games begin!

First step was to apply the black primer. I used Badger's Black Stynylrez for this initial primer coat and applied this over the entire miniature.

Group 1 in black. I do like the Badger primers a lot. Its pretty much my go to primer even if I'm painting it on with a brush.

Here are both groups with their first layer of primer

I followed this up with a coat of Badger's White Stynylrez primer shooting it from as close to vertical as I could get with a gravity feed airbrush (I used a Badger Renegade for this work). The white primer would lighten the follow on colors on the highest points of the miniature.

With the white from as near vertical as I can get it.

My original intent was to keep moving forward one color after another and knock the whole group out as quickly as possible. This is when I discovered the advantages of a good compressor over a cheap compressor. I had an Iwata compressor that hang on through heavy usage for about 5 years and it never failed me during a painting session no matter how long it was (thank you automatic cutoff switch). The small compressor from Harbor Freight was already beginning to overheat after applying the two primer colors. At this point I had to give it a rest before moving on to the uniform colors.

For this particular painting session I decided to try the German Field Grey Uniform paint set (AK 3140) from AK Interactive. One note of caution about this set, pay absolutely no attention to the color swatches on the box, they are not even remotely close to the paint colors in the set. I started off with the Field Grey Shadow color (AK 3144) and basically shot this from underneath the miniature. This involved handling each miniature individually which is not my preferred method but it was the only way to apply the shadows. This basically soften the look of the already applied black primer.

Field Grey Shadow (AK 3144)

There are two base colors for the next step so I divided the miniatures in two groups with about 40 figures in the first group and 20 in the second. I wanted some color variation amongst the troops so I planned on using both base colors. I started with the larger group and applied Field Grey Base (AK 3141) shooting it at just about perpendicular to the miniatures, probably slightly higher to preserve and blend the shadows. The smaller group received Field Grey Base 2 (AK 3142). Of the two Field Grey Base is much greener and Field Grey Base 2 is much grayer. The next time I use these colors I'll probably go with a 50/50 mix of the two.

Field Grey Base (AK 3141)

Field Grey Base 2 (AK 3142)

The original plan was to go immediately to the highlight color; Field Grey Lights (AK 3143). After mulling it over, as the compressor cooled down, I decided to do an intermediate step and apply a 50/50 mix of the highlight with the base color for each group. I'm not sure that I actually achieved the desire effect but I spent the time to do it. There are pictures of this step for both groups but its hard to see the difference so I'll just leave those pics out.

After applying the intermediate highlight I went to full strength Field Grey Lights shooting from as near vertical as possible.

Field Grey Lights (and not I'm not miss spelling it) (AK 3143)

I think my lights are washing out a lot of the color variation that you can see in person.

Now I was done with the airbrush portion of the evening and pulled out a nice wide brush for the next step. Since some of the color transitions were a little harsh I already decided to use a glaze to pull things together a bit. I turned to another AK Interactive product for this; Uniform Definition Filter Green Glaze (AK 3017). I was a bit concerned with this step as I was not looking for a traditional wash as I have done in the past. No disappointment, the green glaze went on darker than anticipated but dried nice and light and helped blend the various colors together. I'm quite pleased with this product.

Uniform Definition Filter Green Glaze (AK3017)

While it took nearly the whole evening to get the work done the actually painting time probably equated to about 2 hours during which I applied 2 primer coats, 4 paint colors and 1 glaze. Actually elapsed time was close to 5 hours because of the need to cool down the compressor between coats of paint. I will be on the hunt for a new compressor in the coming weeks.

Here is a quick side by side comparison of the two groups, prior to the glaze being applied. On the left are troops painted with Field Grey Base 2 and in the center and right Field Grey Base. Those on the right are definitely greener than those on the left. Its pretty close to what I was hoping would happen and should look pretty nice on the table. I saw a picture once of some German uniform coats that were all ostensibly field grey, they varied from almost brown to olive green, so variation in color is a good thing!

Now you are thinking that I have allowed myself to get distracted from the Sledgehammer diorama but this exercise allowed me to refresh my airbrush skills and test out a paint scheme for the troops on that diorama. I probably won't start the detail painting on these troops until after the Sledgehammer is done, that would be distracting.

Reaper Miniatures - Shipping Container - First Layers

I had a few minutes and managed to get a couple of coats on the shipping container. I started with the worn chipping effect from AK Interactive. This will allow me to gently work away the next layer and expose the rusted layer that I started with.

I decided on a red shipping container so I pulled out a nice red from the Scale 75 Fantasy Line - SFG-04 Baal Crimson. I thinned this down with some of my Vallejo Airbrush Thinner. This came out of the airbrush nice and smooth. Again I wasn't to concerned with getting an even coat of paint on the container. There is a lot of weathering to come and the uneven color will actually be a benefit to this.

This is the AMMO color that I used as my rust base; A.MIG-912  Red Brown Shadow

Once the rust layer was dry I applied this Worn Effects from AK Interactive. This is a clear coat that basically provides an unstable surface for the next coat of paint so it can be rubbed away and exposes the layer beneath.

And the SFG-04 Baal Crimson from Scale 75. Very close to some of the container colors from pictures I found on the net.

New Book! - "F.A.Q. 2"

Mig Jimenez's newest book found its way to my door yesterday! Fortunately it is the English version so I can read it. I haven't actually read it yet, but I have flipped through it and looked at all the pretty pictures, stunning! There are a lot of new techniques and variations on old techniques and I'm pretty excited by trying to make some of this stuff work on my 15mm tanks. Not everything translates well from the bigger scales down but I should be able to make enough of it work to improve the looks of all my armor. I think I'm going to strip down a unit of my DAK force just to try them out (not the Pz IIIs, I'm thinking a platoon of my Aufklarungs that are mounted in 7 SdKfz 250/1). I would really like to get my hands on F.A.Q.1 but those just go for outrageous sums on eBay right now. Oh, and the cool bit. I guess because I pre-ordered mine (and long enough ago that I couldn't figure out why I had received a package from AK Interactive) my copy is signed. This is going to go along just great with my copy of "Imperial Armour Model Masterclass Vol 1" (will there ever be a Vol 2?).
I found a really good review of the book over at Armorama: FAQ 2 Review

Tutorial Basic - Battlefront MIG Pigments

Using Battlefront’s MIG Pigments
To be honest I was surprised that Battlefront introduced MIG Pigments into their paint line. These are primarily used by modelers on just about every type of kit but primarily on display and competition pieces. In most cases these pieces never get the kind of handling that our gaming miniatures are going to get. However, they definitely have some uses on our miniatures and I’ll give you some basics (very basic) on how to use them. Please keep in mind that I am still practicing and learning these techniques as well so if you have better information or another twist to using the pigments feel free to leave a comment or two!

There are several brands of pigments on the market; MIG Productions, AK Interactive and Vallejo being the biggest. There are a number of smaller companies out there making pigments as well. First thing these are not the same as pigments you can make by grinding up pastel chalk and they do behave differently (although some of these techniques may work with chalk if you want to give it try). Most of the model railroad pigments will work using these techniques as well although they don’t tend to be as finely ground as MIG and AK pigments. MIG Pigments and AK Interactive Pigments are almost identical having been developed by the same guy (Mig Jimenez, who started MIG Productions and has since left and is working for AK Interactive now). AK pigments may be ground a little finer than the MIG ones but I haven’t really noticed a difference. I haven’t tried the Vallejo pigments so I can’t help you there. Every place I have tried to order Vallejo from has been out.

Generally pigments are used for weathering affects and are applied after everything else is done. They don’t have to be used just for weathering or applied last but that’s the main way they are used. There are two main techniques; applying dry and applying wet (a wash). Dry pigments are best affixed to a matt surface which gives the pigments a little tooth to hold on to. The dry application works the same as you would use for applying pastel chalks. Spoon a bit of the pigment onto a piece of plastic (a plastic palette is great for this), a little bit will go a long way! Don’t be afraid to use multiple colors to get some different tones on your vehicles either. Using an old brush scrub the pigments onto the surface of your model, concentrate on those areas that would collect mud with darker colors and lighter colors for dust on the upper surfaces. The concrete color in the Battlefront set makes a pretty good dust color. Once on a model pigments can be easily rubbed off with your finger (as a modeling technique) or if you hate what’s going on just wash it off. Like anything else I do I like this technique because I can build up layers till I’m happy. To build up layers though you need to fix the pigment into place, you do this using white or mineral spirits (turpentine is to strong although turpenoid is okay). Load the brush with white/mineral spirits and touch it to the model letting capillary action spread it to all the surfaces. You just want to touch the surface if you try and “paint” it on you will actually create a wash and lose the effect you have created. Once the white/mineral spirit has dried the pigment becomes much harder to remove (although you can still rub it off if you need to) and you can apply another layer or let it be and call it done. You use thinner to help fix the pigment in place (and don’t panic when you apply the thinner and it looks like the pigments have disappeared, they will come back as it drys) instead of a dullcote spray. Spraying dullcote tends to displace the pigments from where you put them tends to make them disappear never to be seen again (something to do with light reflection and the nature of the lacquer in the various types of dullcote I am told). For light gaming these vehicles would be fine but the pigment will still wear off with continued use (and we do like to play with our toys). If you want them to be permanent then you need to use something called “Fixer”. Both MIG and AK make this fixer and I wish I could tell you that there is a substitute but I can’t figure out what this stuff really is. Be sure that everything is the way you want it and then apply the Fixer the same way you apply the white/mineral spirits. If you are going over something you have already fixed in place with the spirits then you don’t have to be quite as careful. Once you have applied this stuff its not coming off unless you strip the entire model.

The other technique is to apply the pigments wet as a wash. A wash can be made using water, white/mineral spirits or alcohol (ISP 90% is best, vodka is not a good choice for this). Washes are better used on glossy surface so that they flow better. You can mix up a wash in a palette or you can create it right on the model. Like you did with the dry technique apply pigments to the model but just drop them into place rather than scrubbing them on. Use darker tones in areas of shadow and lighter tones higher up. Once your pigments are in place load up a clean brush with the thinner of your choice and apply it to the model liberally (paint it on) making sure all the pigments are wet and push and blend the colors on the model into the places you want them. Again wet pigments tend to disappear but will show back up as they dry. You don’t need the “Fixer” for this technique and you can seal it with dullcote (at which point you could then apply the dry technique). The neat thing about the wash technique is that you can “clean up” the model if it gets some place it shouldn’t. Just load up a clean brush with whatever you used as a wash (water, white/mineral spirit, or alcohol) and gently rub it across the surface you need to “clean” you are diluting and wicking up the excess wash from the higher surfaces.

There are other things you can do with pigments, like making cool mud and winter effects. There are a number of youtube videos out there (more than half aren’t worth the time) as well as DVDs by both MIG and AK. I would recommend MIG’s “F.A.Q. 1 Pigment” DVD and AK Interactive’s “Weathering an SdKfz 222 in one hour”. Both MIG and AK have US locations so shipping is not nearly as expensive as it would be from Spain if you want to experiment with other products. Mig  Jimenez has an excellent blog where he discusses and shows you a lot of techniques. His is in my list of blogs.