My Beaut Aussie Cent

[Derek Attree]

Hi Stephen
Wow that's really first class detail weathering looks like the real thing.

Maybe see you at Alexander Palace model engineering show next weekend 19th to 21st
I will be there with my Welwyn garden city SME as normal.

Regards

Derek

[Stephen White]

Look forward to catching up at Ally Pally Derek, I’ll be there with a group of familiar faces. All the best. Stephen

[Dave Dibb (Armorpax)]

Excellent paintwork Stephen, I may be taking lessons from this

Dave

[Paul Wills]

Hi Stephen,

Quality work and eye for detail, and I am watching and learning

Paul.

[Stephen White]

Thanks for all the comments. I forgot to add that you can make the weathering process much shorter and uninterrupted by drying each stage with a hot air gun. If you soak out the linseed oil in the oils, they will dry very quickly with hot air.



The internet and bookshops are awash with model weathering material. Of all the stuff out there, I've found one source to be the most inspiring, which is Michael Rinaldi's series, Tank Art.

https://www.rinaldistudiopress.com/

The books are rich in helpful photos and step by step guides. I like his approach, which is to simplify the process down to two media, oils and pigments and to a small number of consistently repeatable processes. I've summarised them in the Knowledge Base. He also believes in completing sections rather than applying each technique in turn to the whole model, which leads to repetitive weathering. He's also very good about working in fine detail, in order for the effects to remain in scale. His English is a bit obscure and repetitive but once you get the drift, the text is easy to follow. Of the four volumes, Tank Art 4 is probably the best for showing the techniques. There are also a couple of videos on YouTube, starting here:



To finish off the first couple of roadwheels, there is one more technique to show, which Rinaldi calls "speckling" ie adding a fine coat of droplets representing mud and oil splashes. A wedge brush is loaded with a thinned mix of oils and the bristles are flicked against an edge to produce a spray of droplets onto the surface. You really have to be restrained and not overdo it to make it work effectively:











By completing each component in turn, I hope to avoid repetition, which I find a challenge in the haste to get it all done. Patience is at a premium with weathering. It's all about the right playlist........

Wheel three and the rendering with oils to highlight the surfaces:



You can always go back and highlight an area with another colour, alternating light and dark and varying hues. This is where oils come into their own as they're infinitely mixable:





Before and after rendering with oils:





I have used a wash but I don't go overboard with them as they can so easily get out of hand. If the oil paint rendering is effective, the washes can be very selective and really only used for minor details such as bolts and welds. This is one difference between one sixth and the smaller model scales.

Regards

Stephen

[simon_manning]

it's great to see the extra effort put in, this process transforms a model, my guess from the wheel treatment so far is it will be stunning when finished and it will become easier as you go, next stop your be volunteering as a "still life model" at night school, regards simon.

[Stephen White]

Good to see your Strurmtiger post Simon. I've edited my last two posts to remove the term post-shading, which I used incorrectly. Michael Rinaldi was kind enough to comment. He uses the term "oil paint rendering" or "OPR", which is good choice as the term rendering in art and computing can mean "the processing of an outline image using colour and shading to make it appear solid and three-dimensional.", which is pretty much spot on. Stephen

[Stephen White]

I find It's too easy to slip into a rhythm when you've got a lot of repetitive items to weather, ending up with the weathering looking too regular. It helps to complete a section at a time rather than applying each technique or colour across the model, as Michael Rinaldi suggests. That way, you get to see what the finish will look like, you get variety and it’s less likely the weathering will look too regular.

Making a start with the sprockets and final drives, first the rendering:



And then a start to applying the environmental and operational effects:







Also made a start on the two spare roadwheels. Spares such as these came from UK through the Australian supply chain and were often left in Dark Bronze Green rather than have the Australian Olive Green Lustreless applied:



I decided to put the running gear back together to get a feel for the overall effect, as a check on colours and methods before I go too far.







The rendering has started to give a lot more depth to the detail and the colour is transforming a very green factory production tank into one that has seen some service. There's a long way to go but it helps to take stock and make adjustments, although the beauty of using oils for rendering is that you get a long period in which you can remove everything and start again. You can't necessarily do that with the traditional enamels and acrylics. Oils are perhaps more forgiving and easier to get started with and they’re cheaper than bespoke weathering products. Hues are easy to adjust too, producing more complex and subtle variations. I usually mix three or four variations of each hue in small quantities, use them up and start again, with the certainty the next mixes will not be the same.

Stephen

[Phil Woollard]

Excellent work, as you said be careful not to get it all to similar, you might like to think about one of those road wheels as having been replaced with a newer cleaner or possibly a totally different colour maybe a spotless deep green, as you said that's how the spare would have looked.
Now you have started the process and mastered the technique, you have rather a lot of surface area to apply similar weathering to, like the suspension units and the belly of the beast.
It's going to be very convincing Stephen...love it!

Reards Phil.

[Dave Dibb (Armorpax)]

Superb Stephen!

Best regards

Dave

[simon_manning]

the vehicle comes alive, the paint breaths a history in to it, looking good, regards simon.

[Stephen White]

Take a deep breath, start on the hull. I had the tracks off for winter maintenance anyway, including taking some end-float out of one of the final drives. Same techniques as with the roadwheels, in summary:

- First the rendering (Oxford dictionary: the processing of an outline image using colour and shading to make it appear solid and three-dimensional). Mix up two lots of neat oils in shades darker than the base and two lighter. Apply them with a fine brush and blend them with a moist flat blade brush to produce highlights, emphasise edges, deepen shadows and bring out high points. At this stage, the weathering will look artificially stark. Pigments in hues related to the basecoat can be used to build up the rendering - apply dry and dampen with pigment fixer, avoiding runs on vertical surfaces.







Before and after:







- Then apply the operational effects, using pigments. Mix up three or four colours, related to the operational area and the season eg dry dust or wet mud or both. In the case of this Cent, it's the red laterite soils of Phuoc Tuy Province, with a combination of mud and dust. Apply the pigments to a dry surface and dampen with pigment fixer. Alternatively, dampen the surface with an acrylic thinner such as Tamiya X20A then apply the pigments, brushing lightly to achieve a patina. Fix with Pigment Fixer. Many plastic modellers don't bother with fixing, as the models are static and without fixer, the pigments can be adjusted. For our running models, fixer is essential unless the pigments wash off in the first rain. Obvious really.





I also use these acrylic mud products from Mig, which I used on my Pz III but I don't think they're available now. Mig has some new ones and I've ordered a couple to try.









Finally, go back and re-do anything which needs attention. At this stage, a thin wash can be applied to further emphasise detail. Rather than soak the area and then spending hours trying to remove the excess wash, use a very fine brush and only apply it sparingly where it's needed. Again, the wash is oil based rather than using one of the expensive enamel weathering products.

Rather than applying one colour or technique across the model, which can be really boring on a model of this size, I prefer to tackle one small section at a time. It's less likely to result in repetitive patterns and is much more relaxing.

Stephen

[Robert E Morey]

Stephen
Amazing effects. It looks like it is been in the tropics for a while. Its going to need to go in for some maintenance soon! LOL!
Bob

[Stephen White]

I took a break from the interminable weathering of the suspensions and lower hull, to do some of the external stowage. Often operating in jungle with difficult logistics, the Australian Centurions in Vietnam needed to be self-sufficient and their stowage reflected the need to carry, fuel, wire, water sufficient for a pack change in the field, food, ammunition and living kit. The turret baskets had to be reinforced after they started to fail with the weight carried. This is 064 in July 1969:



And other examples:







The cans are Dave Dibb's excellent products. All the kit was primed, airbrushed with base colour and matt varnish and then weathered with oils and pigments. There's still some work to complete.

Before and afters:







Helps to have the real thing:





Rations:







Wire:



Up to ten water jerry cans were carried on the back decks or in the basket. This allowed a pack change to be carried out in the field:



Then to see how it all fits, taking the 064 stowage as the model:











Regards

Stephen

[Robert E Morey]

Simply stunning. The detail and precision really take it to the next level - or the next level above that even! Its hard to tell model from real thing. Awesome!
Bob