Allan wrote:
What primer would you recommend for the metal parts if using water based acrylic paint??
Allan
I used the last of some Games Workshop 'Skull White' spray primer - but you could just as easily use Vallejo, Humbrol or even some Matte White spray primer from B&Q.
The GW and Vallejo primers are both designed for metal and plastic miniatures - but I wouldn't put too much trust in any finish painted directly over shiny brass staying there if put under duress,
In other words, whatever finish you apply, expect to have to do a few small touch-up operations later on.
Having said that, the longer that you leave the paint on without touching it or it coming into contact abruptly with another hard surface, the better chance the primer (or paint) has to bond with the surface you have painted - the carrier (water or solvent) may evaporate quite quickly (20 mins or so), but there are still processes going on in the chemical and physical make-up of the paint for a long time after that.
Painting 'Black'Nine out of ten minature painters, if asked what colour they have the most trouble with painting convincingly, would say either Black or (funnily enough) Yellow.
Black is a problem as it is a hard colour to highlight, fine if you just want to slap a coat of black paint onto a part and consider the job done, but highlighting it can throw up a whole host of issues..
Take a look at the photo's of the real (fiberglass reproduction) carronade on board HMS Victory - the shape of the barrels, as we see them, is defined by the way that the light falls upon the rounded surfaces and the harder edges - it is more defused across the softer, rounder surfaces and quite defined on the edges
To be honest, looking at those photo's, you would be hard pressed to find much 'pure black' on the upper surfaces of the cannon barrels - it's all mostly shades of grey, with the black being confined to recesses and shadow.
This presents the painter with a bit of a problem - do they slavishly blend grey stripes on the barrels, feathering feathering them off to a smooth blend at the edges, replicating what they see in the photo? (which would in turn require the painter to continue the rest of the model with the highlights all suggesting the same light source - are your brains melting yet?).
Highlighting black is possible, the miniature below (35mm tall) has a completely matte finish - the definition of the edges and curvature of the armour plating is suggested almost entirely by varying shades of blue/grey paint
While you are looking at this pic, I'd like to draw your attention to the handpainted eagle on the tabard - it suggests gold braid, but was painted entirely without metallic paint - this is something I will cover when we get around to painting the crew figures (in particular, the officers) - Also check out the chest eagle - this is probably the finish I will choose for my crew figurines as I am not actually painting my build and think that a Hand carved Ivory effect would be more pleasing alongside the wood.
Anyway, Back to painting Black...
It's hard..
So, with the difficulty curve heading skywards, the best option is to find an alternative method that is a lot easier!
This is where scale is on our side. Even though we are building quite a large model, the actual scale of it is rather small and we can use that to our advantage by simply applying a satin/semi-gloss varnish to the black-painted barrels of our cannon and the various iron bits as this lets natural light sources do the work for us. (this rule only applies to black btw - if you want a nice, 3D effect on the carriages and other painted parts - highlighting (and leaving darker hues as shadow) is still the best way to go about it).
I did make an exception to this rule on the square carronade carriage part, highlighting it to suggest that paint had been worn off the wooden part - which brings me rather neatly to...
WeatheringWhilst weathering on a model can be a very pleasing effect, (especially on Military vehicles, aircraft and historical miniatures) I personally don't feel that it has a place on a museum quality ship model.
Before you even start thinking about the different textures of painted surfaces, you need to think about scale. At 1/84th scale, those flecks of dust that you can see on my last carronade pic could easily represent (at worse), parts of a 1/84 scale half-eaten sandwhich or, at best, discarded 1/84 scale chips..
The more I think about weathering techniques in relation to this model, the more I think it is a bad idea
However! There are some things you could do to 'weather' your build without making it look rather awful.
Thinking about weathering in terms other than mud, dirt, smoke residue, blood and dust and you will agree that other factors can play a part in the appearances of items. To explore this, let us first think about those crew figurines. Whilst the magazine portrays them in bold, flat colours - the reality would be rather different.
A combination of sun, salt water, wear and tear and dirt would take its toll on the dyes of the fabric (less so on the uniform of the officers and marines, due to their different operational duties and quality of the fabrics) - if you watch Master&Commander on DVD (or better still, blu-ray) you would be very hard pressed to find any trace of 'Persil Whiteness' or colourfast fabric - nope, most of the crews attire is clean but, due to the effects of the previously mentioned elements, has acquired what could be loosely described as a 'patina of age'. Items that were, at some stage, almost white have, over time evolved into items that are now varying shades of pale brown (with a hint of grey). The items that were once deep blue have faded/become washed out are still blue - but a subdued shade of their former rich colour - the same with red coloured clothing - now best described as a reddy brown orange - once again the uniform of the marines and officer being an exception.
The Officers would, I believe have paid not only for their commissions, but also their uniforms - probably having more than one set - the fabrics would therefore be far superior to that of the men under their command (who had no actual uniform as such)- even so, there would be very little 'pure brilliant white' about their breeches, stockings (the nearest thing to white due to the silk) and waistcoats which would be best represented by very pale biege.
I'll go into more detail when we get the figures and will suggest a range of Vallejo colours in advance of any tutorials. For now, I'll return to the subject of weathering on the ship itself.
Having mentioned the effects of various elements upon the crews clothing, it follows that the same elements affect the appearance of various fittings and structures on board the ship itself.
Let's look at the thorny issue of 'Authentic' colour.. Authentic in what way exactly? A few months of glorious sunshine and atrocious weather at sea and I can pretty much guarantee that your 'Authentic' yellow ochre would no longer accurately resemble the colour you first applied - and that's even before you start to take into account elements of scale.. (yes, scale affects the colour too.. the further you are from an object - let's say a brick - the paler that brick will appear).
As a rule, simply subduing any colours (by making them fractionally paler) will give a good representation of weathering, without the need to make things look dirty.
Dirt and grime can be represented (if you really must) by using so-called 'weathering powders' (simply finely ground artists pastel colours) and brushed on using a make-up-brush - but be warned, get it wrong and you'll just end up with a dirty looking model as opposed to a authentically weathered one.
Simply painting all your cannon and fittings in the manner discussed in the last tutorial will give you a very pleasing effect and bring the various parts of your ship to life without the need to dirty things up.
Schnellboots on back burner
Tools.
US
