When I started painting minis and when model paints finally became available, the most commonly used option was enamel. It wasn’t the most friendly material: it was smelly, it dried slowly, it could re-activate the layers under and correcting mistakes with it was also difficult. Some of the more experienced miniature painters had used oil paints, but that seemed to be even more challenging, so I have never considered oil paints as an option. Acrylic paints made everything a lot easier, and when they appeared, I was convinced that enamels were gone for good.
Apparently, I was wrong: I have seen more and more articles recently, where enamels and oil paints were used, tutorials where pigments were applied, and I also found a growing range of these products, but they still seemed to be over my league. When I bought the “Painting Wargame Tanks” book of Ammo by Mig Jimenez, I was shocked to see that they recommend these techniques for wargaming tanks. Since the book explained everything in detail, and it made this method look so easy, I soon ended up with a set of pigments and enamels. When I gathered my courage and applied it on my Valentine Mk IX, I was pleased with the result and decided that I would write more about this topic.
After the comparison of the Army Painter and the Artis Opus drybrush sets, I painted six resin containers. They were the ideal subjects for this exercise. I customised them a bit with leftover decals, sealed them with a thin layer of Lahmian Medium and proceeded with the techniques described in the book:
- Enamel wash: Previously, I used acrylic washes, but they dry quickly and stain the surface of the panels, so this process takes a lot of work and tidying up. Enamel washes on the other hand, are far more controllable, they spread much better in the recesses, they dry slower and even after drying, the surface can be corrected with enamel thinner without any problem. It has massively enhanced all the recessed lines, making the contrasts more dynamic.
- Chipping: the combination of a lighter tone and the chipping paint (which is acrylic) is easy and fun, I enjoyed applying it and I found the result very convincing.
- Streaking grime and rust: I tried only the grime but the rust works the same way. The containers are in 15mm scale and don’t offer huge surfaces where this technique could show itself, and I didn’t use the paint too boldly either, so it isn’t really visible in the pictures. However, I like how it blended the decals with the painted area, now they look more natural and worn.
- Pigment powders and nature effects: I tried several pigments and the Kursk Soil nature effect. This step was a bit messy and probably the most challenging one for me; it takes some practice to find the right balance of how much pigment to add and how much to remove at the end. Once the pigments are activated by the thinner, or by the pigment fixer, they become darker, but when they dry, their original colour will return. It works well; in the end, the containers looked properly dirty and dusty.
Once all these were done, I applied a layer of matte varnish and much to my surprise the pigment became dark again! About a half day later, they turned lighter, but never as light as they originally had been and most of the dusty look was gone too. I’m so glad that I didn’t do this with the Valentine tank! Next time, I will either use the pigment fixer as the last step, or I will have to be ready to accept the changes the varnish causes. At least, now I have six strongly weathered containers that I can use as scatter terrain in wargames.
As a finishing touch, I added a bit of a metallic shine to the chipped edges with a graphite pencil.
I’m glad that I bought the book and tried these techniques, they are a real game-changer! This type of weathering feels like adding an extra step to the painting process, but it is absolutely worth it because the results are amazing. The enamel wash and the chipping worked very well, but I will need more practice with the grime and the pigments. I’m pretty sure that I will use these tricks more often.
Maybe I should try those oil paints as well one day…