Painting tutorial with a platoon of t34`s

Hey :) I want to show you how i paint my tanks, and also how you make the weathering products do most of the work for you. This wont give you any painting awards, but i think you get a decent tabletop quality like this :)
The actual time spent on painting isnt that much. Way more time is spent on waiting, as most acrylics and enamel products needs time to cure and harden, before moving on to the next step.
I chose a box of T34`s from Battlefront, SBX30. The new plastic boxes from Battlefront is really good, but i do enjoy the resin kits as well.
Please leave comments and suggestions on how i may improve the blog, and also if you have any questions :)
So lets start.

All ready for priming. Im using nails with quite large heads, and a hot glue gun.
Easy to remove the nails once you are finished, but we are not there quite yet :P

My choice of primer: Ammo of Mig`s Grey primer, and the thinner from them as well.
The mix ratio for primer/thinner for me is 1 part thinner, 2 parts primer. I am using a Badger Renegade with a 0,21 needle, and with a pressure around 18-22 Psi.
Ammo Grey Primer (A.MIG-2002) Ammo Thinner (A.MIG-2000)

Just give the models a light mist in the first run. That gives the primer some better "bite" in the plastics. As soon as the you worked through the whole lot, the first one is dry enough for proper priming.

A close up on what i consider is mist.

Second run. Now they are primed properly.

Give the tanks at least 6 hours to cure, before proceeding to the next stage. I usually wait 24 hours before proceeding, just to be really sure. Patience is a virtue :) Besides, you can start other build projects while waiting?

Apply the base colour. Im using Ammo Russian Base (A.MIG-932)
About 50/50 mix thinner. Again, this depends alot on your Airbrush, and what size of needle it has.

After dinner and coffee, i felt that they had been given enough drying time. I gave them the next coat, which is Ammo Russian Light Base (A.MIG-933)
Please note, i am not doing anything fancy here like modulation or anything.
Just a second coat with the lighter colour, avoiding the deepest nooks and crannies :)

But now its very important that you wait the 24 hours, for the acrylic to cure. Because next step is an enamel based product, namely a filter!

Apply the filter. I prefer synthetic brushes for enamel products. Filter used is Ammo Mig Brown for Dark Green (A.MIG-1506)
When applying the filter, dont overload the brush. Apply the filter evenly. Soak up excess with the brush if you get any pools. Apply between 1-3 layers, with a wait around 20 min in between.
The more layers, the darker it gets. Russian paints during the war tended to darken the older they got.

Again, i may sound naggy now, but its time for a 24 hour wait, to let the filter cure properly. Trust me, the wait is worth it :)

Apply Gloss varnish with a brush, where you want the decals. Im using Ammo Mig Gloss Varnish (A.MIG-091)

Once again, waiting time...... Then its time for decals!! :)

Cut out the decals, and put them in a bath of water for about 20-30 seconds. If you dont want to fish after decals, you can put blister foam in the bath. But i like the challenge of a good catch :P
Pick them up with a pair of tweezers, hold the decal WITH the transfer paper clos to where you want it, and gently drag it over with a clean brush.
Once you are satisfied with the positioning, take some towel paper and soak up the water.
If the decal should stick before final postion, just add some water with the brush and reposition it.

Take some Micro Sol Setting Solution, and damp the decals with a brush, and just let it do its work.

Time for a waiting session again. i waited 24 hours again, just to be sure. The positive thing with all the waiting time is that you can get alot of social time :P

Time to Airbrush again. I tried the new Hataka Thinner this time, and Ammo Mig Satin Varnish (A.MIG-090).
Important!! Your choice of Varnish in this stage greatly affects the Wash effect, and Chipping effect in the steps to follow.
The glossier varnish, the more capillary effect you get on the wash. I cant recommend the Matt Varnish in this stage, choose either Satin (for a little dirtier effect), or Gloss varnish (for less dirt)
As said, My choice was Satin Varnish.

And now its time for... yup another waiting session for 24 hours :P

I masked the turrets, in preparation for white invasion stripes. I wanted the stripes to have a worn look, so i airbrushed 2 layers of Ammo Mig Scratches Effects (A.MIG-2010). I cleaned the airbrush directly afterwards with water, just shooting it until it was empty. Scratches effects is a product that reacts with water, hence the easy cleaning :)

I took Satin white, and airbrushed it. Dont worry about getting even coverage, as you are aiming for something that should look like the crew have applied themselves :)

Remove the masking tape, and it should look something like this :)

My choice of weapons tools for the next step: tooth pick and an old trusty drybrush.
damp the brush with water, and apply it where you want to chip and scratch the invasion stripes.
Make scratch marks with the toothpick, and gently brush. The more you brush, the more you remove, easy eh? :)
IMPORTANT: You must start this step as soon as the paint you will chip has dried. If you wait to long, you will have a hard time removing it!

The result.
Once dry, shoot the scratched parts with the same Varnish that you chose before this stage.

Yes, you guessed it, waiting time again :) But not if you skipped the chipping stages :)

Time for enamel wash. I used the AK interactive Dark brown for green vehicles (Ammos was out in my store of choice).
I used a synthetic brush, loaded it up, and touched areas where i wanted the wash. The capillary effect should do the work for you. Let it sit for 20 minutes or so, and proceed to the next step

Time to clean up the wash. Preferred brush for this is a flat synthetic one, and some q-tips.
Dampen the brush and Q-tip with thinner and gently start removing excess wash. Chocie of thinner for me is Ammo Mig Odourless Thinner (A.MIG-2019), which i use for all enamel products, and also cleaning brushes with after enamel usage

Take a couple of beers, some chips, and watch all episodes of Band of Brothers (You guessed it, waiting time, again)

Time to make some chipping. I start with the profiling of the chipping, so a colour that is a very bright or light version of the base colour, in this case Ammo Mig Russian Shine (A.MIG-935)
Use a bit of a blister foam, dip it in the paint, and remove excess on piece of paper until you are satisfied with markings it makes on the paper. When done, you can enhance the effect by touching up with a brush.

Now take the next colours, and start doing the actual chipping with a brush. My colour of choice is Ammo Mig Chipping (A.MIG-044)

The result :) It is easy to overdo this step, as its quite fun :)

Give it some time to cure, before the next step :)

Time for streak effects :)
Start with Ammo Mig Dark streakin grime (A.MIG-1206), and apply it, vertical lines on the sides, and horisontal on top. Apply the grime sporadic.

Take the Ammo Mig Rainmarks effects, and apply it in the same way.

Last grime to apply. Use a bit more thought when applying it. You want to apply where you think rust can gather.
Let it sit for a while, then proceed down to the next step.

Take your flat synthetic brush, damp it with the Thinner, and start working the grimes. Start from the top and down wards for the sides, and front to back on the top. That way they get more grime downwards and back. Dont worry if you remove to much, you can apply more grimes and do it again :)

The result

The result

Now its time for another 24 hour waiting session, before we proceed.

I decided to add a little bit of more rust. So i applied a small amount of Ammo Mig Light Rust Wash on a few places. Let sit for a little while, and remove excess with a brush dampened with Thinner. If you are really careful, try and streak it for a little more rust grime effect.
Dont overdo this either, as your tank may look like its ready for the scrapyard :P

The result of the Rust wash

Paint the tracks and exhausts with Ammo Mig Rust Tracks (A.MIG-034), and spare tracks with Ammo Mig Dark Tracks (A.MIG-035). My reasoning here is that many times spare track was never used, so should look newer :)

Time to give the tankers some love :)
Uniform was painted with Vallejo Khaki Grey 880.
Helmet with Vallejo Black Grey 862.
Skin with Vallejo Flesh.
Shoulder thingies (what are they called?!) with vallejo Bloody Red.
Then the whole Tanker is given a wash of Army Painte Quickshade Strong Tone.

Time to take a nap or something for another 24 hours :)

Give the tracks, spare tracks and the exhausts a wash with Ammo Mig Tracks Wash (A.MIG-1002)

The result once the wash has dried.

Time for another 24 hour wait. Trust me, we are getting close to the end now. Bear with me :P

Hit the the model with Ammo Mig Matt Varnish (A.MIG-089)

Let the Varnish cure properly.

Time for some pigments. Ammo Mig Medium Rust (A.MIG-3005) and Black (A.MIG-3001) was my choices. The muzzle, engine deck and exhausts got some black pigments, and the spare tracks the medium rust. I applied the pigments carefully with a small brush. if you screw up, you can remove the pigments with water and brush, an redo it. Once satisfied, apply Pigment Fixer (A.MIG-3000) with capillary method, so you dont stir the pigments.

Pigments applied :)

Time to get dirty :) I started with Ammo Mig Splashes Loose Ground (A.MIG-1752)
Normally you apply this by loading it up on a brush, then shooting air on the brush, there by getting splashes. Now that works fine when you are painting larger scale tanks, but in 15mm or 1/100, not so much.
Apply it with an old brush, by stippling and dabbing until you are happy with the result :)
Then comes another waiting round of 24 hours.

Now take the Ammo Mig Splashes Damp Earth (A.MIG-1754), and apply it the same way. As you can see, i have applied it so that Loose ground splashes shows here and there.
Waaaaiiit another 24 hours.

Finally, take the Ammo Mig Wet Mud from the Heavy Mud range (A.MIG-1705), and do the same with it.
Now comes the hard part: You need to wait at least 48 Hours!! Yes at least, before the heavy mud has dried.

The mud part is what is taking the longest to cure. The darker the product, the more gloss effect it has, to replicate wetness. But also longer drying time.
So if you want to be completely sure it has dried, take a trip for 3 days or something :)
But i think its worth the wait.

Each stage dont take long to do, its the wait that gets to you!! So use that time in between stages to do other builds or something? I hope you enjoy my first proper tutorial :)

-Marcus, Aka Battlegroup_76

German PaK 43/41 and PaK 40