Need help with the weathered look

[Mike X]

So with my 2000pts army done, I've finally moved on to terrain.

But there's a problem: I just can't get the right weathered look.

The crashed Aquila Lander looks more like it was abandoned, fell apart, and then sunk into some quicksand. I just can't seem to make it look crashed.

The Manufactorum looks... wrong. I started it with black primer, then painted it mostly boltgun metal, and then painted the beams tin bitz. It looks... bad, to say the least. I wanted a "dirty, aged and weathered" look, but instead I think the colors clash too much and it looks... too new.

Any advice?

[gorepants]

Without reference photos (what you've done and what you have in mind it's a little tricky, but here's what come off the top of my head.


The crashed Aquila Lander looks more like it was abandoned, fell apart, and then sunk into some quicksand. I just can't seem to make it look crashed.

If it's recently crashed, then minimal weather only - usage marks (scuffs, oil, soot) but clean paint and little dirt. Add scorching around the broken areas where there would be flame. There will be more dirt, less grass and the dirt will be dark and moist. As time goes by the dirt will dry and lighten and grass will grow. The paint will fade and become covered in dust (not dirt, so this will be light coloured for most earth comparable environs). As plants grow over it and die and decompose, dirt will build up again. A quick way to do dust is to wash a dun coloured enamel over the body work. Start by dabbing the paint on, then flood it with white spirits to make a filter. It will accumulate in the cracks like real dust. Another is to lightly airbrush the dust on (some thing like bleached bone).

Looking at the GW pics of the model, it does look like it has just been dropped, since there are no furrows indicating an angled descent. This makes a recent crash harder to model since the normal reference points are missing from the surrounds. Unless you want to make them yourself :) It also looks like they just went to town with an airbrush to weather the lander itself.


The Manufactorum looks... wrong. I started it with black primer, then painted it mostly boltgun metal, and then painted the beams tin bitz. It looks... bad, to say the least. I wanted a "dirty, aged and weathered" look, but instead I think the colors clash too much and it looks... too new.?

Maybe some filters to bring the colours together? Oil paints might be good here, over gloss varnish. Heavily diluted with white spirits and put around features and in recesses. Once the white spirits have part dried you can use another brush to gently drag the colour down the model to make dirt and rust streaks. Then a coat of satin to seal it all in at the end and not lose the shine of the metal.

[Mike X]

Without reference photos (what you've done and what you have in mind it's a little tricky, but here's what come off the top of my head.

I haven't taken any pics of my Manufactorum yet, since it's still a WIP, but here's my crashed Aquila Lander:

http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/110/l_b1860f4b9fdaf986ec97dbbfe5202029.jpg

[mightytechmarine]

ok, for the buildings.
prime it black, paint it a dark grey (like chardonite granite), give it a good lighter grey drybrushthen go at it w/ a stippling brush taping it all over w/ boltgun to make it look like pitted metal, then after its dried a few days give the thing an oilpaint and paint thinner wash of a rust orange and burnt umber color. hightlight where you need to after that. the oil wash is the key to success, look up examples online.

[Lord Azaghul]

You need to drybrush in layers. After you've painted your base coat, start laying it in, in increasingly lighter shades. IE a medium gray, then a lighter gray over the crashered lighter, then a white, just barely. After your done that trying adding some brown/black scorch marks is a couple of locations.
I'd also build up the shades of dirt on that thing too!

Same thing is true of buildings, start dark and work your way up.

[entendre_entendre]

i think the problem seems to be the flat colours (or at least it seems that way from the pics) for weathering, if you want rusty metal, paint the area (usually corners) brown, then orange after the brown's dry. then take metal-coloured paint and put that finely on the edges (if you hand shakes a bit, don't worry, it'll give it a more chipped look).
after you could:
A. leave it as it is and give the whole thing a wash with brown or black to get some shading
B. strip the thing (or spray it black) and drybrush it in layers to give it a dusty look (bleached bone makes a cool dirty dut look, but at the very least needs a brown DB as well).
C. do both. start with drybrush, then shade with a wash

[Mike X]

Thanks guys, this is really good advice!