Sunday, January 8, 2017

'Armour' from Tamsin: 15mm Grav Tanks and APCs

Prepare yourselves for a shock folks - this may well be my only SciFi entry this Challenge.

(sounds of people fainting and hitting the floor hard)

OK, recovered? Then let's begin.



For this bonus theme round I decided to get some 15mm SciFi grav vehicles painted up. These are the Suharto MBT and the Sugama APC from Brigade Models. I also decided it would be a good opportunity to try out some of the HD stencils from Anarchy Models - I used the "mini" versions of the hexocam, digicam and tiger stripe, doing one tank and one APC in each pattern.

Hint #1 to anyone else who wants to use these stencils - don't press them onto the model too firmly; if you do, when you remove them at the end you may peel off the paint layers underneath. Yes, I did have to go back in with a brush for touch-ups.

The Suharto MBTs:





Hint #2 - make sure before painting that the colours aren't too close, unlike my green and dark grey...Until you've sprayed the last colour and peeled off all the stencils, you won't be able to tell how they look.

In hindsight, I should probably have gone with a green (or dark grey)/brown/tan scheme but it's too late now to go back and redo them..

All of these vehicles come with a resin body and metal parts (turrets, grav plates, hatches). If you look closely, you'll see that in some spots, the superglue I used seems to have reacted with the primer - odd when you consider that I left them a day or two before priming.


The Sugama APCs:





Hint #4 - check, double-check and then double-check your double-check that you have removed all the stencils before you varnish the models - especially with the digicam and hexocam!

Each of the three camo colours was airbrushed, with highlights also applied by airbrush (from about 80 degrees above).

Hint #5 - let each stage dry thoroughly before applying the next lot of stencils.

Once all the camo colours had been airbrushed on I removed all the stencils (apart from the ones I missed!). The models then got two light coats of Klear airbrushed on which I allowed to dry for a few days before washes - umber wash all over, then a targeted black wash. the lights were painted silver, then glazed with pale blue or dark red before everything was sprayed with matt varnish.

For the bases, I first did small patches of 4mm static grass, then brushed on more PVA and added 2mm static grass. I used my FlockBox from WarPainter for this - here's a close-up pic:




So, to round up this post. The stencils are very useful for doing camo patterns, particularly fiddly modern ones, but they do take a fair bit of time to apply and remove. And you do have to be very careful when using them (see all my hints above).

The FlockBox is a marvellous piece of kit and I'm glad I bought it at Colours this year. It gives a much better effect than puffer bottles. OK, so it's a bit more messy - just cover the bench with old newspaper and you'll be fine.


Anyway, that's enough wittering, for points this entry consists of six 15mm vehicles at 6 points each = 36 points plus the theme bonus points.




16 comments:

  1. These are really nice, Tamsin, that camo scheme works a treat.

    Well done!

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  2. Great looking grav tanks you have here Tamsin

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  3. Very nice. Have you got a favourite pattern of the three? I think I prefer the square digicam.

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  4. Your (Grav)tank painting has risen to a new level!

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  5. Sweet models and the camo looks really cool.

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  6. Lovely work but I am not sure I believe you about not having other SciFi entries.

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  7. The Digital camo has turned out well. Top job

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  8. Great job Tamsin - I'll pick myself off the floor now! The SciFi girl not posting more Sci Fi? 2017 is starting off crazy :-)

    Those look brilliant! The stencils give a fantastic effect and I think you nailed the overlapping colours - what you've done is ultra realistic vie spreading them out more as you suggest. Grea stuff!

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  9. @ Evan - cheers! :)

    @ Dave D - thanks! :)

    @ Ross - cheers! :)

    @ Martin C - thanks! :)

    @ Jonathan - it's positively levitated! :)

    @ Rod - cheers! :)

    @ Adam - thanks! It will all depend on whether I get all my historical stuff painted and still have time left :)

    @ Michael A - cheers m'Lord! :)

    @ Clint - it certainly did :)

    @ Paul O'G - I know - shocking isn't it? ;)
    Glad you approve of the camo :)

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  10. Awesome. Hover gold. The camo pattern looks really good. Cheers

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  11. Great looking armour Tamsin. Love the jigsaw camo patterns and the anti-grave effects are wonderful.

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  12. Wow absolutely stunning those grav tanks,do try to use them and do a batrep, I want to see them in action.

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  13. Really lovely work on these Tamsin. I'm quite taken with the 'digital' effect you achieved with their cammo. Very nice indeed.

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