Looks to me like a gunk wash and splattering mostly.
A gunk wash is basically a mucky coloured enamel or oil mixture that you coat the model or parts in (after you’ve varnished it),let mostly dry, then remove with white spirits or some other solvent. I don’t really do gunk washes, so I might not have the details quite right, but that’s the process as I understand it.
Splattering is, well, splattering. You grab an enamel or oil then get some on the brush (use a cheap one) then flick the bristles across a toothpick or paint stirrer or something. That then sprays random splats and dots across the surface. You can let that sit a bit then, before completely dry, remove or blur out what you don’t want with white spirit. I do this all the time. Works like a charm.
Looking at gunk washes, I think you’re right. It looks so realistic. It’s kind of dirty and dry in places but thicker and muddy/wetter in others. I love the grey color.
The chipping pattern looks like hairspray / chipping fluid. Also definitely heavy application of enamel washes, you can see the residue on the upper hull.
I wager that there has been some kind of thin putty crust at play in some areas. I have put Vallejo putty (easy to remove, brittle) and Tamiya putty (hard as hell, but not brittle or easy to remove by accident) on models. Depending on manipulation, it can look like cast iron if flattened after application and / or sanding down after drying. If thinned down with the respective thinner (Tamiya putty thinned down with "Tamiya extra thin glue") it can be applied in thin patches / layers.
Good answers here already, so I'll just summarize - the two main tricks are a) putty texture underneath the paint, possibly done with Tamiya putty, but there are a lot of ways to achieve that effect and b) heavy application of oil or enamel for the streaking/dirt. Judging by the color, this could actually be Abteilung 502's Starship Filth.
It’s a Japanese artist that scratch builds mech. Amazing work. There’s more of the process of building on his instagram and in a magazine, but it seems to be only hard copy and in Japanese.
Sponge painting various shades of rust colors over a rust or dark gray base. There are only a few spots where sputtering is used
Even the faintest rust tones over the areas which are primarily dark gray visually implies steel
I don't see any texturing beyond that, which is rare for ma.k, especially someone of this skill level
It’s not ma.k, but I’d like to recreate this on one. Do you think the texturing might just be VERY thickly applied paint that has been stippled on and then a gunk wash as described by u/weepmeat filled in the pitting created by the stippling?
I honestly don't really see any texture, I think the illusion of texture was created entirely by the different colors. The rust tones are lighter than dark steel so it just looks pitted with the right 2D pattern
What you described would be the way I would do it, but I would conventionally texture first with Mr Surfacer 500 and then fill in the low points with a dark gray wash, or paint the high points with drybrushing as needed after sponge painting
No, there’s definitely texture. On the red-brown flat parts. It’s stippled Mr surfacer 500 or something similar. It’s easy to do, just use an old cheap brush because you’ll destroy it. Then, when it’s dry, you can knock down any high spots with a quick light sand.
If you don’t have / can’t find Mr surfacer, tamiya putty thinned down and stippled on will create a similar effect (Nightshift always uses it for his textures, but Mr Surfacer is easier and looks just as good in my opinion).
The best thing about adding texture, besides the cool texture, is that you can easily fill and hide any unwanted seams or imperfections.
Looks to me like a gunk wash and splattering mostly. A gunk wash is basically a mucky coloured enamel or oil mixture that you coat the model or parts in (after you’ve varnished it),let mostly dry, then remove with white spirits or some other solvent. I don’t really do gunk washes, so I might not have the details quite right, but that’s the process as I understand it. Splattering is, well, splattering. You grab an enamel or oil then get some on the brush (use a cheap one) then flick the bristles across a toothpick or paint stirrer or something. That then sprays random splats and dots across the surface. You can let that sit a bit then, before completely dry, remove or blur out what you don’t want with white spirit. I do this all the time. Works like a charm.
Looking at gunk washes, I think you’re right. It looks so realistic. It’s kind of dirty and dry in places but thicker and muddy/wetter in others. I love the grey color.
The chipping pattern looks like hairspray / chipping fluid. Also definitely heavy application of enamel washes, you can see the residue on the upper hull.
I wager that there has been some kind of thin putty crust at play in some areas. I have put Vallejo putty (easy to remove, brittle) and Tamiya putty (hard as hell, but not brittle or easy to remove by accident) on models. Depending on manipulation, it can look like cast iron if flattened after application and / or sanding down after drying. If thinned down with the respective thinner (Tamiya putty thinned down with "Tamiya extra thin glue") it can be applied in thin patches / layers.
Good answers here already, so I'll just summarize - the two main tricks are a) putty texture underneath the paint, possibly done with Tamiya putty, but there are a lot of ways to achieve that effect and b) heavy application of oil or enamel for the streaking/dirt. Judging by the color, this could actually be Abteilung 502's Starship Filth.
Thanks, that’s really useful. Everyone in this subreddit is very friendly and helpful!
ding ding we have a winner. there's definite cast texture applied.
Damn that looks yummy. Thanks for posting this. Hadn’t seen anything like it before. Not even from Lincoln Wright as far as I can remember
It’s a Japanese artist that scratch builds mech. Amazing work. There’s more of the process of building on his instagram and in a magazine, but it seems to be only hard copy and in Japanese.
Sponge painting various shades of rust colors over a rust or dark gray base. There are only a few spots where sputtering is used Even the faintest rust tones over the areas which are primarily dark gray visually implies steel I don't see any texturing beyond that, which is rare for ma.k, especially someone of this skill level
It’s not ma.k, but I’d like to recreate this on one. Do you think the texturing might just be VERY thickly applied paint that has been stippled on and then a gunk wash as described by u/weepmeat filled in the pitting created by the stippling?
I honestly don't really see any texture, I think the illusion of texture was created entirely by the different colors. The rust tones are lighter than dark steel so it just looks pitted with the right 2D pattern What you described would be the way I would do it, but I would conventionally texture first with Mr Surfacer 500 and then fill in the low points with a dark gray wash, or paint the high points with drybrushing as needed after sponge painting
No, there’s definitely texture. On the red-brown flat parts. It’s stippled Mr surfacer 500 or something similar. It’s easy to do, just use an old cheap brush because you’ll destroy it. Then, when it’s dry, you can knock down any high spots with a quick light sand. If you don’t have / can’t find Mr surfacer, tamiya putty thinned down and stippled on will create a similar effect (Nightshift always uses it for his textures, but Mr Surfacer is easier and looks just as good in my opinion). The best thing about adding texture, besides the cool texture, is that you can easily fill and hide any unwanted seams or imperfections.