The Ironclad Diaries

[SimonC]

So, with the fact that we all housebound and I've just completed a major project I thought I'd cleanse the pallet with a small project that has been waiting too long. Just as a bit of fun I'd thought I'd document the steps I'm taking. So normally I set a max of 2 weeks for any project, but I'm going to take a more leisurely approach to this. I'm not aiming for prize winning models , but a good playable set.

With that in mind here is my first entry, starting with an ironclad and a fort.

Step 1 - Washing. I always wash the PP resin. I find them very greasy - whether its the mould release I don't know. But I do have problems with adhesion if I don't.  I suspect that Cat Kilgore will be laughing as this I I'm always saying I never clean figures.

Detergent in warm water and a nail brush



Step 2 - Drilling. Once dry (don't skimp this step) - finish the drying off on the radiator. Tip is that heating the resin very sightly allows you to carve any flash off easily without it being brittle

I also drilled out the funnels to gets a 'squarer' hold if that make sense. They were a bit wobbly for my liking



Note. I also clipped off the larger bases for the guns on the fort.  I did put the fore aft flags on the Palmetto State, just for a bit of local colour.

Step 3 - Priming. Using Vallejo acrylic polyurethane a light coat followed by a second after it partially dries.



I even cleaned my airbrush out for this! I'm going to leave it overnight now. Despite being acrylic the instructions do say 24 hours for it to fully cure.

So that dear reader it it for today. Come back tomorrow for pre-shading

thanks
Simon

[Colonel Kilgore]

Simon,

This is a very welcome blog / tutorial. I am of course delighted that your ships are taking their personal hygiene more seriously in the current situation.

I'm also really looking forward to seeing how you approach this particular project. My own ships are undercoated white and awaiting further attention to be lavished on them, so I'm hoping for some ideas and guidance here!

Simon

[SimonC]

Next day and the primer has dried. You can see that its struggled in a few places. The resin is very resistant even with a good clean, a lesser paint would have struggled here.



Also there is a finger print - either on the sculpt or when taken from the mould before fully cured 



We can fix both of these though! 

I've decided that for a such a small scale I wanted to play on the aerial perspective to make add the impression that the fort was 'far away'. Normally I like things to pop, and increasing the colour saturation is a way to do this. In this case I'm not ... its a bit of an experiment

To start with we need to hide the harsh black - no good on small scales. A nice slate grey/blue fits the bill



You could go a bit further an shoot a bit of violet into the recessess, a bit too much for 3mm though.

Next step pre shading. Just using a hobo mask and lighting up the grey to white to define the edges.



I did do a light drybrush white after this (not in the picture just over the stairs, tiles - anything with a texture

Next step will be just to apply the base colours.

[Radar]

Thanks for this thread Simon, nice to see work in progress. A good way of picking up tips.

I know diddly about airbrushing, what's a hobo mask?

[SimonC]

hobo mask

normally you mask off a lot of areas with tape and the like. A hobo mask is just piece of card or plastic you hold against the model while spraying to avoid overspray ....  Its quick and dirty    I subscribe to it a lot!

[SimonC]

Onto the base colours now. The earth is AK green khaki. The walls Vallejo Mecha Grey (just what I had laying about)



Just for you Radar I have included my Hobo Mask 



Those are the base colours down, and yes it has that airbrush lifelessness about it !  Don't sweat it , lets dirty it up!



Getting out the Contrast paints. Griffon Charger Grey is fast becoming my favourite, a lovely Paynes grey that isn't too "stainy". Dotting around the deep shadows and around the men inside. Also using Skeleton Horde in a similar way. If you just work the edges and not worry too much about the blend, gives a bit of colour modulation that we'll tie together later



Next working on the walls to make them less 'airbrush' flat. A bit of overscale water staining. I've photographed it wet so you can see it. When dry it goes down. Its a balance of making it distant , and yet giving enough for the eye to wander over. I'm not sweating it too much as its a lightweight project



Finally the last of the paint has gone on , just some odds and ends dotting around the cannons and crew. I did paint the interior wall with Griffon Charger Grey just to give slightly more contrast to the edges.

This is sitting wet now with a zap of AK ultra matt...... next, and finally,  the powders

[SimonC]

now dry - getting out the cheating powder...



Trick here is not to go over the top. Work the green into the areas where foliage is the most dense. Dusk into corners etc. They re all pale so you can modulate with the colours just to give a bit of surface variation.



you know what I think I'm going to call it now. Part the exercise is knowing when to stop. For a 'playing piece' I think this is fine. I'm not going to fix the powder, so as I like the organic way they run off when handling, which gives a more natural look



I think it captures the essence of what I was aiming for - that distance fort on the horizon

... next up the ships

[Colonel Kilgore]

Thanks for that, Simon. I'm not sure I could emulate it, but found it fascinating, and may even try when I get around to mine!

Looking forward to the next instalments.

Simon

[Sean Clark]

Simon

I do love hearing your thought processes and execution of the technique. Your artist background pays off!

[Antioch (Bob)]

Enjoying this thread as well. 

[Smiley Miley 66]

The only problem is the guns are in a fixed position ? In the game that can be a problem ?
When you place the fort on an island....
Miles

[SimonC]

Next up are some trial ships. Starting with an Ironclad - CSS Palmetto State . As before zap with Tamiya grey /blue



Then the preshade



So now there is a problem. The surface detail on these ships is slight, and I'm afraid that an even coat would make them look like a grey blob. I actually like the preshaded effect

My original plan was to contrast paint here. But the resin is quite 'grainy', so the paint would pick that up.So it looks like I'll be looking a more airbrushed approach to avoid this

Looking around on the internet the larger scale models all have a similar problem. For them is somewhat mitigated by the weathering. If I look at this example -



Obviously over exaggerated - but effective. The PP ship would be hard to make look this defined.

I'll have to think about this

[SimonC]

I'd tried to avoid this step as it always adds a lot of elapse time to a project 
The merest light coat of transulent grey, followed by a gloss varnish.



Then pin wash the panels



The pin wash is basically oil paint suspended in turpentine. So you need to wash for the turpentine to evaporate leaving the oil in situ. Oils take a long time to try, so the next step is wait then removed the excess wash.  Its looks awful is this point - stay with me tho.

[SimonC]

so posting here warts n' all. Proved a challenge really. After cleaning up the pin wash with turps, waiting to dry, and then as bit of spot weathering. I ended up still being uphappy with the plating effect , so I revisted with some edging.

After flattening with AK Ultra Matt I'm going to call him done. Not really what I hoped for. Took quite a long time, for an effect that I'm not 100% happy with.

I'll think about it for the next one.

[Colonel Kilgore]

Simon,

Thanks for posting and sharing your thought process. It looks pretty good to me - you've really brought out the detail on this one.

Could I ask where you got the flag designs from - I guess you were mad / skilled enough to handpaint these?

Thanks,

Simon