Dougie's Wargaming Blog

Painting a Mastiff

Guys, thought I'd put this tutorial on as I've had a few requests asking about my vehicle painting. First off I'd say get a copy of "FAQ AFV painting tecniques" by Mig Jimenez, or the newer "FAQ2 also by Mig. Now these books are expensive but they are worth the investment and your vehicle painting will improve! If the price puts you off get a copy of AFV Modeller Issue 59, this has a great article by Mig on how he painted a Panther II and covers most of the necessary tecniques. On to the Mastiff, a Britannia model, no appologies for being long winded its the way I paint :blink:

Dougie
The beast as supplied

Assembled, all I've added are antenna bases and 2 wire cutters, made from brass angle iron.

Primed with Halfords grey spray primer

Base colour on Hannants Xtracrylix XA1813 British Gulf Armour Lt. Stone BS361

Highlights sprayed on, the above colour lightened, I know its difficult to see on the photo but it was done, honest

Filter applied, Sin Industries Brown Filter

Pin Wash using Mig Dark Wash

Very light drybrushing followed by chipping with Vallejo 822 SS Cam Black Brown

Details painted, wheels, windows, straight bars

Windows masked

Based, figures added, aerials attached, and given pigment treatment, dust applied, Tamiya Buff, finished at last :grin:

Terrain Tutorial

This tutorial is the system I use for all my Terrain boards and features. The idea behind the common system is so that everything, figures/buildings/vehicles all key in. The colours described are for use in my current Helmand Project but are easily adaptable. For boards and terrain bases I use varying thicknesses of mdf. The tutorial follows the basing of an Afghan Compound but is true for any terrain feature or board.

What you need:
Play Sand
5 X Terrain Colours
Rock Debris
Grass/tufts
Wood Glue

Play Sand - This is well play sand, if you're near a fine sandy beach use that.
Terrain Colours - Dulux Matt emulsion paint in the following colours, Rich Praline 2, Treacle Tart 1, Dutch Gold 2, Sundrenched Saffron 4 and Moroccan Sands 6. Any Dulux mixing centre can mix you these, B&Q in the UK is a good place to start.
Rock Debris - Woodland Scenics Talus in Brown in the following grades, fine, medium, coarse and extra coarse. Mix the grades up in a small container so you get variation.

Grass/tufts - Just one word, SILFOR tufts, I'm not beating the drum here but they are excellent, however you can use any sort of static grass.
Wood Glue - Any!

This compound was built and painted before attaching it to the mdf.
1. Glue the building to the base, I've used white glue.

2. Working very quickly paint a thick layer of your base colour on the base, this is Rich Praline 2.

3. Quickly cover the still wet paint with sand, leave to thoroughly dry, ideally overnight. Bare in mind that if your base is
particularly large you may have to work in sections as the paint drys fairly fast.

4. You can now attach your talus(rock debris) using white glue. Do this randomly, make sure you don't lay it down regularly.

5. When fully dry you can start drybrushing. The bigger the feature the bigger the brush. Darkest to lightest. This shade is
Treacle Tart 1.

6. Dutch Gold 2

7. Sundrenched Saffron 4.

8. Moroccan Sands 6. (Very very light !!!!) I didn't do this level on this piece because I was happy with the colour.
9. Glue on your grass/tufts and you're done. :grin:

Dougie.

MULTICAM Tutorial

A short tutorial on how I do Multicam in 20mm :grin:

Dougie. Painting camo uniforms in 20mm is always a bit of a thorny issue. My tecnique has always been to go for the "look" of the camo and lighten colours. Multicam poses a few problems as there's so many colours in the pattern, I've used 6!, so good references are essential, you can find loads on line and "Combat and Survival" magazine is always a good source to check as well. On to the painting, the figure is a 20mm Britannia Infantryman, all colours are Vallejo.
The figure based, primed and flesh done.

The base uniform colour on, Medium Grey 987, highlighted with Buff 976.

The pattern is worked mainly horizontally first colour is English Uniform 921.

Second colour applied, Golden Olive 857.

Smaller disruptive areas of USA Uniform Green 922.

Flecks/swirls of SS Cam Blk/Brown 822.

Small flecks/swirls of white.

Some shots of the figure after details/equipment completed :grin:

Figure Basing Tutorial

Here's a guide to how I base my figures, I use this system from 6mm to 28mm. The example here is an AB German Officer painted as a Generalmajor going to Darren of Rumbling Guns for a favour he did me. All colours are Vallejo. Dougie
1. Attach the figure to the base, if the base is particularly thick I blend it in with Vallejo pummice paste.

2. Paint base with 873 US Field Drab.

3. Use white glue to attach Woodland Scenics ballast onto the base. I use Fine Dark Brown code B71. This is a good match for 873. Make sure this is fully dry before starting the next stage.