Military Model Scene

This is the fourth of what we know will be a five volume set from Ammo covering the building, painting and weathering of aircraft models.  All of this particular volume is devoted to the topic of weathering.  Considering that Ammo produce a large range of paints and weathering materials we might expect it to be devoted to their products alone, but I have to say that is not the case.  Of course they feature a lot, but what this does is look at a wide range of options, some of which I have to say this has prompted me to try out.  Among these as the use of Watercolour Pencils and with the aid of the multitude of clear photos that are used to illustrate all the various techniques, they seem to be easy enough to make use of and with some good looking results.  Certainly something new for me to try at least.

In a soft cover format, the 160 pages of this fourth volume splits the topic of Weathering into 13 different sections, and offer you lots of tips and techniques to try out.  I think it is worth saying what the 13 sub-headings are so you get a good idea of just what is covered.  They are - Preparation: Chipping: Filters: Dirt, Grime and Worn Paint: Panel Line and Surface Detail Washes: General Washes: Streaking Effects: Spill Stains: Exhaust Stains: Graphite Effects: Weathering Effects with Pigments: Effects with Color Pencils: and rounds things off with Extreme Weathering and Fading.

A number of the builds which are used to provide the examples showing the different techniques have been seen in the previous volumes in the series, and they continue to develop thanks to these new stages.  I think what you have to do is look through, get ideas that you like, and try them out.  One or two show a result I might not personally go for, but others are really inspirational.  Just which is which will vary from one modelers to another.  The two in particular which showcase effects I haven't tried before are a very faded and weathered Mil 24 Hind, an airframe left parked and out of use on an airfield somewhere in the world.  There have been a number of photos of real examples that have looked like this and I find the faded finish on this one is one I really must have a go at using the techniques which are well described.  The other one that grabs my attention is taking it a step further, and the wreckage of a fuselage of an FW190, which we have seen in the earlier books, and the sort of thing that would have been found in a dump on an airfield in Germany as Allied troops advanced in the later stages of the war.  Very heavily weathered, it just gets the right look of such a wreck which features in many photos from the final stages of the war.  There are many other examples which are not as extreme as these two and certainly some inspiring models.  It is well laid out and the techniques the modeller has been using are well explained and illustrated with step by step stages.

This series is proving a very useful set of references and I for one look forward to seeing what will be in the fifth and final volume when it is released.

My thanks to Ammo of Mig Jiminez for our example.