Welcome back to our modeling masterclass sessions with José Brito! In his last series of instructions he completely customized two Axis walkers from the Dust Tactics core set with unique physical elements and specific painting processes. In this series, José will follow a similar process to demonstrate how to customize Allied walkers.

Step 1 - construction

As your Allied walkers come with pre-assembled parts, fully assembling them is very straightforward and easy. However, if any moulding and ejector pins are visible you can carefully dismantle the parts and, with the right tools, sand off or remove the moulding and ejector pins. Also, if you look closely while you construct your walkers, you will notice that some of the pre-assembled parts can be carefully further dismantled. Gently explore how these parts can be taken apart without being damaged.

There are a variety of poses you can build your models into which allows for players to create a large number of different situations for their walkers. Use your imagination and choose whichever pose you will most enjoy, from standing positions to action poses. Perhaps changing how you assemble your walker will also change how you want to position it. In my opinion, it is always best to try out a few different positions before you make your decision. The sky is the limit! For this process, I decided to leave my Allied walkers in a standard position, and focus on painting them with differently textured camouflage.

During this stage, I decided I wanted to add some extra details to my Allied walkers such as grab handles. With other walkers I have added even more extra details and equipment, and I encourage you to play around with your walkers and add whatever parts you choose. Remember, adding different wiring or cables, shovels, or gasoline cans, or even extra armor plating will add some great personal touches to your walkers. What do you see your troops needing? These extra details, in my opinion, really add a touch of realism to the overall look of the walkers.

To see an in-depth description of the process through which José Brito added these details to his Axis walkers, read his first session.

Step 2 - painting

A great element with Dust Tactics products is that they come pre-primed, so if you choose to you can begin painting your walkers immediately. I chose to prime my walkers before painting them because the primer dries very fast and leaves the surface with a nicely finished look. This surface is then very smooth and ideal for the painting process.

I primed my models with Vallejo brand Grey Primer, because I wanted to start with a different base color. Of course, you can achieve the same result using most any grey primer that is designed for plastic models. To prime them I used a standard airbrush and applied several light coats to ensure that all of the walker details were kept. If you don’t have an airbrush you can achieve the same affect by painting the primer on the walkers with a brush. However, you must paint them very carefully in thin coats to ensure that all of the details on the walkers are preserved.

After both models dried completely, I airbrushed them in Vallejo brand Model Air Dark Green in several light thin coats. You can use any color paint that is designed for plastic models. Then I airbrushed parts of them in Vallejo brand Model Air 71010 Interior Green. By making certain parts of the walkers lighter and others darker, I achieved a unique look that also serves my purposes for camouflaging them in my next step. Overall, I find that having color variations on your walkers adds a more visually interesting look to the final models.

Thanks, José! Be sure to stay alert. José’s next article will continue his process to customize his Allied walkers by applying decals and painting on a winter camouflage.