I haven't seen anyone post their heavy walkers on these forums, so I thought I would share my recently completed German Heavy Walker.
I'm not a complete beginner when it comes to painting miniatures, but this is the first time I have ever painted a model this large. It was a nice challenge through, especially since I'm more used to painting much smaller humanoid figures. The large flat surfaces on this model were a challenge to work with when trying to use washes on them. I had a bit of trouble getting the wash to go and stay where I wanted, and some parts of the model turned out a little darker than I would have liked.
Adding the white camouflage was also a bit difficult due to the cervices and bends in the model. I tried cutting random pieces of masking tape into triangular shapes and applying them on to the model using the dull end of a model knife blade to get it to stick in the crevices. My hope was that taking the time to make sure the masking tape was properly stuck to the surfaces would make painting the camouflage on simple and quick. Unfortunately, I needed to use quite a few layers of white paint to get it to show through the dark grey primer. As a result, quite a bit of paint seeped under the masking tape and created some re-work as I had to touch up the grey parts again after the masking tape was removed. The masking tape also took off some of the white paint with it where it was layered on more thickly. This left an unsightly rough patch of white paint that had to be sanded down and touched up as well.
Adding the rust and chipping was the most fun I think, since I have never done anything like it before. I used a small piece of sponge to apply the rust paint as described elsewhere in these forums. I referred to Loophole Master's “Diary of a Newbie Painter” thread for suggestions on where to begin applying. I used a solid black paint for the chipping effect. Like I said, I had fun applying these effects, but looking back at the model now, I wonder if I may have gotten a bit carried away with the amount added
After that paint had dried, I went back to some of the larger black spots and added some silver paint to make it look as though the bare metal was showing through in some spots.
I think the model is pretty much done, though I am considering buying some decals from the Dust Models website to add to some of the panels. Does anyone know if these decals will apply well to varnished or sealed surfaces, or should I hold off spraying the model until I add the decals?
