I recently picked up the Dust core set and set out painting the Germans in a Hermann Göring paint scheme after the FoW project that I never got around to doing! I really latched onto "the allied invasion of Sicily", followed by their advance onto mainland Italy. (although I realize the timeline is different in Dust, I still thought it was a cool theme) These are my 1st Dust models, and overall I'd say I'm pretty happy with how they are turning out. I don't have much finished aside from the "test models" but I figured I'd show em anyways. Hope you guys like em!

My Panzer Aufklarerlaufer I-C. Sadly, the colors seem a bit "off" in the pics, but I used Vallejo Middlestone for the Dunkelgelb. Also, I just couldn't seem to get both the upper part of the walker and the "HG Dial" into focus at the same time. All the walkers will be numbered and such as from the "4th HG Panzer Division". Lastly, I just had to guess where the exhaust burns should be placed! =P

This is what my Sturmgrenadiere Pioner Squad, along with all the other "light" infantry will look like. I've got the Feldwebel that came in the core box in an officer fieldgrey scheme, and some of the "heavier" infantry like the laser grenadiers will be in a dunkelgelb scheme to match the walkers. My Infantry will all be from the "2nd HG Grenadiers".

I've got plans to give a similar treatment to my Allied force as well. For them it will be 2nd Armored Company with support from "Tank Destroyer" units… mainly because they took part in the Allied Invasion of Sicily (iirc) and I have the decals for em already as well! I'm hoping to get things painted to try and get fellow gamers at my LGS hooked onto Dust Tactics and eventually Warfare through some demos and just getting the game SEEN at the shop in general!

Thanks for looking!

-WuhSawBe-

Figs look good. Try a little wash on the vehicle to bring out the details and some highlighting if you wish. Otherwise a very good start.

Yeah, you are right… the walker could use some extra detail, the yellow looks a little to "clean". I think I'll rework in some shadows, and maybe redo the highlights. (I'm not a big fan of "edging" highlights on vehicles, so I may try the "natural light" approach) I also noticed I completely forgot to do any highlights turrets! =P

Thanks for pointing that stuff out, and making me re-think the walker. I'm hoping it will turn out better after some additional work!

-WuhSawBe-

I like your recon gren. paint scheme.

Good job!

Jiltedtoo said:

Thanks!

-wuhsawbe- said:

It was just a thought. Cant wait to see the updated version!!! The mini camo scheme looks great.

Here's the updated walker. I added some shadows around panels and such with the original basecoat, and added in a few more highlights as well. I also redid some of the chipping and "muck" on the legs with the sponge technique that I notice a lot of others using. It was my 1st attempt at it, and I kept it limited to the legs, underside, and just the right portion of the walker as if the driver may have clipped some rubble in an urban setting. Any ways, here it is…

@mgentile7 - No worries, they were good suggestions and I think they helped "step up" the model just a bit.

… back to painting!

-WuhSawBe-

Looks much much better. Keep experimenting. This is a good forum to get ideas and techniques down pat. I never used sponging or powders before getting on here and now i love them. Here are a few pics:

-wuhsawbe- said:

Looking good, but one thing that for me personally always looks a little odd is a perfect decal. I'd chip away at the "411" with a little of your base colour (yellow) even if only a tiny, tiny bit.

Siouxfire said:

Wow, I never even thought about the "perfect decal" thing. You are right, that would look a lot better!

Siouxfire beat me to mentioning the decal thing.

The only thing I would add, be very careful with the edge highlighting. Personally, I find it cartoonish and a distraction on most models I see it on. You haven't gone overboard, which is good, but the weird highlight on the shoulder plate stands out to me.

Think about natural wear patterns. Paint only comes off due to contact with other objects. Focus on where these vehicles will brush up against things like the lower legs and lower hull, possibly a tree branch hitting the top or where maintenance and crew will touch.

Neither of these are my work . These are just what I would consider good examples of realistic, subtle weathering.

The purpose of the edge highlighting is to bring out the details of the models especially small sclae ones like 1/48. If dont carefully its a great detail to do before applying the powders. Either way though its your choice as how best to finish your models. Just one word of caution once you clearcoat your models some of the powder disappears. Mostly the light dusting od dirt colors. The rusts stay pretty well as you can see from my pics posted before this.

mgentile7 said:

It can be useful, if used very sparingly, but that's not how light works on flat vehicle paint.

I think -wuhsawbe- did a great job with the scrapes and wear on the legs and front of the walker. It's the blindingly bright white hard line on the shoulder and hull that are overpowering to me. If those edge highlights were a shade of the base color, bare metal, or rust I wouldn't have said anything, a bright edge on a flat painted vehicle is glaring to me.

For the images you posted:

The Allied armor looks great.

The two German walkers are a little heavy handed with the rust, but I could buy it if they were along the coast for a long time without proper maintenance.

The Cromwell and half-track both suffer from a crew who get bored and sand the edges of their vehicles, the Cromwell most of all. The bottom of the knees show no wear while the top edges of the knee plates, that would be protected by the hull, show huge wear. The top front edge of the knee plates would be nearly four inches of exposed bare steel if it was scaled up. If you had done to the Cromwell what you did to the Allied armor, you would have one of the best looking walkers I have seen.

The Cromwell turret swap was an inspired idea.

ItsUncertainWho said:

I guess Ill take that as a compliment since I only shoot for game table quality and spend about an hour total on each of the vehicles from start to finish. The metal wear though is good advice, i dont often pay that close attention to its positioning some times but will in the future.

Sorry all, forgot to mention. I am not the originator of the Cromwell or Crusader Turret additions. I saw them posted a while back and was lucky enough to get those two models for a good price on ebay. The command figure is from Quarter-Kit.com.

mgentile7 said:

It was a compliment, sorry if my comments came across otherwise.

Years ago I was a voracious model builder. Combine that with an art school education, I get nit-picky quickly. It's easy to forget that they way you are trained to look at, dissect, and deconstruct other peoples work can come across harshly to people without that background, even though it is meant as constructive and helpful.

Art school = You do work, you take critique, you evaluate what was said, make adjustments based on what you agree with and you tell everyone else to F- themselves, repeat.

Both of your Allied scout armor models look great. The subtle weathering and good mud and dirt coverage make them stand out to me. These look fantastic if this is your table top standard.

The German walkers look good and are consistent style wise. My taste lends to them being a tad over loaded with rust, but if the whole army looks that consistent, the table would look great.

The Cromwell and half-track look good, but they lean toward that 40K-highlight-every-edge-asthetic that I have a hard time not laughing at. They look good, but when compared to how good your German walkers and scout armor look, they just aren't in the same class. That said, the Cromwell turret swap is great, and, to me, looks much better aesthetically than the Sherman turret.

ItsUncertainWho said:

No worries pal I was an architecture student. Work 3 weeks straight on a project 24 hours a day and get torn down in 30 seconds by the professors. Plus I have run large manufacturing companies my whole life so im used to all kinds of feed back. No worries at all. A keen eye is always go to have a look at your stuff. I dont have a lot of free time right now so im just trying to get a decent army together. I still do a lot of experimenting with powders and finishes and wish they could all be winners but thats not always the case. Plus I hate to confess it but I grew up with the GW paint style practically shoved in my face where ever I went so it was hard not to pick up on.

I will say one thing the two Allied models you mentioned were photographed prior to applying the clear coat while the others were after clear coating. It sure makes a big difference when photographing. That is one area I definetely have issues. The old Iphone just does not cut it. Anyway again No Worries this is a great site to exchange ideas and opinions. Yours are always welcome and I apologize in return if my reply was offensive.