My wife and I have entered the painting world for the first time. I have started with the Recon Grenadiers and she has started with the BBQ squad. We are drawing heavy inspiration from Loophole Master (congrats on the new paints) and these are the first pics to go up.

I have a question about color scheme and particular which wash to use on the white. I have considered just testing but thought I would ask first.

Right now I have 3 Vallejo washes "Green Shade", "Red Shade" and "Blue Shade" as that is all I could see at the store. I live in China and shopping can be hit and miss. That being said I found an online seller and ordered Devlan Mud since I have heard so much about it and also have order Vallejo's Umber Shade since that is what some forums have mentioned. I think the blue could look kinda cool.

We are going for individual squads that are readily distinguishable and identifiable instead of a set axis and allied uniform.

Any opinions, feedback, constructive criticism would be appreciated.

We have never painted before so this is a new and fun experience.

Hopefully the links from photo bucket work correctly (trying different methods)

As much as I hate to say it pick up some GW washes in black and brown. Then wash then over the areas you want to add depth to. Then highlight the appropriate colors.

A lot depends on personal taste and the models being painted on how to shade white. With my grenadiers I used a watered down devlan mud wash as I wanted to keep as much white as possible. What does work really well for white is Army Painter Quick Shade - Strong Tone. With this you can apply after painting the entire figure and brush this on all over, it will give an excellent finish. javascript:void(0);/*1344757445451*/

Dear mgentile7 and Major Mishap, thanks for the responses. My Devlan Mud arrived yesterday so hopefully I will have a chance tonight to wash the Recon Grenadiers and finish them off.

Normally I would advise using a spray varnish like GW's clear coat, but have not found the need to do this with the Dust models, Ive lost no paint after a year and half of use.

As I hate GW products I typically use 2 coats of a clear coat like valspar or painters choice followed by 2 coats of a flat by testors or model masters. The clear seals it and the flat, flattens the gloss clear to make it look more realistic.

No offense on the GW usage MM !!!

Well, I used Devlan Mud and Umber shade and they both made it too dark for our tastes. I added one drop of water to the wash but probably should have diluted it more.

The next day I did just the legs as a test with blue shade (Vallejo) and we like the look of that a bit more. It has a bit too much blue on the main part of the legs (not the creases/shadows) so I am thinking of putting a thin coat of white on top.

We'll see how it goes.

I prefer it with devlan mud, as long as you give it a good highlighting with white afterwards.

I guess I need to learn to highlight then as the brown was too dark and dirty for us, especially my wife. I don't think our units will have a real weathered look. While I might like that, I don't think my wife and my 6 year old son want dirty looking walkers. I like the brighter white but I wanted some darkness/shadows in the creases.

Just do a quick highlight over the white to bring out the high spots. If you need help let me know.

Thanks for the offer mgentile. I downloaded up Gary Lucas's guide to painting miniatures DVD which has helped as I am in the middle of China (tier 2 city - Nanjing) with absolutely no painting experience and some friends that play some games and one friend that has turned me back onto games, hence my purchase of Dust Tactics.

TallDwarf said:

Yes i dry brush everything here are some examples:

Mgentile, I can see the detail in your pictures. What I don't know to do is what colors to dry brush and where?

Would you dry brush

• metal onto a black gun?
• something shiny onto the armor (shoulder and chest plate)
• what would you do for pants and boots?

TallDwarf said:

Metal on black for weapons work really well, another option is to paint metal and apply a black wash.

Add metal toi armour only if you want to represent damage to the armour, I doubt if the armour is made of metal, but could be.

When dry brushing, you need to apply a slightly lighter shade of whatever the base coat is, I tend not to drybrush black as it never looks right for me.

Major Mishap said:

Following MM's advide should get you the results you wish so I will not overlap his comments. I will add though when doing white I like to start with a gray base so I use the primed german minis then black wash then highlight a lighter gray then white for final highlight. Gives a good worn an dirty look.

When your doing something like washing to shade white you should try a more 'selective' wash. Basically, you can do this by painting the wash only in the recesses rather than over the whole surface. This is a good trick when you like the color contrast, but don't want to shift the color of the whole area.

Thanks for the tip Iron Weasel. I will try it out. I ended up painting/highlighting in white again because it was too dirty. I think it ended up pretty good. The shadows are still there but the brightness of the pictures hides them in the photo.

They look great, Please keep posting your work.

Here's a white fatigue I did recently. Cleaner than the one I did before, I think it turned out pretty well. I do prefer a bit of wash to still be farly visible to give the whole thing some volume.