Manda (Amachan) goes to the Eastern Front

Here we go again…. I keep counting up the bases numbers from what I was doing before. I had some camera issues which I tried to resolve, but generally not happy with the quality all the photos.

Base 6

I am starting off with the base that I did last made with AK Interactive Diorama Terrains Muddy Ground (AK8017) because I obviously thought I was going to nail this first time around (sarcasm). I started with a good coat of Abteilung 502 Modelling Oil Color Dark Mud (ABT130), followed by a drybrush of Abteilung 502 Modelling Oil Color Sand Brown (ABT245) and then a lighter drybrush of Abteilung 502 Modelling Oil Color Dust (ABT003). I then put some AK Interactive Fresh Mud (AK016) into the grooves and felt like this was too stark of a contrast. So I went in with another drybrush of Abteilung 502 Modelling Oil Color Sand Brown (ABT245) and then a lighter drybrush of Abteilung 502 Modelling Oil Color Dust (ABT003). I am liking this result.

Base 7

So the second base with AK Interactive Diorama Terrains Muddy Ground (AK8017) that I did earlier, but because the coat of the muddy ground was less thick, it had less detailed impressions. Let’s see if I can do this without the 2 drybrush steps in the middle. So started with a coat of Abteilung 502 Modelling Oil Color Dark Mud (ABT130) and then did the impressions with AK Interactive Fresh Mud (AK016). Then I did the drybrush of Abteilung 502 Modelling Oil Color Sand Brown (ABT245) followed by a lighter drybrush of Abteilung 502 Modelling Oil Color Dust (ABT003). Not that happy with this result.

Base 8

So I looked at Base 1 that I did earlier and wanted to try the impressions with an oil rather than an enamel and see if that makes a difference. So I grabbed a base made with structure paste and impressions in it. I started with a coat of Abteilung 502 Modelling Oil Color Dark Mud (ABT130) and then did the impressions with a bit of slightly thinned Abteilung 502 Modelling Oil Color Shadow Brown (ABT015). Then I did the drybrush with Abteilung 502 Modelling Oil Color Sand Brown (ABT245) and the lighter drybrush with Abteilung 502 Modelling Oil Color Dust (ABT003). I am liking this result as well.

Base 9

Why so complex? So I grabbed one of the bases with AK Interactive Diorama Terrains Muddy Ground (AK8017) coated it with AK Interactive Fresh Mud (AK016) let it dry for a bit and then went over it with a wool dauber dampened with a little bit of white spirit. I can only really see how this will look when this is dry.

Base 10

An alteration of base 9. This base has some thinned AK Interactive Diorama Terrains Muddy Ground (AK8017) on it, but that doesn’t matter. This time I started with a drybrush of Vallejo Panzer Aces Light Mud (70.315) and then did the coat with AK Interactive Fresh Mud (AK016). I let that sit for a bit as well and then went over it with the wool dauber dampened with white spirit.

This obviously didn’t lead to an obvious way to go forward yet, but I feel like I made progress finding the way. I need to prep more bases with the good impressions.

Why Oil Paints?

People have mentioned that using oil paints is an interesting choice and there are 2 main reasons as to why.

1. Oil paints blend easily with each other leading to far more natural blends than acrylics can. Mostly because acrylics dry way quicker and are thinner to begin with.
2. Oil paints have a long working time and since I am doing the basing after the models have been attached to the base, oils are easy to remove from the the models using a bit of white spirit. I just need to make sure that I use an acrylic varnish on the models before I attach them to the base.

In hindsight, most of the pictures actually look quite good on the project page, just as long as you don’t look at them at full size.