{"id":701,"date":"2013-11-18T19:31:48","date_gmt":"2013-11-19T03:31:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ricklawler-propaganda.com\/propaganda\/?page_id=701"},"modified":"2013-11-18T19:31:48","modified_gmt":"2013-11-19T03:31:48","slug":"bishop-25pdr-spg-mudslinger","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ricklawler-propaganda.com\/propaganda\/modeling-projects\/bishop-25pdr-spg-mudslinger\/","title":{"rendered":"Bishop 25pdr. SPG “Mudslinger”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\".\"<\/a>Regular readers of MMI will certainly recognize the name of Mike Stevenson.\u00a0 Mike is a\u00a0 good, prolific builder whose work is featured quite regularly on the pages of this magazine.\u00a0 Behind the scenes Mike and David Grummitt (MMI editor) maintain a robust email conversation as they discuss upcoming projects.\u00a0 As a courtesy, there are times that I am included by email copy and invited to join into the conversations.\u00a0 During one recent exchange Mike casually mentioned that he would be building a model for David to paint.\u00a0 \u00a0Hey, wait a minute!\u00a0 Mike builds and David paints?\u00a0\u00a0 That sounded like a pretty sweet deal to me.\u00a0 Seeing an opportunity to skip directly to the \u201cfun\u201d part of modeling I joined the conversation and asked how I might snag one of these painting gigs.\u00a0 As it turns out, Mike was just putting the finishing touches on the Bronco Bishop and graciously offered it to me for the painting.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A couple of weeks later the model arrived at my doorstep. As the Bishop\u2019s primary area of service was in North Africa and Italy it quickly became apparent that my painting choices might be somewhat limited; bronze green or desert tan were pretty much the only games in town.\u00a0\u00a0 But wait!\u00a0\u00a0 As fate would have it during a search though the Imperial War Museum archives I happened across a photo showing a Bishop serving in Italy with hastily applied \u201cmud camo\u201d.\u00a0 \u00a0Perfect!\u00a0 Well, not really.\u00a0 The problem is that mud camouflage is an incredibly tough finish to pull off convincingly.\u00a0 Balancing the rough and hasty nature of the applied mud versus the real modeling requirements for a cohesive and athletically pleasing presentation seems to be at permanently odds.\u00a0 Never mind the fact that I had long ago promised myself that I would never <\/i>even attempt this type of finish because of the inherent difficulties.\u00a0 But as is generally the case one thing led to another; I shared the photo with Mike, he sent me a few additional photos from his collection, David was brought into the conversation and then before I knew it I was going to be attempting a mud camo finish.\u00a0 How did that happen?\u00a0 \u00a0I guess there\u2019s no turning back now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Mike had sent me the model as sub-assemblies in order to aid the painting process.\u00a0 My first order of business was a quick review of the parts and instructions in order to familiarize myself with the kit.\u00a0 \u00a0A quick primer coating of Gunze Mr. Surfacer 1000 and I was ready to begin painting.\u00a0 The interior was first to be painted and provided a nice warm-up as I continued to contemplate how to best approach the exterior work.\u00a0\u00a0 As a footnote, at the time of this project Tamiya acrylic paints, my preferred choice for use as base colors are very difficult to find at the moment do to manufacturing and distribution issues.\u00a0 As an alternative I have chosen to Vallejo Model Colors for both brush and airbrush work.\u00a0 The overall interior color was painted white with the details picked out using a fine brush.\u00a0 Weathering on the interior also followed fairly traditional methods of painting small chips and scratches using a fine brush and scouring pad followed by discolorations using Filters and Washes. \u00a0 Before matting the upper and lower hull I sprayed a quick base green color into the road wheel and track area.\u00a0 I did this for two reasons:\u00a0 First, it acted as a base color for the hard to reach areas, and Second, I was simply testing green colors in order to find a good match for the British Bronze Green color \u2013 obviously this wasn\u2019t it. I attached the upper and lower sections together and then got onto the business of the exterior painting.\u00a0 Continuing to use the Vallejo colors I first gave sprayed (in uneven coverage) 924 Russian Uniform followed by second coverage layer using a mix of the Russian Uniform with 893 US Dark Green.\u00a0 Finally, a highlight layer was applied after adding 913 Yellow Ochre to the green color mix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Although much of the underlying base color(s) would eventually be covered with mud I felt it was important to bring this layer fairly high level of completion as this is the foundation for all of the subsequent layers of painting and weathering.\u00a0 Tools and accessories were painted with Vallejo paints and a fine brush.\u00a0 The muffler cover was repainted in rusty colors, sealed with a light layer of future and then a misting of hairspray before repainting it the base green colors.\u00a0 After a few moments of drying time a light scrubbing with a stiff brush and warm water revealed some very nice, realistic heat rust spots.\u00a0 Next, a few evenings of painting were spent using MIG Productions 502 Abteilung artist\u2019s oils were used to create greater depth of color and visual interest to the finish.\u00a0 It\u2019s no secret that the longer drying times of artist\u2019s oils can slow down the process, but in my opinion the results are certainly worth the extra time. \u00a0 When building models I try creating a small storyline for the vehicle.\u00a0 This helps me focus my painting and weathering decisions as I work through the process. For this project I had in mind a vehicle that has gone through the requisite training and field exercises before embarking for the landings in Sicily and Italy.\u00a0 Once in action, the crew came to the realization that their dark colored, high silhouetted vehicle was a little too conspicuous on the semi-arid battlefields of Southern Italy.\u00a0 Taking matters into their own hands they used the local mud-puddles to their advantage.\u00a0 As a support vehicle battlefield damage would be at a minimum, though the vehicle would certainly show evidence of crew wear and use.<\/p>\n

Maybe not the most creative story, but it works for my purposes.\u00a0 Ok, enough of the fiddling around now it was time to get on with the task at hand. \u00a0 The real challenge when creating the mud camouflage scheme is how to make what is in essence a sloppy brush paint job look like more than a just a sloppy brush paint job.\u00a0 \u00a0It needs to look as if applied with spontaneity, but the methods would need to be controlled in order to achieve the desired results. To begin I sealed the base green color using a light misting of Johnson\u2019s Future acrylic floor polish. \u00a0Over this I sprayed an overall coat of hairspray and let dry for about half and hour.\u00a0 Then, using the reference photo as a guide I sprayed a quick under color pattern using Tamiya Buff.\u00a0\u00a0 I followed this with a light over-spray using Tamiya Flat Earth. \u00a0 It is important to note that this application is purposefully uneven in both coverage and color.\u00a0\u00a0 The uneven densities help to promote an organic or spontaneous appearance.\u00a0 This becomes apparent even at this early stage during the scrubbing process as certain areas flake off completely, while the areas with a higher density of paint retain coverage.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019ll use this unevenness to my advantage as I continue to add layers and refine the finish. \u00a0 With the flaking and chipping stage completed I now had a nice (read uneven) foundation over which I could work further color and texture refinements.<\/p>\n

One of the consequences of using the hairspray technique is that the excess \u201cdirty\u201d water created during the scrubbing process can add a thin \u201cwash\u201d layer over the surface.\u00a0 The next step was to regain some of the color and definition lost during the mud application and hairspray removal process.\u00a0 Returning once again to the 502 Abteilung paints I worked to regain some of the lost color and definition.\u00a0 This time I used a palette of mostly green colors to the areas between the mud splashes and also to areas of high traffic where the mud would have been removed due to crew movements.\u00a0 The mud areas were also treated to the oil colors using a palette of Light Mud, Basic Earth, Buff, Starship Filth and Shadow Brown colors.\u00a0 The goal for the muddy areas was to create some definition, but to also try and show differing layers of dirt and drying times. As you might imagine this became quite a process of back and forth adjustments \u2013 or dare I say trial and error. \u00a0 At one point during the process I decided that my initial base mud colors had become too muted so I decided to \u201crefresh\u201d them with localized, highly diluted airbrush applications of the Tamiya Buff color.\u00a0 Without realizing I had accidentally thinned the mixture a little too far which led to paint splatters \u2013 and what do you know they looked great!\u00a0 Those spatters helped to the give the mud a sense of spontaneity and scale \u2013 yes, even sloppiness.\u00a0 It was one of the Bob Ross \u201chappy accident\u201d times which can really help move a project forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Early in the process I had decided that I would try and complete the \u2018mud camo\u2019 only using paints \u2013 no pigments.\u00a0 My concern was that I might once again loose definition and perhaps even scale if pigments were used for the brushed camouflage.\u00a0 \u00a0I did feel, however, that the tracks, wheels, and even the side skirts would benefit from the pigments.\u00a0 The trick was to match the pigment color with the paint colors that I had applied to the upper areas. \u00a0With a little experimenting I was able to create similar colors using a mix of MIG Productions Gulf War Sand, Europe Dust, Concrete and Dry Mud. Applications began on the tracks which first received a wash of MIG Productions Track Brown pigment solution; the pigment having first been dissolved in turpentine.\u00a0 Next, all of the lower areas of the vehicle, including the tracks received applications of the dry pigment mix.\u00a0 I varied the pigment mix from time to time by adding more or less of a individual color in order to create depth and visual interest.\u00a0 The wheels and lower skirts received the heaviest accumulations though repeated applications that were set in place using Fixer.\u00a0 As with each of the earlier weathering steps the pigment phase also requires quite a bit of back and forth work.\u00a0 In this case once I had applied a layer of pigments I will regularly return with a pin wash or a localized wash in order to regain any lost definition.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Topical details such as fuel and exhaust stains are added and refined near the finish as well.\u00a0 \u00a0In the end pigments were used only on the side skirts, lower hull, wheels and tracks.\u00a0 All of the mud camouflage, dirt and stains on the uppers surfaces were created using paints.<\/p>\n

With the painting completed I will return the model back to Mike.\u00a0 My description of the painting process will be combined with his construction notes into a seamless article \u2013 hopefully!\u00a0 A few final thoughts regarding mud camouflage.\u00a0 I still think that it is a difficult finish to pull off convincingly and I\u2019m not sure how successful I was in my attempt.\u00a0 In retrospect I can see that my process relied heavily upon techniques common to winter white wash schemes, a bit of experimenting and a bit of luck.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Regular readers of MMI will certainly recognize the name of Mike Stevenson.\u00a0 Mike is a\u00a0 good, prolific builder whose work is featured quite regularly on the pages of this magazine.\u00a0 Behind the scenes Mike and David Grummitt (MMI editor) maintain a robust email conversation as they discuss upcoming projects.\u00a0 As a courtesy, there are times […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":676,"menu_order":16,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-701","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ricklawler-propaganda.com\/propaganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ricklawler-propaganda.com\/propaganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ricklawler-propaganda.com\/propaganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ricklawler-propaganda.com\/propaganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ricklawler-propaganda.com\/propaganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=701"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ricklawler-propaganda.com\/propaganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":702,"href":"https:\/\/ricklawler-propaganda.com\/propaganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/701\/revisions\/702"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ricklawler-propaganda.com\/propaganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ricklawler-propaganda.com\/propaganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}