Note to readers: This article was initially written roughly 2 years ago for a Spanish magazine, Fantasy Dimension. I was initially told it would also be published in english. The magazine hasn't had a new issues since therefore I making sure that this article is available to all of you. It was my first attempt at military modeling. A lot of my techniques were improved since but this will give you a great introduction to building a diorama and using military modeling techniques. Enjoy your reading!

It is often hard when you master a certain type of techniques to branch out and try something totally different. We prefer to sit in comfortably doing what we master than venture out in the open. Well this is what was actually done with this project. Having no experience whatsoever in modelling and painting tanks it was decided to realise a K.O.  tank in the middle of ruins in a Stalingrad style. The model would be a Malcador heavy tank with battle cannon from Forgeworld and Stalingrad would become Vraks, an important city in the Games Workshop background.

This project would imply toying with new techniques and products. Building an elaborate scenery to place the tank in and researching numerous pictures in order to understand what needed to be done. So after perusing through articles, books, pictures and ordering the various new products necessary we were ready to go.

What makes military modeling great is the infinite possibility of customizing your model. Unfortunately the kit proposed by Forgeworld offers a minimum of possibilities. Primarily designed for gamers, it is cast in big blocks of resin so you can hardly play with its various parts. However some changes were applied. Using a dremel and a hobby knife, some parts were carefully carved to remove plates and create hollow spaces. Using brass sheets the various plates were then rebuilt twisted and worn out as if there had been an internal explosion.

Our tank is now ready for painting.

An initial coat of a rust color was applied with an airbrush. We vary the tones in order to avoid uniformity. No need to worry about lights and shadows at this point. A coat of hairspray fixative is applied on the model in order to protect this initial coat.

The chassis color is now applied, again with an airbrush. A little attention is given to lights.

With a hard brush, warm water and a pinch of isopropylic alcohol you can peel off the top layers of paint revealing the rust color protected by the hairspray.

Hairspray technique: This technique allows you to obtain realistic effect in no time. The hairspray protects the first layer letting you rub off the top coats. It gives you a realistic scratched worn look easily. But make sure to test it on another surface first. Different paints react differently. So dose it properly before rubbing your way down to the plastic. By using different tools you can obtain different effects. A toothpick will give small scratch and a brush larger damages. Different colors will suit different purposes as a dark brown could make nice battle damages or you might want to use this technique to obtain a washed down winter camo. So do not hesitate to try various alternatives.

Using the initial shadow color, the entire tank is relined to give it more definition. Washes of the same color are also applied to emphasize shadows and break down larger areas.

Using oil paints we will apply small nuts of paint on the entire model. In this case we selected colors close to the models.

With a flat brush and a little turpentine we bring the paint down in a vertical motion. Oil take hours to dry so you have all the time to do it properly. If there is if too much, wash it down, if there is not enough add some.

Oil paint: Oil paint tends to be neglected in the fantasy aspect of miniature as we mostly come from the gaming side of it and got accustomed with acrylics. But oils offer great alternatives. The weathering effect obtained on the tank would have taken hours using various colors with washes and glazes. With oil the entire process took roughly half an hour. Using various mediums to their best potential allows you to save precious time.

Oil paint takes a while to dry so in the meantime we attack the display. As said earlier we are looking for a Stalingrad feeling. So basically the interior of a highly damaged industrial complex. The problem with such display is the daunting size and being able to find an affordable base to support it. After a quick visit at the local craft store, a nice picture frame with reasonable dimension was found. Furthermore as soon as it was chosen, an actual picture of Stalingrad came back to mind. No need to look any further.

A floor, two walls and four columns would be needed. After toying with dimensions and space we are ready to cast our walls. The technique involves Lego blocks and plaster of Paris. Quite simple, easily available and not hard to work with.

A cast is made out of Lego blocks. It is fast to build, tight enough for plaster and gives you perfect angles. This one is for the floor, as you can see textured plasticard was used with a stone relief. In other circumstances make sure to pour the plaster on a plastic surface in order to get a clean and smooth surface. Once dry remove the Legos and you have your element ready.

The columns are done in the same way. For such things it is recommended to go in steps as demonstrated here.

Once dry the different elements need to be textured and defined. Lines will be carved using a needle at the end of a pin vice. The cement textured will be realised by pressing a really coarse sanding paper on the surface.

The various elements are pinned and glued to the base. Before doing so we make sure that everything will be right my measuring and marking every emplacement with a marker. Using various plasticard elements the scenery is completed. We now start to get the feel of our industrial complex. A railway is done by carefully sanding down two parallel paths in the floor. A middle line will be carved deeper in each in order to install a thin line made of plastic forming the rail itself. Again make sure to take the time to make it right.

Working with plaster: Plaster is fun since you can get it nearly everywhere and it is easy to work with. But here are a few pointers. Always use the minimum water possible in your mix. It is always easier to add more water if necessary then removing some. Furthermore by reducing the amount of water you reduce the chance for bubbles that would be a pain to cover after. Plaster is usually set and ready to work within half an hour but it does not mean that it is dry. Depending on thickness it takes days to weeks before it is entirely dry. You will need to take in account that when working with plaster. If you try to carve and texture it right away you will realise that the surface is still watery and does not retain details properly. Let it rest for a few days and it will be way easier to work on. Also remember that plaster is relatively fragile. For our type of sceneries for display and showcase only it is perfectly fine but make sure to be careful otherwise your wall piece might transform itself in two walls.

Building your display: On such a project the display is as important as its central piece. Proportions are crucial. Make sure to place everything right and trace your line straight. One awkward angle will upset the entire display and in such uniformity it will jump to the eyes and that is not where you want to attract attention. Furthermore avoid 90 degrees angles with the base. Make sure that your scenery is presented at an angle. This will give an impression that the scenery goes beyond its limit as a square angle will suggest an end. Leaving open areas such as in this case the space between the columns reinforce such a feeling. Lastly, in order to believe in the K.O. state of the tank you need to convince the audience that its environment is conclusive to it. Realism is the key. Observe a lot of pictures. Play with various textures, different finish and numerous tones. Variety is often the key.

To emphasize the destruction aspect, piles of rubbles are made falling down through the pillars just as if a large building beside had collapse. After forming a box with plasticard most of the empty space is filled with chunks of Styrofoam. Plaster of Paris is then used to cover and solidify the structure and a modeling paste seals the last few gaps. Finally, using the tank as reference, a frontal part is done with a two parts epoxy putty to create a patch of rubbles that would fall down under the track.

 You also notice the finish door made out of the same brass sheet as on the tank. Once again it is easy to give it a damaged look just by happily banging on it. The rivets were done by cutting a really thin strand of cured epoxy putty.

The first layers of colors for the display are applied by airbrush. No need to vary too much the color here as it will be done with all the drybrushing that is coming.

The stones on the floor are painted in three different shades of grey (light, medium and dark). A few washes of battlefield brown, already used on the wall, will harmonize it with the rest of the display. Now begin a long process of drybrush followed by washes followed by drybursh and so on. Roughly 7 different colors were used for drybrushing. The variety of tones gives it a natural feeling.

Rust will be applied to the display. So again using oil paint the initial rust marks are done.

Using dry pigments and a fixer the rust is textured and receives various tones. Simply drop the pigments and place them at the right spot. Apply the fixer by gently posing your brush on the surface and let the capillary action do the rest. It will give you the texture and granular look we are looking for. Make sure to repeat the process with various rust colors as much as you need to obtain the desired effect.

We repeat the oil weathering process on the walls to give it a more damaged look using mostly light and dark green as well as a dark brown.

So here is our completed display. Now we will applied the same techniques on the tank.

Some lines are emphasized using pure black. Some areas are also covered as they will be black or receive a metallic coat later. Finally to solidify the K.O. theme, we create areas that would have been scorched by fire following the explosion. The surroundings of the busted hull are painted in black to demonstrate it.

The rust areas on the tank will be entirely redone with the same dry pigment technique as with the display. Once again this is a long process of constantly adjusting, adding lighter rust here and darker rust there. The metallic parts are also done in the traditional manner. A basecoat of Boltgun metal from Citadel and then we work the shadows with pure black which is thinned down with water. Acrylic paint is often better to shade metallics than ink as the mat finish of the paint actually stops the light reflection. Some nuances are given with Umbral Umber from P3 which was already used on several parts. A few pigments here and there and voila! Note that since the entire display as a ruined look you do not need to blend everything perfectly. A coarser look in this case will be better.

Why cover what was already done? The initial look of the tank with the hairspray method was good. Unfortunately the rust effect it gave us was too far from the one we ended up with on our display. Furthermore, rust need to have a mat finish and the original version was more satin. The hairspray method gave us a nice chipped pattern though from which we can work with the pigments. No matter how your initial results look like do not hesitate to work over them to obtain a unified ensemble. What matters the most is the end result.

The scorched areas initially done with black paint are retouched with a black dry pigment in order to give them the mat finish we are looking for. Other areas are also weathered with black pigments.

Various colors of pigments are applied to create a dust effect across the tank. Once again it is by using various tones that we will achieve a convincing result.

Here is our completed project. A few oil stains are done with Tamiya Smoke on the tank. A few touch ups here and there, new rust stains on the floor once the model is glued and we are set. It is ready to be brought to the next show which is Games Day Toronto.

The important thing to remember with this project is to take the time to make it right, especially when experiencing with new products. This project was started with no experience in the techniques demonstrated in this article but with proper research, testing the various effects on a scrap piece first and investing the right amount of time we achieved impressive results. Furthermore we now have numerous new tricks in our bag for future projects, but for now I really need to get back to a small 28mm figurine.