Just wondering if anyone can explain the dry brush technique to me. Or if a book or website can be recommed with instructions. I understand this can really bring out detail in models but I have no idea how to do it.
The trick is to dip your brush in the paint and then remove most of the paint from your brush by rubbing it on a cloth of something. You don’t want much paint on the brush at all. Then you use that brush to highlight the raised features on your project by using normal painting strokes but lighter and faster. Depending on how much paint is remaining on the brush, you may have to apply more or less pressure to the brush. Kind of like brushing your teeth. The idea is that the little bit of paint on the brush will only adhere to the raised portions of what you are painting. Like rivets, raised edges, raised panel lines etc. You will want to use a lighter colour than your base colour so it accentuates the darker base colour. Because scale models are so much smaller than the real thing, you are trying to hightlight detail to bring it to the attention of your eye where it would otherwise be lost due to it being so small. The idea of using a wash is to accentuate the darker areas, so these two techniques work hand-in-hand. It is real important to make sure you brush has nearly no paint on it at all, otherwise you will just smear this new colour on flat surfaces. Drybrushing also works to emphasize wear and tear on something like a tank where areas of paint that would normally get worn off sooner can be simulated by dry-brushing them, such as edges of cuppolas, etc. Just like you would wear the paint off the edge of your car or truck door because it gets rubbed off more quickly than, say, the middle of your door.
Good luck. Hope this helps.
Guy