Hi there,
I am new to modeling, and actually just started while I was in Iraq. I just have a few questions. First of all what is the easiest way to "weather " a model for a newbie. Second, what is oil washing? Any help would be appreciated!
Welcome to FSM je77er.
There are many ways to weather a vehicle. Some are dependent on how you want to depict the final model ie: just dusty or up to its waist in mud.
One of the techniques that is used by many is dry-brushing. This is used to highlight any raised details on your model. Load a large brush with paint, scrub the brush on a piece of cardboard until you see nothing more coming off of the brush, then brush the model until small amounts of paint adhere to the raised surfaces. Choose a colour from a lighter shade of the base coat to a silver. Do take your time with this technique, less is more until you get the feel for it.
For dusty looking vehicles, use earth tone pastel chalks. Grind the chalk sticks on a piece of sandpaper until you have a small amount of dust. Apply to the model with a brush with emphasis on the lower sections and flat surfaces where more dust builds up. Choose an earthtone pastel for the best results.
I don’t use oil washes so I’ll leave that to someone else’s reply.
Hope this helps a bit.
Enjoy the forums !!!
Folks use oils to wash since they will give a realistic finish to the kit without effecting the enamel paint underneath. I have not had success with oils so I go with enamels myself.
Welcome Je77er. I use artists oils greatly thinned with mineral spirits. Then you just dab them in the areas you want weathered, basically all the nooks and crannies. I use Windsor & Newton and they are pretty cheap. Some prefer to use the oil washes over a coat of Future, because it helps the thinner crawl along the shapes easier. I have yet to try it. After a couple of hours, I clean the excess with a swab dabbed in clean thinner.
One thing about washs, you really have to seal the underlying paint to avoid it being crazed by the mineral sprits. I use Krylon matt clear for this. Then i wash away. Basicly think tinted mineral sprits as a reference. Most people go for a cholate colore wash, however lots of different effects can be made with different colors. Glad to see you got back safe and sound from Iraq. I did 6 months in Afganistan back in 2002. Since then no new deployments yet.
My advice is practice on some cheaper, easy to build kits first to refine your techniques. I perfer any of the Tamiya stuff, even the older stuff falls together well and looks great once painted and weathered.
Sra Bill Trautmann 166th CES/CEF
I usually work with acrylics only. For painting and wash applications.
Well, I don’t really seal my work prior to the application of the wash. I just make sure that the paint is properly cured prior to the application of the wash. Also I mix acrylic paint with water, alcohol and dishwahing liquid to make a wash solution. By diluting the wash with water, it will be less harmful to the paint of the model upon application.
Once the desired effect by washing is achieved, drybrushing or application of pastel chalks can be done when necessary or as needed.
Good luck.
Looks like everyone has pretty much covered the bases for you so I will just say welcome to the forum and thanks for your service.
Just to give you one more option, Welcome by the way, I use artists watercolors as wash.
The advantage here is no negative effect on the basecoat, the pigment is really fine and since it’s water, you can go back and change it at will, indefinitely as long as you don’t seal it with clear.
There’s a post from yesterday probably a page back where I used watercolors for whitewashing a Tiger.
Glad you’re back and Thanks.
heres a great link for all weathering techniques http://www.cueballweb.com/~worktop/tips_tricks/WOTW_scalemodel_tricks.pdf as you can tell by the pdf format it requires adobe acrobat , and takes a bit to load , but it is a great article and worth the wait , check it out !
je77er,
Welcome!
i am w/ Ausf in that i use artists watercolors instead of oils.
easy cleanup, never run out of thinner. 
and does not damage my acrylic paint jobs.
i add a drop of liquid dish detergeant to break the water tension so it flows out better.
I use artists waters, too, for the same reasons as Ausf and and wildwilliam. djmodels1999 wrote an excellent tutorial on weathering. You can find it herewww.finescale.com/fsm/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11687. If I have messed up the link, use the search tool. Look up the keyword Domi in the techniques forum.
WELCOME! As you can see, everyone here is more than willing to help out, and that is why FSM is so wonderful. It is always good to see new faces here at FSM, I was one of them a few weeks ago… I wont offer you any advice on this one, as my best weathering job came out like this:
little bit too muddy!
Actually WWIIsoldier, I think your Tiger looks pretty decent in the photo. Although it may be muddier than what you were wanting, it is certainly well within the weathering range of WWII tanks. I did kind of the same thing on a Sherman that I have under construction. I was orginally planning to have it be reasonably clean, with some slight dirt an caked mud on the tracks and suspension. After getting a bit too enthusiastic with a new technique that I was trying, the tank looks like it plowed through one of Nomandy’s flooded fields. But that’s the great thing about building armor. Even after a minor mistake like that, I can still find plenty of photos of tanks that are even more clogged up with mud.
Jeff, I think the rest of the guys have pretty well covered your questions so I’ll just say welcome to the forum and thank you for your service.