The terrain that comes with the Marvel Crisis Protocol core set continues to be some of the most fun to paint. It’s also the least work with the best results.
The number of colors and techniques used on this bin are very small.
To start, the whole thing was given a black primer coat.
Next, I used an airbrush to coat everything except for the lids with Warcolours Green 5.
The bulldog logo was picked out with Warcolours One-Coat Yellow.
Then, using a damp natural sponge, I applied Citadel XV-88 randomly across the main bin. This is the beginning of the rust coat so I wanted to make sure that I spent some extra time on corners and anything else that sticks out and is likely to get bumped and chipped.
Next, I did the same with Pro-Acryl Mahogany, following the same locations where I used the XV-88.
I went back and used the Warcolours Green 5 again. This brings the previous two colors into harmony with the base coat of the green and helps to really sell the effect.
With the sponging complete I went back to the Mahogany with a brush to pick out some of the sculpted-in dents and dings to the surface of the bin.
The lid got a dry-brush of Warcolours Warm Gray 5.
The graffiti is freehand airbrush. It is not meant to be “cool”. It’s just supposed to add a little bit of realism. The paint splotch in the corner was also done with the airbrush. The thinking is that some kid had a white spray can, started in that corner and messed up, then moved to the other corner. It’s fun to have an idea in your head as to how this stuff happens to give it some life.
A note on technique here:
The sponge was dampened to make it workable and soft but I did wring out any moisture that I could because I didn’t really want it to thin the paints I would be using. I put a drop of paint on a dry palette, put the sponge on top of it, then dabbed the sponge around the palette to both spread the paint on the sponge and keep it from being too concentrated. When applying it to the model I start very lightly to make sure that I’m not going to get a large splotch of paint. I want small chips of color. As you work it around the model it drys out and you have to use more and more pressure to get the paint on to the surface but ths also changes the look at the chips so that’s good. Eventually you stop getting anything and it’s time to re-apply or change colors.
It’s important that the paints be a bit thick and pigment dense. the XV-88 and Mahogany both fit this requirement well. If you aren’t familiar with the Pro-Acryl line of paints then you should know that I buy these specifically because of the pigment density. Great for base coats. Although the final green color isn’t really as pigment dense as the rust colors the main point of using it at the end is ro break up some of the rust colors and vary them a bit and make some of the rust look as if it hasn’t yet completely shed the paint from it.
You’ll notice the texture on the surface. At the beginning of the project I had considered adding some texture to the surface first in order to give it that look of the rust really affecting the metal of the dumpster and breaking through the paint. I decided not to and just worked with the paint. The texture occurred naturally because I was keeping the sponge dry(ish) and not applying the paint too thickly. So each of the coats of colors took quite a while to get the coverage that I was looking for. The paint at times would lift slightly with the sponge, dry, then leave a little bit of texture on the surface. With each pass with the sponge the texture would increase slightly. The end result is VERY realistically scaled. Keep in mind that this was COMPLETELY UNINTENTIONAL. It wasn’t until I got to the final green pass with the sponge that I noticed this happy accident.
Sometimes it’s possible to overthink a paint job. I’m always working on ways to make thing fast but good and I think this is a good example of that. This probably took about an hour start to finish. If I had done both at the same time (instead of saving the other for a video) it would not have taken much longer to do both.