Join me in Episode 2 of "The Learning Curve" as I dive into the painting of camouflage. In this video, I'll be taking on the challenge of painting a LAV25 in three color NATO camouflage and sharing my tips and tricks with you along the way. Whether you're new to scale model painting or an experienced hobbyist, there's always more to learn and I'm excited to take this journey with you. So come along for the ride and let's learn to paint camo together in this episode of "The Learning Curve"!
Notice a mistake? Got a better way of doing something? Have a piece of advice you want to share? Let me know right here in the comments or over on my Instagram at / commonostrichmo. .
Thanks to @RRSlugger and @NATOVFreeKZheadMusic for making their music available for free use!
Additional tip, you can paint your lights silver/chrome and once that dries go over it with the clear colour (eg. orange)
I would not touch up the areas covered by the black splotches. In the actual military, they just spray that paint over everything. They've even had to replace headlight covers because they got sprayed over.
Tip to do highlight ：using oil paint ，if you don't like it, you can use white spirit to wash it off ，and start over 😉
I build car models, but find the painting techniques used like yours allow me to learn different methods of painting. Very interesting and informative. I've also learned that by reading other comments help too. Subscribed.
Great work and grate instruction. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience.
Real master at his work ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ GREAT
Another tip is that often, the crews paint right over the wood handles on the tools mounted to AFV bodies so they are often the same color as the camo. This was often done on AFVs back in WW2 as well. You'll find a lot of AFV axes,shovels, and picks with painted handles.
Yes, Witchywoman165! Having served in the USMC, nothing carried on a Marine or their vehicle isn’t camouflaged. Even our rifles are, especially in the scout-sniper community. When I see great modelers neatly painting their pioneer gear I cringe. The last thing you want if you’re a tanker is the glint of sunshine coming off a nicely steel shovel or pinch bar. You’re dead. I’ve read and own just about every major source book on WW2 German armor and crews would just use their on board air compressor to paint over everything in the same camo scheme. I get why modelers do this, but that’s not real world experience. I’m not knocking this talented modeler. I’m just being honest. On a slightly off topic matter, I also cringe at modelers who are hell bent on making their own weld beads as at least half that I’ve seen are out of scale! Here’s an idea: if the kit has sufficient detail on welds, simply give them a few spots of wear by patting some chrome or silver or even primer over the welds. This brings out the weld texture without blowing them out of scale. I rarely mess with weld beads. Occasionally I’ll put some around a major feature which we know was welded , but usually I just weather it and leave it alone and in scale
Thanks for sharing this, additional learning. I did camo paint too on my airsoft rifle. During that project, I also considered "breaking shapes" which is one concept in real camouflage. For example, on edges, dark colors are used while on flat surfaces the lighter paints are applied. I love how the model turned out well.
Awesome technique bro thanks for showing
That was awesome, I learned a bunch. I feel equipped now to break out that airbrush and get to work!
Thank you, I am just about to paint my ASLAV PC. I put down a Camo Black using SMS, followed by the CAMO brown. Then, we will use camo green and black. Thank you again for the inspiration that i need to continue on. This was a difficult build. Instructions were poorly done, and this was my second model to complete. Ocean from Australia 🇦🇺
Great model!
Awesome job buddy, weathering kinda got me stumped but im trying it thanks for the video
Thx for that tutorial! Greetings from germany
To hold a turret for priming/painting stick a blob of bluetac on the top of a 60ml bottle of Vallejo primer. Set the turret down over the bottle so the bluetac will stick to the inside of the turret roof. I've used this method for years and it works great. As well, once you paint your pioneer tools with your choice of wood colour, paint over with thinned Vallejo Smoke to give a bit of a woodgrain look but only brush in one direction along the length of the tool handles. For metal parts, paint with flat black or panzer grey, and once the vehicle is clear coated in matt, rub the metal parts with a graphite pencil. It give a very convincing steel look.
Thanks for the tips! I figured the blutac trick out and it works great. I'm working on some more tools right now so I'll be sure to try out the smoke and graphite tricks!
@@commonostrichmodels Or you can glue a long cutted sprue (in area where it will be hidden).
Коллега, эта классика) и знать её должны все!
easiest way to paint metal part is painting by gunmetal grey color. I tried and it worked great, no need to do many steps
Awesome job
Thanks for this. I need to do something similar soon.
fantastic video!!
Pro tip wear a glove with the hand that holds the item being painted and proper thinning of paint eliminates orange peel and the speckling, for a shading to work properly or zenithal chromatic priming you must use a very lite translucent amounts of primary over colors to allow shading to be effective, I like to add a glazing medium along with flow improver/thinner
Great job! Love it! What brushes do you use? I mean brand, type and size.....
Thank you very much for the video, a great educational video for beginners. It’s nice to watch and listen, I’ll try all your techniques on my models
I will try your technique on my Bradley one of these days. Thanks for making this video!
Best of luck, and learn from my mistakes! Thanks for the support!
It's great, especially if it's your's first! Well done!
Thank you so much!
Nice one 👍🏼
Hope you are pleased, it looks super cool and real
Looks amazing! Im new to this hobby and been only looking at subjects with single color camo so far. With this guide i think i can brave a multi color camo.
I’m glad I could inspire you to give it a try!
To hold stuff while painting. Alligator clip attacked to sticks. You'd need larger sticks for the big sub assemblies, but I use it with mech all the time.
Enjoyed your video very much. You got a new subscriber! I just completed building the Panzer III from Takom, and I wish I used Blue Tak for the camouflage on the side armor! I'll remember that for the next time. One suggestion I have though: You might find it easier to paint / weather the tools and accessories before fixing them to the model.
That is a really nice NATO colour scheme, and the whole model looks great. As a tip I like to paint my tools off the model, and put them on at the end, but yours look great.
Thanks for the advice! That’s how I’ve started to do them. I assembled this a few years ago before I knew how much easier it is to paint off the model.
Very good for the first model!!!
Thanks!
Cool tutorial.
Great video and excellent detailing.
Thank you very much! Glad you liked it!
Nice job and very interesting video with explanation. So you used acrylic paint. What type of airbrush di you use? Single or double action pistol?
one trick ive found that works with masking tape too, if you apply the blutack or masking tape to the model, first spray the base colour along the inside edge, that way if theres any pocket where the paint would run underneath, it fills with the base colour, then when you spray your 2nd colour into the masked off area, you should always have crispy edges without that little bleed you sometimes get.
Well done! I do like silly putty better as a mask. I use hotel key cards as quick blocks as you used card stock.
Very nice
I’m your 218 th subscriber. Hope to see more great content.
Thanks Trevor! I’ll be posting every Saturday!
Nice.
I use rolled cotton which looks like Blue Tack only softer. I use two way tape (not the real stuff) and spray the cotton with hairspray to trap any unwanted fibers. Believe it or not it works. I don’t like hard lines either. They don’t often occur in nature except in rocky areas. Don’t knock it til you try it.
You made a great video, I think I'm going to have to put that kit on my bucket list. Can I give you a couple of tips? First if you are painting US military vehicles in camo you might want to download a copy of TB43-0209. It has "color by number" drawings of current in service vehicles that show the pattern in great detail. You can print out the vehicle you're painting to scale and cut them out as masks. It works really well, I used it on my HUMMV (full disclaimer I did have to use a bit of latex mask to fill in some areas and it also work really well as an adhesive for the masks). Also you might want to try hollowing out your headlights and painting them silver (or use silver mylar as a backing) then fill them in with a drop of clear UV resin. The silver mylar also makes a nice reflective surface for rearview mirrors.
Dan, wonderful tips! I’ll keep TB43-0209 in my back pocket for next time I do a scheme like this. I’ll be testing out that headlight tip in my next video too! Thanks for commenting 👍
I've always painted tools before attaching them to the kit, and just be very sparing with the glue so as to prevent it from showing, is there any reason not to do that? or is it entirely up to preference? Great video btw!
I printed a 3d handle that has a a turn table top and different vices that attach inside the turret or onto the body
I am not a scale modeller, but I have painted many model for miniature wargames. What I like to do to make a model "pop" as you English speaking people like to say is applying edge highlights. I usually start with a slightly lighter highlight colour and apply it to the whole edge and then apply two or three more layers that are getting lighter and lighter with the lightest colour focussing on the corner sections.
Doing some research I learned that the camo pattern on each Leopard 2A5 is identical. I guess this is also true for other German military vehicles. Factory robots painting first a base layer of NATO olive green and then the same brown and black spots over and over again.
That may be true for several years but I highly doubt the Marders 1A2's and Leopards coming off lines in the late 80s or 90's were painted by robots and I have seen several conflicting nato 3-color schemes on them.
@@witchywoman165 I did mention the 2A5 version in particular.
NIce work! :)
Thanks Toni!
That was a excellent build and paint job, it looked as if it had anti slip, if so did you add this? You have yourself another subscrber, best regards from Australia 👍👍👍
Thanks! No it’s not anti-slip, it’s just a messed up airbrush needle and Vallejo primer 😅 I’ve sorted that issue out though for the next video.
PAINT LIGHTS SILVER, THEN RED , YELLOW, ETC, YOUR CAMOFLOGE WAS GREAT AND I LIKED IT, I ALWAYS USE SPRAY CANS MUTCH TO THE SAME EFFECT. U BOAT COMMANDER.
Hey bro, nice to see you learn the hobby. Using primer is an important step, but you seem to use it only to build base for next coats. Nothing's wrong with it, tho it's even more useful to correct previous mistakes, like pins, glue stains, sink marks, etc. Primer makes those very easy to spot and fix, and it's good practice to do so, as those imperfections would be visible on a finished surface. Good luck with your journey!
Great point - I need to get some fine sandpaper and files to help with cleanup. I appreciate the comment!
I enjoyed this, thank you. I'm intrigued by your addition of highlights and shadows, although I have also seen other modellers do it and I can see that it works. At first I thought you might be simulating the fading of the paint due to sun damage over time, but it seems you are actually trying to enhance the real-time lighting of the model. Is there something about the small scale that makes this enhancement necessary? Otherwise, why is it not enough to let the light interact naturally with the moulded details?
It comes down to artistic choice. Bright highlights create contrast that draws the eye. I’m using that contrast to try to create more visual interest and make all those small details stand out more. A lot of the details would be harder to notice without it. The matte coat also dulls down the natural highlights so painting them back selectively gives more control of the final look. Sometimes I don’t do it, just depends on the look I’m going for. It seems to be more popular with wargamers.
I LOVE you do not exaggerate too much.
Dear Sir: forgive me if I missed it, but what settings are you using on your brush for priming? Needle size and psi?
nice work on the camo, i have a question re the Needle size and psi used in this video. i've just tried my first attempt on a Panzer 1V i used Vallejo Olive Green Model and i think i thinned it too much and it flowed on the model, i just couldn't get the narrow lines to work and i was using 0.2mm needle and fooled around with the psi any constructed help would be appreciated. Thanks Allan
I use a 0.3mm needle at anywhere between 20-40 PSI, just depends on the paint and how it's spraying. I struggled a lot with the 0.2mm needle, maybe try going up a size and messing around with the pressure. With Vallejo ModelAir I either don't thin it at all or thin it very slightly, maybe a 5:1 paint:thinner mix. It sprays very nicely at higher pressures (35+ PSI).
Fairly solid method, nice work. Unfortunately there was still a bit of dust under the paint on some panels. Very difficult to get rid of
Thank you. Yes, dust is tricky and it’s one of the things that separates a good paint job from a great one. I’m trying to pay better attention to dust, it’s a very tricky problem. I have started to place a box over the model while paint & varnish drys, and I try to remember to dust everything down before painting.
@@commonostrichmodels I hope I didn't come across as critical or overly so. I use optical alcohol wipes before painting and use an extractor booth. Seems to solve at least some of it but it's the bane of my life when it happens. I normally rub it out with fine grade and repaint
@@garoidodubhaill Nope! Constructive criticism is exactly what this channel is for - I can't improve if people don't tell me what I'm doing wrong 😁 I appreciate the advice and I will try out some alcohol wipes. I am planning on getting a fume hood in the near future. Dusting is one of those monotonous things I always seem to forget before I start painting and it really adds up by the end.
Poster tack and a dowl would have made it easy to hold your parts while painting.
I have always wondered - and I know not everyone does it - but that it would be easier to paint items like tools, etc after the main paint job on the vehicle and only then glue them on if they were to be weathered with the rest of the model? I seems comparable to pre-painting interior sections that would be visible and not easily accessed once other pieces are put together?
Yes it would be much easier to do it that way. Unfortunately I have a box of a bunch of models I built about 5 years ago but never painted. Once I get through the backlog I will be able to paint tools separately.
@@commonostrichmodels Oh I see. So, necessity rather than regular method. Thanks for the reply too, those like us who are getting back into modelling after years learn so much and appreciate all your time and effort making these videos. I really appreciate your technique, especially your brush work. I am my own worst enemy though, wanting, no having, to be perfect first time and seeing excellent results and technique on these videos makes me forget it won't happen opening that first kit, it takes experimentation, practice and above all, time. I started writing lists of the various methods to do this or that on just a few things like the one I mentioned here and realized (a) there are more ways to do just one thing than spots on a leopard (b) I'm forgetting the basic reason for doing this - to have fun and (c) to stop dithering and just break a kit open. Among the dozens of kits I already have sitting on the shelf, I bought about 10 Hanomags to practice on as they're cheapest to start experimenting with and I like them. But yeah, still in the plastic. Thanks again, time to take that first step.
@@andrewstamford1988 Thanks Andrew! If you pay close attention to your work and focus on learning rather than perfection, you will find yourself surprised how quickly you improve. Before this channel I did 3 or 4 models to get back into it and I was astounded how much I grew in only a few weeks. The whole point of this series is to be critical in a productive way and to learn from my mistakes - and to encourage others to do the same. I have a problem with perfectionism too but I've really been learning to go with the flow and just try things. Getting actual experience has done so much more to grow my skills than hours of studying and trying to get everything perfect the first time. I now know that if I keep at it I'll get better results each time. Good luck and I hope that you have a fun journey and level up your skills along the way!
Paint lights aluminum or a silver then clear coat several times with high gloss clear or medium for simulating glass. Use translucent paints for colored lenses.
Thanks for the tip Tony! In my next episode I’m planning on exploring some different techniques for headlights.
@@commonostrichmodels testors makes a product, I also suspect craft stores would have some thick clear mediums.
Nice 👍🏿
Thanks!
when painting this scheme on a real vehicle, do the go with white over black primer and do they vary the shades of the basic Camo colours
No, those are just techniques that I’m using to have a more interesting looking paint job. Real vehicles are exposed to sun and rain and the paint starts to discolor over time. If you’ve ever seen a car with a worn out clear coat you’ll see this effect.
Really like the camo job, but have to wonder why you wouldn't paint the tools and jerry cans separately before attaching them to the hull.
Yes that would be the best way to do it. Unfortunately I built this model and many others years ago and then stashed them away in a big box. When I get through the backlog and buy some new kits I will be leaving tools and jerry cans unattached until after painting.
building tanks is great because you can assemble almost then entire model and then detail it. i always get hung up on the little things when doing airplanes and it takes me twice as long as armor kits
Good morning, I didn't understand what the name is of that modeling clay that you apply on the model
TIP: Use silly putty instead of blue tack - it sticks well enough but doesn't run the risk of pulling up paint (and it's reusable).
Thanks! I’ll give it a try in the future!
@@commonostrichmodels some people complain of oily residue when using putty for masking. maybe some results will vary, user error might occur, locking coats into clear might prevent stains on flat paint
I've painted a truck TRI color. I can't imagine it being much different on a model. Digital is much harder to do.
Do you highlight areas under the hull and in between wheels and hull? I don’t see that in the video.
No, those areas are in shadow.
I need help on paint on tamiya model
Shadow on the wall?😳 Jman
Yeah, "made easy". So basically classic modeller approach - experience, patience and bit of luck :)
😅 yeah maybe “easy” was a simplification. Still though, I only picked up this hobby in the past few months. Anyone can get these results or better with a little bit of research and patience!
Don't suppose you could let me know what pressure you're using for your primers, paints and clearcoats through the airbrush. Haven't been using an airbrush for long and everyone seems to say different things.
I normally spray thinned acrylics at 20-25 psi. Vallejo Air sprays right out of the bottle pretty well anywhere from 25-35psi, primers vary but with Mig OneShot I go somewhere around 30-35psi. I have no idea if the regulator on my cheap Chinese compressor is accurate though, and there's no way to tell if other people's recommendations are accurate either. I would recommend testing out different paint+thinner+psi combos on plastic spoons and figuring out what works best for you. Humidity, nozzle size, paint types, thinners all make huge differences in how paint behaves so it's best to figure out what works best with your specific setup. Start around 20psi and work up from there. As you get more experience working with the tools it'll become much more intuitive.
@@commonostrichmodels Hi would just like to say thank you for spending your time replying. I will keep at it and work my way up. Your pressures are around what I've found sort of works with my setup. A lot of information especially Vallejo's I've used but the pressures are just too low. Have subbed, I will definitely keep my eye out for more of your videos. Cheers.
are you related to Ostrich Longneck in South Africa ???
No association, and I'm not familiar with them.
why gloss black rather than matt?
What part are you referencing? Probably just because it's what I had on hand.
Can you do a video like this put without using an airbrush? Please and thsnk you
Probably not, airbrushing is the way I like to paint. Thanks for watching!
The paint texture is very grainy... I think you need to play with air pressure and paint consistency
Yeah the primer I used was giving poor results with my setup. I have experienced much better results with Mig OneShot @ approx. 35PSI.
So many scale model tank painting video's are 1/35. There is a huuuge 1/16 scale RC tank community that gets completely neglected 😢
Yes 1/16 would be very cool, but it is also much more expensive. Some of the 1/16 models are over $500 and 1/35 is normally only around $50. I'd like to do 1/16 one day.
@@commonostrichmodels yeah, cost is definately a factor. There's so much more choice with 1/35 though,
You don't need any special skills to make a good camo, just need to know what surroundings you are going to use it in, and boom..It's all right in fron of you... Don't need precision spray painting, it's all mostly random shite to pray on with the common colors of the surroundings you are staying in...
True! In this case I was mimicking a camouflage that was painted by machines, so I was going for a certain pattern. Pretty much all camo LAV-25's have the same exact scheme. Also, it's difficult to paint small stuff, spraying randomly gives pretty bad results. The rifles that I've painted have been with a spray can and are much more free-form, as you've described.
... Use masking tape...
Good idea! Sometimes I do. I like Tamiya masking for straight lines.
Nice video, but pre-shading is the work of the devil IMO. Fashionable and very pretty, but not realistic. I've seen pre-shaded battleships and they look ridiculous. You are better off using washes.
Real vehicles have overspray….