3 colour camo without an Airbrush

By The Kiwi

This is a rough guide to how I paint my German 15mm scale tanks for Flames of War games and get an airbrush effect without using an airbrush.

Above are some completed tanks with some undercoated tanks.

I typically spray on a light base colour for my Late War German tanks. In this case it was from a can of Tamiya Dark Yellow over some Gray Primer.

I then painted on a thin coat of Vallejo Middle Stone followed by an ink wash.

Above shows after a coat of Vallejo Brown Shade. I sometimes make it darker by mixing with about 50% Black Shade. Leave it to dry over night.

Next I go back over the model with Middle Stone again to get rid of any Ink pooling on the flatter areas.

Next is the application of the Brown and Green camo colours. I use a small old brush that I have cut down shorter. I dab it on in a semi drybrush technique. I try to make my brown areas cover a lot less than the green so I usually paint the brown first.

Next is a dry brush of Middle Stone that I have made a little lighter by adding white or one of the lighter desert colours. It basically softens all the edges and helps further give the look of the camo being applied by an airbrush.

After this I use a very fine brush to black line gaps in the shurzen and other areas that need more contrast, finish other details such as stowage and machine guns, add decals and finally apply some form of Matt varnish to get rid of any shiny areas and help protect the paint job.

So there you go. I find it gives a good result without using an airbrush.

Cheers