I have really been struggling to get the initial hull color to match the hue I am after. I went through a lot of iterations to get what I was after. It's pretty clear in some pictures the primary layer is a type of grey, but most of what I see has a greenish, yellowish, greyish color to it...
First I put down a layer of Light Grime and masked off a few of the grey areas. I also masked off a few areas that I had missed in my previous paint job.
I followed this with a layer of Light Green and then I hit that with a dusting of Light Reefer Grey to get here:
I finished off this base layer with a 60/40 mix of Light Grime and Olive Oxide:
The initial layer of Grey, followed by Green, followed by Grey, and then Light Grime/Olive Oxide put me pretty much where I wanted to be.
Time for masking! I attempted to get it a bit more 'accurate' this time and I think it turned out pretty good.
While re-watching a video from John Simmons, he mentioned that you could 'spatter' on the pain mask with a stiff brush. I think the final effect of this method will be much better than my last attempt:
After the paint mask dried, it's time to apply a mixture of Light Green and Light Reefer Grey:
This light green was absolutely the color I was missing last time and I think it's a lot closer to what I imagined than my previous attempt.
To get the final color I was after, it was a bit of a back and forth with the Grey-Green and Coach Green. Pretty sure I put down Grey Green first, then Coach, and then a mixture of both to get what I wanted in the end. Again, as mentioned before, this model is a testimate to how much the previous layers matter for the final color.
This is after the Grey Green and then the Coach Green:
And after a bit more back and forth, all the base colors have been applied to the upper hull:
I am still waiting for the darker green color to dry before I remove the remaining masks.
I would never be so bold to say I actually nailed anything on this paint job, but I really like the way the spattering of the paint mask turned out on this side. I really struggled to make it look even close to what I was after last time and I think this is a bit of improvement:
Just wanted to say that these paints are awesome. The final hue is tough to beat and once dried all they way can take a lot of abuse. I use thinned oils right over these without any issues. I have also stopped clear coating with these as they dont need it and it really affects the final look.
I have found you do really have to mix them well and dial them in. The thicker base colors can be a bit more difficult but if you play arround with them enough you can fet them down without too much hassle.
Here is the first layer of Light Green on the skirt, this is the same process I used for the upper hull:
Followed by a mixture of Light Grime and Oxide to match the base color of the upper hull. As soon as this dries it will be time for some masking and then a bit of Pink and Red.
After masking off all the appropriate pieces, it's time to apply some of the pink to the lower shroud:
This is followed up by some more masking (to preserve some of the pink parts) with Boxcar Red. I went much lighter here with the Red than I did in my previous iteration based on advice by Guy over on the Archive-X Face Book page. There is a good thread over there right now on how Slave 1 should be painted up. I know for my Fine Molds version of this ship I will incorporate some of what I have learned from him so far in that build.
One major addition to this paint job is that I applied the spattering process I used on the upper hull to this lower hull and it has made all the difference in the world to get this closer to what I have been looking for.
Other than the misting coats the upper hull and lower skirt are pretty much done, onto the rear section! First up is SP Armour Yellow for the wings and some of the rear sections.
I have really come to enjoy these weathering pencils for streaking. Since I don't use any kind of flat/gloss coats over these paints these are great because you can just use them with some water and there is zero chance it will affect the initial layers of paint. Plus, since they are pencils you have tons of control and if it goes sideways, all of it can easily be removed with a bit of water.
I am going a different route for the misting this time and trying a mixture of Dark Grime followed by Concrete. I really like the look of the light earth but it's really easy to overdo it in a hurry, these are much less prone to that.
In addition to the weathering pencils, I used some weathered and grimy black in a few spots:
For streaking; I use the lead of a pencil (grinded to a fine dust almost) then apply it with a fine make-up Q-Tip. Total control and if you don't like it; an eraser will do the trick Thanks a bunch for an extensive tuto/paint tricks and results