-A Painting Tutorial and Resource for A&A Global-

Next I applied a second coat  to the infantry of a darker color (1 drop of dark green, 1 drop of light green). Its sort of a drybrushing technique…but not really. You basically get your brush with some paint on it, wipe of the paint a little but on a paper towel or newspaper, then dab or pull it across the piece so it leaves streaks or patches of that color on the piece. It sounds like it would ruin your piece, but it makes it look good and shadowed. On something like a ship or tank treads-basically something with clearly defined raised surfaces- it helps to pull the brush perpendicular to the surface. So on a tank tread, pull it left to right or right to left as opposed to up and down. That way you only paint the raised surfaces and it highlights those parts…more realistic and cool  :wink: That technique worked very well for my Russian T34s. You can see the treads were painted that way, but there are also subtle light brown dry-brush highlights on clearly visible on the barrel and engine of the tank.
When drybrushing, periodically rinse your brush in the water so it doesn’t dry out and get ruined from paint…it will lose its tip and become a poofy bunch of fibers that isn’t useful any more. I don’t know if you can tell from the lighting, but the left piece (top left pic) is not drybrushed, while the right piece is. This is very clearly visivle on ships…if you do a silver or gunmetal gray drybrush on the conning towers and such, it looks really cool!

Then I painted the pants- I originally painted them a sandy tan color, but it looked dumb, so i painted a raw sienna over it. In the picture the pieces look a little spotty, but I paint over any spots I see while I’m painting. By the end they are all tidy.

Next I gave them dark green caps and painted the pieces’ belts brown. The belt was done with a skewer…everything else so far has been a fine brush.

Finally, I gave them a gun and a red dot on their caps (i’m making half of them Communist, half of them Nationalist…just for the heck of it. HISTORY!) The gun is a brown with a gunmetal grey as the guns metal parts. basically i painted the rings on the guns barrel, the gunsight on the end, and then I ran a line down the top to look like a metal barrel.

I just have to do the boots, some tidying up of their uniforms, and then their skin and hair! I’ll post that all when I am finished painting them. Which I’m not sure when that will be. We’ll see- probably by the end of this week. maybe in one or two days.

Thanks for your interest! Again, any questions or comments are welcome. I’ll post some other pictures of my pieces with comments on the techniques I used.

@Viracocha:

Spitfire!  Love what you’re doing here  :-D - have wanted to do the same but time restraints has always foiled my plan.

Thanks! I’ve used your pieces for ideas for various pieces, so you have a piece of the credit…haha  :-)

@Bravehart:

Spitfire,

Nice artwork and dedication. The only reasning for myself to paint was when AA50 came out, to make sure we all knew who the Italian’s were, and difs between cruisers and distroyers, tac bomber’s.
Now old news cos when the AA 40 two games came out, we were used to knowing.

However, I have a few questions for you or any others who have put there heart into the game piece’s:

When you get round to your next game, with all your hard work and dedication, does the paint stay on, meaning from hot hands for example, or if dropped on hard floor, clumbseyness happens!
Well, if I didn’t take care of them, the paint would easily come off from hot hands becuase it’s acrylic. However, when I am done I always spray them with a matte enamel spray that hardens and leaves them very well protected. The only way to chip them then is to scrape it with your nail or step on it or something. I’ll cover that later in the thread
Would you be on edge if you have non caring players who treat the new upgraded hard work like if it was the borring original colour?
weeelllll…about that. The spray covers the pieces very well, but I still never have peace of mind. The one guy I play with most often is very appreciative of my work and has even helped me at times, so no problem there. But it can be annoying if someone handles them roughly when we play as a group. But usually they are unharmed even with rough handling.
Do you store the pieces in the original boxies with no extra padding or bags?
I’ve actually created my own storage boxes…well finished one of them. I use basic storage boxes from Target, some colored felt for each nation, balsa wood for dividers, and some hot glue. I’ll post a picture of them later. It doesn’t make for very good transport, but I rarely take it anywhere, and when I do, you just need an extra pair of hands. (2 nations fit in a box as of now)
Would you be extra careful and make changes and rules when playing, just to look after all piece’s?
Like I said earlier, it’s not really a problem after they’re sprayed. I still take care of them, but you don’t need to be walking on pins and needles. You can grab a handful of artillery and place them without chipping them. So, no I would never change the rules just for my pieces.

I suppose that is the dedication and risk you have to take.

Bravehart

@dangermouse650:

Nice to see this happening, i may learn a few new tricks  :-D From my own experience the biggest quality needed is time, patience…… and a steady hand… i have trouble with them these days and  i have to wear glasses, didn’t have these problems when i painted my classic set many many moons ago. All good, on with the show  :-)

Yes, patience and a steady hand are definitely key! I find a magnifying glass is great, but I seem to lose depth perception looking through one, so i can’t tell when I’ll touch the piece…so I can’t do any detail work with one.

You finished a classic set? That would be cool to see the original pieces painted  :-)

Hey all! Sorry I haven’t posted in a while- I just finished the Chinese infantry last night, so I should be able to get pics up sometime soon. They will be here!  :lol:

@dangermouse650:

Hopefully the link works, i didn’t paint the infantry, wasn’t till i found this site and seen allwork and virococha’s painted sets that i gave the infantry a try….
http://www.mediafire.com/?f6suo1dcadamm

Nice work! I like it.

@Rorschach:

I notice you don’t use a primer first.

I would personally highly recommend, after washing the pieces and letting them dry, using a Krylon Fusion, flat spray paint (black is my preference, though white would be fine as well) as a primer before painting.

The Krylon Fusion brand adheres to plastics and using a flat primer/paint beforehand provides a better surface for your acrylics to stick to (less chance of them rubbing off/chiping later on).

I’ve thought about it before…do you think it gives a better product in the the end, and does it make the paint job easier or more professional? If it’s just for protection in the end I probably won’t, but let me know what you think of it because I’ve seriously considered it before!

All right guys! I finished the Chinese infantry.

I finished the boots with a straight black. I used a thin point brush to get in between the legs on the inside of the boots. Afterwards I had to go back over the base a little bit to cover up any stray lines from painting the boots. That’s why it’s important to make sure you can replicate a pretty similar shade again when you first mix the base.

Then I just fixed up the uniforms with a straight dark green (that’s another bonus of using 2 coats of different colors… you can touch up with one straight color without mixing it and it doesn’t look bad)

For the base, I needed a green, but more of a bright, pastel colored green, not a dark forest or army green. So I mixed some blue and yellow (come on, back to the basic color wheel- 1st grade  :lol:) until I found a shade I liked. Then you just apply it to the base and wick off any extra that sticks over the top of the side of the base with your finger.

Then you wait for it to dry, sit back, survey your pieces, make any changes you want, and be proud of yourself!  :-D

Here are the pics of the final infantry.

One of those guys has a face defect-poor guy. must be hard missing half your jaw.
Every once in a while you have to have some fun as well. So here is an infantry piece with some “accesories”… Taliban infantry, Chinese Rambo…take your pick. haha. He looks a little messy, but I fixed him up later, don’t worry!

Hope you guys found this helpful! I’ll be doing some more pieces in the near future.

I added a poll at the top of the page on which pieces you would like to see painted. Let me know!

@dangermouse650:

Great job there man  :-) Keep up the good work

Thanks!! I appreciate approval…it keeps me going sometimes  :-)

@Tall:

Really nice work!

And IMHO it’s very important to have FUN, too! A reference to you “Rambo-san”.

Keep up the good work.

“Tall Paul”

Thank you as well- I  couldn’t have said it better. In my 1942 set I painted a hot pink Panther/Tiger whatever it is, with a flower on the engine and flames on the treads. Fun!

@Rorschach:

@Spitfire38:

I’ve thought about it before…do you think it gives a better product in the the end, and does it make the paint job easier or more professional? If it’s just for protection in the end I probably won’t, but let me know what you think of it because I’ve seriously considered it before!

I definately think using a flat base coat makes the paint job a little bit easier, in addition to making the paint a little bit more durable…  It gives you a better surface to work with instead of the semi-slick plastic (or slick gloss paint if you make that mistake like I did the first time when doing a base coat!) and I find the paint goes on better.

For the small cost (I buy Krylon Fusion flat spray paint … used an off white for my AA50 pieces) of about $7 you can do your entire set and then some.  Just if you do, make sure you do 2 light coats rather than 1 heavy coat or you’ll lose all the detail and end up with a mess.

I also strongly recommend a clear coat on top when you’re finished to protect the paint job.  Any matte varnish spray can will do the job (or satin/gloss if you don’t like the matte/flat look).

Wow, $7 for a whole set! I’ll look into it- sounds like it’s worth it. Thanks for the advice.

Don’t forget to vote on what you see painted at the top of the page.

@Tall:

Spitfire38,

I couldn’t help but notice you had left the entire bases for your Nationalist Chinese Infantry a solid blue. Were you going to eventually paint the
N.C. insignia on their bases? Here’s a pic of the ones that “Allworkandnoclay” painted for me. I hope it might assist you in your painting. Keep up the good work.

“Tall Paul”

Yes, I’ve looked at his work extensively. I’m thinking of trying the roundel bases on a few infantry for each nation… I don’t know if I have the skill, but it should come with practice. I’ll let you know if I ever do that.

@Rorschach:

@Spitfire38:

@Rorschach:

@Spitfire38:

I’ve thought about it before…do you think it gives a better product in the the end, and does it make the paint job easier or more professional? If it’s just for protection in the end I probably won’t, but let me know what you think of it because I’ve seriously considered it before!

I definately think using a flat base coat makes the paint job a little bit easier, in addition to making the paint a little bit more durable…  It gives you a better surface to work with instead of the semi-slick plastic (or slick gloss paint if you make that mistake like I did the first time when doing a base coat!) and I find the paint goes on better.

For the small cost (I buy Krylon Fusion flat spray paint … used an off white for my AA50 pieces) of about $7 you can do your entire set and then some.  Just if you do, make sure you do 2 light coats rather than 1 heavy coat or you’ll lose all the detail and end up with a mess.

I also strongly recommend a clear coat on top when you’re finished to protect the paint job.  Any matte varnish spray can will do the job (or satin/gloss if you don’t like the matte/flat look).

Wow, $7 for a whole set! I’ll look into it- sounds like it’s worth it. Thanks for the advice.

Don’t forget to vote on what you see painted at the top of the page.

Remember, that’s $7 for one spray can of Krylon Fusion (at least that’s the price at the WalMart here).  You still have the other paints, and then a clear coat on top.  But yes, one can should prime your entire set.  Or pretty close to it.

I already have the paints and I already use a matte spray on them when they are done, so yes, just the primer is left. I’ll be sure to pick some up!

@majikforce:

Great job Spitfire!  Really cool idea and i love the pics.  Just a couple things I have learned painting.  I also use the acrylics and I have found that after washing the pieces a light primer coat helps a lot.  My pieces get a lot of handling and peeling was always an issue.  I don’t use the infantry pieces from the game so when I buy unique infantry sets to paint sometimes I get variations in the plastic used so a primer coat is a must.  I also use a matte clear coat to protect. (sometimes 2 coats)  I have found Krylon is the best.  I love to use the pieces when we play but some people don’t like them when we play.  They say its to hard to distinguish the different powers.  So when planning a paint scheme maybe take this into consideration.  I don’t always go for the authentic look.  I like to have a scheme that is easily recognizable and cool to look at.  And most of all have fun doing it!!  I also run into problems with storage.  As of now I store all my painted pieces with the regular ones in the boxes from Global.  I have the boxes compartmentalized into unit type but I find that the outer extremities of the infantry (guns, arm, hands etc) tend to peel more easily.  Any suggestions for storage I am all ears.  Keep up the good work!

Well you’re the 2nd person recommending primer, so I’ll have to try it! The guy I play with most often knows exactly which pieces are which because I share them with him as I’m painting and he knows what they look like, but with other people I can imagine it becomes a pain. My painted pieces are more just a personal project of mine because I don’t really have anyone to play with that often, but yes, I take that into consideration and try to make things color coded with insignias.As for storage and protection, I find that spraying them with an matte enamel spray afterwards helps the most. There isn’t much you can do to prevent chipping and such, especially on the infantry. I will post pictures of my storage boxes I made later. Its basically a box(es) from Target lined with felt and divided with balsa wood; not practical for transportation, but again, I don’t transport them much and it makes the storage look professional.

Thanks for the feedback all!