"Comments and advice on painting Old Crow 25mm vehicles?" Topic

I'm painting up a dozen or so Old Crow 25mm models for use with my Hasslfree Grymn (as yet unpainted) probably for use with Stargrunt II.

So far i've tackled a few APC's and a some scout cars. To these scout cars i've added rear mudguards, and rear lights (just visible), comms domes and spare wheels.

This is also the first time i've used an airbrush…

I wanted a camo colour, but to avoid the usual green/sand schemes, so i've gone for a more urban grey type colour scheme which i think works.

You'll notice this painting has been heavily influenced by the kevin Dallimore article here – PDF link

In the pic below we have three scout cars in various stages of completeness.

On the right is the basic sprayed pattern
Centre – with details re-undercoated black awaiting finishing
On the Left – with an additional brown/black glaze/wash and with edges highlighted and some (but not all details painted in).

picture

I'm not sure whether the wash is overdone as it has certainly changed the cold grey notes of the scheme. Do you prefer the centre vehicle (clean and coldgrey) or the left hand one (grubby bit warmer).

Also i've tried painting the grills on the vehicles a couple of times but any kind of black/grey scheme just seems to blend into the body colours. Suggestions?

Finally, any ideas on how to finish the checkerplate? I've tried painting both painting it black and highlighting with a gunmetal/chainmail colour and i've trid painting it chainmail and washing it black. However neither seems to work as the detail on the checkerpate is so fine… ideas?

Finally – no really finally this time – do the windows look like windows to you or have i overdone the style?

It all comes down to individual preference.
I prefer the left vehicle – dirty & used.
I like the windows in the left vehicle.
As for the grills…if they have a texture to them I would dry brush them with a very light color, give them a very dark wash and then go over them with a dry brush again.

Kevin

I think I prefer the warmer colors on the left hand vehicle, but that may simply be because it's more finished than the others. The center model's hull color scheme seems a little too "factory fresh" for a military vehicle…they're always a bit grubby and worn.

The checkerplate I'm not sure about. Maybe highlight it with a gray/metallic mix?

The finished windows look fine to me. You might be able to get away with a less exaggerated scheme (less work, if nothing else) but I don't think it hurts the look as is.

I vote for the left one also. Looks great. The middle one doesn't look finished yet to me.

Thank you for the comments guys.

The middle one doesn't look finished yet to me.

It isn't – i was just trying to provide it as a comaprison between the washed and unwashed paintwork.

So far so good! Very nice!

I love Old Crow's models, but I only have painting experience with their 15mm line. I've painted up a platoon of Slammer's blower tanks, and I've got a platoon of combat cars and some grav vehicles(for TAS HALO Tanks) on the way.

The windshields look great, don't change a thing. I trust you're going to give them a coat of gloss when you're finished?

I agree that the left one's warmer colours look so much better.

What other Old Crow vehicles are you using?

I've head good luck with coming back and hitting one corner of the checkers with a bit of white (or bluish white) after normal painting/drybrushing action. The bit of white tends to make the details pop a bit more as it draws the eye in and then allows you to see the detail that otherwise would go unnoticed.

You just need a small amount of white in order to get the desired result. It does take a bit of patience to get done – but it does go quickly. Don't forget to make the hotspot be on the same corner for all the checkers. The light should hit them all from the same direction.

Another vote for the left hand one. The windows look fine.

Yep, left one rocks. Nice job indeed!

What other Old Crow vehicles are you using?

I have another Goanna scout, 2 Trojan Light APC's, A slingshot AFV and a Claymore Heavy APC.

Although i have my eye on getting some more serious armour to go with these a couple of gladus/glaives and perhaps a helberd assault gun too. I'm not keen on the sabre and lancer models.

I'm following the tracked route, with Glaives and Gladius and maybe a Samson at a later date although your Geckos/Pirhannas look damned fine). I have a bunch in a box and am curious as to what you primed yours with, prior to painting.

As far as I can tell (from the Forge world site) you just need superglue for assembly and a standard car primer for priming…did you use anything different?

Kevin Dallimore's site is ace…have you looked at the Zaporoyski Brigade stuff he has on it? It's very inspiring.

I like the leftmost, except for the windows. The technique looks fine, I just don't care for that style for windows. A possible alternative is to paint the window surfaces a glossy smoke tint color and/or cover that with cut to shape strips of clear plastic for an additional window look. Otherwise I think your work looks great.

As an fyi- Jez has always been very accomodating in mixing and matching turrets and bodies.

One thing I *love* about the OC wheeled vehicles is he puts in a small "wedge" that makes centering the wheels very easy- no fiddling trying to get them to all center correctly. I also appreciate that each vehicle comes with a couple of weapon options.

I have about 70 or so OC vehicles in 25mm scale. Around 30 Slammers, enough Zap vehicles to field one of each platoon in the rulebook, a few of each of the flyers, one of the 8-barreled AA guns, etc.

The one I am doing now is a gunboat based off the Ainsty launch with a missile launcher in the back and dual cannon in the front.

HI insomniac and thanks for the comments
You said:

As far as I can tell (from the Forge world site) you just need superglue for assembly and a standard car primer for priming…did you use anything different?

Wash everything in warm soapy water. The assembled using superglue – i do use a high viscosity one though as the resin can be a little porous, but i have used normal superglue before with no adverse effects.

I undercoated black using PlastiKote quick drying enamel paint. Just because its a readily available spray here in the uk and i happen to have it… its not special. And then airbrushed the lightest of the camo colours over the black – took 2 coats to get a good finish…

Blackhawk. I agree the OC vehicles are excellent and those 'little touches make them special and enjoyable to put together. Although i'm not a fan of 'hover' vehicles at all, they just dont cut it for me.

Goldwyrm – thanks for the comments. Horses for courses i guess, as i find the gloss effect to be a bit.. well odd.