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Miniatures Adventure => Future Wars => Topic started by: Gluteus Maximus on February 05, 2011, 05:11:00 PM

Title: Painting British MTP camo?
Post by: Gluteus Maximus on February 05, 2011, 05:11:00 PM
Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere, but has anyone posted a tutorial on how to do this quickly and effectively without spending 5 hours per figure?

I've been studying it, but it has me baffled  :(

Cheers!
Title: Re: Painting British MTP camo?
Post by: Inso on February 05, 2011, 05:16:39 PM
Is that the brand-new camo that we are using in Afghanistan?

It may be an idea to post a link/pic so we can get an idea of what you are after :) .
Title: Re: Painting British MTP camo?
Post by: Svennn on February 05, 2011, 05:46:55 PM
Is that the brand-new camo that we are using in Afghanistan?

It may be an idea to post a link/pic so we can get an idea of what you are after :) .

Especially for old codgers like me ;D Lets see what you want and see if we can come up with some ideas
Title: Re: Painting British MTP camo?
Post by: Steve F on February 05, 2011, 05:56:11 PM
It's a variant of the pattern used by the US Marines, with the shapes stretched out a bit in a deliberate attempt to recall good old DPM.

(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/2011%20-%2002%20-%20Feb/mtp-camo-in-afghanistan.jpg)

(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/2011%20-%2002%20-%20Feb/Multi_Terrain_Pattern-300x225.png)
Title: Re: Painting British MTP camo?
Post by: Gluteus Maximus on February 05, 2011, 06:34:04 PM
It's a variant of the pattern used by the US Marines, with the shapes stretched out a bit in a deliberate attempt to recall good old DPM.

Yep - any attempt to do a detailed copy of the pattern in 28mm would look far too "busy". The problem is that it has no strong pattern such as DPM, SS peadot or the old US desert camo (or even the good old fahioned Highland plaid) that makes it easy to do an abstract version that is wrong but looks right.

In real life, from more than a few feet it just looks pale greenish khaki with the odd darker splodge, but on 28mm figures that looks wrong to me  :?

It's a very effective "anytime-anywhere" type camo though and I personally think it looks pretty good. Not perfect in most theatres, but good enough in all of them.

Title: Re: Painting British MTP camo?
Post by: carlos marighela on February 05, 2011, 08:08:32 PM
Technically speaking it's not a variant of the USMC pattern. It's a variant of Crye Precision's MultiCam, with the paterns slightly elongated to give it a more DPM and thus more British feel. It's not a pixelated pattern and thus bears no relation to the USMC Marpat camo, which, by contrast, I have found is remarkably easy to paint.

I'm still working out a paint scheme for the original MultiCam, that really is a bugger to paint. I did a couple of test versions on some Empress SF and I'm still not happy. One of the problems is that the reason the pattern is so effective in real life is that it seems to reflect much of the surrounding terrain colour palette, so rare is it that you find two shots where it looks quite the same tone. Then there's the fact that it is a complex pattern.

I'll keep banging away with swatches and spots of Vallejo, Green brown, grey black, flesh highlight/bone white and german cam brown till I've found the right balance. The green seems to be the hardest colour to match so far. Good luck. If anyone else cracks the code I'll be equally interested.  Good luck.
Title: Re: Painting British MTP camo?
Post by: Gluteus Maximus on February 05, 2011, 08:54:03 PM
Glad it's not just me then  ;)

That's the thing about it - viewed against different backgrounds it does appear different in each instance. Apparently that was part of the rationale behind it.

I hope you will post any progress you make!
Title: Re: Painting British MTP camo?
Post by: carlos marighela on February 05, 2011, 09:21:52 PM
Hang on. Just had a brain flash. Vague memory of someone on another forum who has done the original MultiCam pattern. Steve Dean's ? Ambush Alley? Might be worth looking there and asking for a tutorial. At least it will give you the palette, you'll just need to very slightly alter the shape composition.
Title: Re: Painting British MTP camo?
Post by: Svennn on February 06, 2011, 12:05:40 AM
Now I know what you want I find I have nothing figure wise from later than 1918 to have a go with ::)

If I get out of dog walking in the morning expect to see some Victorian chap in a crap version of modern camo lol ;D
Title: Re: Painting British MTP camo?
Post by: 6milPhil on February 06, 2011, 12:33:14 AM
Just a few links to assist us all...

http://domhyde.wordpress.com/2010/04/21/brit-mtp-deployed-to-helmand/ (http://domhyde.wordpress.com/2010/04/21/brit-mtp-deployed-to-helmand/)

(http://i48.tinypic.com/29mkodh.jpg)

(http://i49.tinypic.com/16m7xc7.jpg)
Title: Re: Painting British MTP camo?
Post by: Thargor on February 06, 2011, 12:22:28 PM
If the SD card for my camera ever pitches up, I'll get a few pics of it in-theatre and upload them.  The pic of the patrol shows that we don't yet have a full system and most guys have a mix of MTP uniforms and Desert webbing/ ancillaries.
Title: Re: Painting British MTP camo?
Post by: Keith on February 06, 2011, 04:26:51 PM
I did this crack at it a while ago - its the OEF_ACU, but is pretty darn close to the MTP (which has a more brush-stroke effect and slightly different tones).

(http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/7436/us01.jpg)

The base colours are:

Vallejo 70987 Medium Grey (with Buff Highlights)
Vallejo 70921 English Uniform
Foundry Phlegm Green 28c (Light)

Camoflage Detail colours are:

Vallejo 70922 Uniform Green
Foundry Boneyard Light 9C
Vallejo 70872 Chocolate Brown

The whole thing was then dulled down with a glaze of Vallejo Buff/Medium grey mix.

The US pattern has broad 'overspray' stripes as the underlying plan, wheras the Brit version seems to be more sectional - looks like buff and mid-brown over the pea/olive tint. Had a good look at this as the troops coming in and out of the local airbase are covered in the stuff now.

The base colours are:

Vallejo 70987 Medium Grey (with Buff Highlights)
Vallejo 70921 English Uniform
Foundry Phlegm Green 28c (Light)

Camoflage Detail colours are:

Vallejo 70922 Uniform Green
Foundry Boneyard Light 9C
Vallejo 70872 Chocolate Brown

The whole thing was then dulled down with a glaze of Vallejo Buff/Medium grey mix.
Title: Re: Painting British MTP camo?
Post by: jdp on February 10, 2011, 05:07:05 AM
Keith,
that's a nice aproximation of multicam in 28mm!  Thanks for including the recipe.  I have been wanting to take a stab at this with a 200mm bust and you just saved me all sorts of blood sweat and tears!
Title: Re: Painting British MTP camo?
Post by: carlos marighela on February 10, 2011, 06:20:43 AM
Yes, many thanks Keith, I'll give that a whirl with the substitution of the Foundry paints.
Title: Re: Painting British MTP camo?
Post by: sologamer on June 02, 2014, 10:08:34 PM
Quote

The base colours are:

Vallejo 70987 Medium Grey (with Buff Highlights)
Vallejo 70921 English Uniform
Foundry Phlegm Green 28c (Light)

Camoflage Detail colours are:

Vallejo 70922 Uniform Green
Foundry Boneyard Light 9C
Vallejo 70872 Chocolate Brown

The whole thing was then dulled down with a glaze of Vallejo Buff/Medium grey mix.

Apologies for the thread necromancy here but I thought it was worth raising this thread from the dead. I found it when I was searching for a tutorial for MTP to help me paint my 15mm Ground Zero Games NAC marines.

(http://www.sologamer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/image-e1401743278394.jpg)

The colours are pretty similar to those listed except I used a Vallejo khaki as the base, washed with army painter strong tone to dull it down and used Vallejo German grey in place of the almost black colour that appears on the British version.

Not quite up to the same standard as  Keith managed and not quite the correct pattern but its sci-fi so I can get away with it  ;) up that close
Title: Re: Painting British MTP camo?
Post by: Elbows on June 03, 2014, 12:59:48 AM
Yeah, MTP was created by a Crye contract from the British military (essentially taking the Multicam colour palette and applying it to the DPM pattern).  So any how-to on Multicam will appear the exact same on miniatures on 28mm scale.  So don't hesitate to google tutorials on painting multicam.

(There were even some pictures of German Flectarn in Crye's colour palette...though it never happened)
Title: Re: Painting British MTP camo?
Post by: julesav on June 03, 2014, 11:33:18 AM
Well fwiw here's my solution:

This was used on some 20mm Britannia miniatures so colours might need adjusting for bigger or smaller miniatures or your preference!

Undercoat figures with GW 'Dheneb stone'.
Ink wash whole figure with GW Devlan mud ink to shade uniform.
Paint 50% of visible uniform with thinned Vallejo US Dark Green.
Add occasional patches of pale sand to uniform - I used GW Bleached Bone for this.
When painting the camouflage colours onto the base colour remember to break colours/patterns at seams and pockets etc. This small detail hugely improves the look of painted camouflage.
The webbing and 'camel-backs' were left in the basic Dheneb Stone/Devlan Mud colour.
The bulletproof vests were painted with Vallejo Iraqi Sand then inked with GW Gryphon sepia to bring up the details.
The boots are painted with Vallejo British Uniform then given a heavy dry-brush with GW Terminatus Stone, which was also applied liberally to helmet covers, knees and lower legs of trousers.
The guns and goggles are painted with Vallejo Black grey.
The goggle straps, helmet strapping and chin straps are painted with Vallejo US Dark Green.

On 28mm miniatures it might've been necessary to add the darker 'black' flecks of pattern (using something like Vallejo black-grey) but the ink wash seemed to do that well enough on the Britannia 20mm models I was painting.
Title: Re: Painting British MTP camo?
Post by: julesav on June 04, 2014, 10:40:15 AM
PS Shouldn't this thread be in post-war and Modern?