How can I save this camouflage?

[ErikB]

It was supposed to be a brown/arid version of A-Tacs but it's just not right.  Any ideas to fix it?

[Dr. Zombie]

I would give it a go with some for of light green ink or perhaps Army Painter soft tone. To kind of pull the colors a bit together.

[Atheling]

Have you got a picture of the a human actually wearing the cammo?

If so I can probably help you out.

[Lowtardog]

I would give the webbing and raised surfaces a light dry brush or highlight of the original colour then leghten up if not happy. I've the same figures and diluted the wash. Did you dip or brush the wash? A pin wash can help where you use a brush only in the recesses of the figure rather than across the whole model



[http://imgur.com/gallery/2BZPl37]

[ErikB]

Thanks, folks.  I have not washed or edged/dry brushed yet.i wanted to get the camo right, first.

Here's an image that I'd love to be able to recreate, though I was going for just browns so the uniform would contrast with the green vest.

[Atheling]

Quite a subtle camouflage. Important to bear in mind that you will have to exaggerate the difference in patches of colour in 28mm.

I'll come back to this a bit later on.

[Rick F]

atacs-au is a pig to get right. I've tried all sorts of recipes. This is as close as I've got, but I'm still not happy. Sorry I can't help you to save it.

[ErikB]

Rick, the image you showed is the dirt/arid coloring I was going for.  Your mini looks pretty good, however.  Job well done.

I gave in and added some green.  I'll put another one or two greens colors to give it some depth. 

I'll have to do some khaki again to make the shapes less round.  It's hard to make the color patches not look like a round blob of paint.  I really have to not dab it on so much as shape it. 

This is hard as the paint dries so quickly.  There's another thread around here about the paint drying quickly in hot, arid environments, like California during summertime (here).

Then the washes and highlighting, of course....

Honestly, I thought this would be an easy scheme to paint.  I was very wrong.

[Rick F]

Yours still looks good mate. Here's how I did my last attempt. - Base- light sand from the Mig multicam set. Then speckles from a cut down stiff brush of Vallejo German Cam beige, Tan Earth and Brown Violet. Finished with  AK brown glaze. I didn't do enough speckles, so the base shows more than it should, but I think the colours are about right.

[ErikB]

Tan Earth and Brown Violet... good decisions.  Looks great in the photo.

The speckle sizes and shapes are very good.  I have a hard time getting that kind of irregular outline.

[PeteW]

Erik hi

Your figures are looking good. Don't beat yourself up with finding the modern schemes a pain to paint, because they are.

If you look at the A-TACs scheme from a distance and squint, it becomes very difficult to discern the colours used, and it becomes obvious there are no hard edges between them. Reducing this to a 28mm figure is almost impossible, so the best you can do is find a base colour you are are happy with, and then glaze thin layers of camo over this to approximate the scheme.

However the closer you get to actually reproducing the scheme in scale the more likely the figure is to just look bland as the camo does its job and optically blends the colours, values and shapes of the scheme. A few light grey/beige washes should blend what you have painted nicely, but remember with minis that less is more.

Just my 2p, so feel free to ignore 

P

[Atheling]

Eric B,

Now i've seen more pics etc I can say that the definitely look just really good as they are. 

[ErikB]

Thanks, guys.

That's a good point, that the camo actually works in that it blends the colors together, which is the opposite of what we are trying to do with our miniatures.

Thanks for the critiques, ideas, and the encouragement!

[ErikB]

Alright, done, I think.  Maybe the bases need some taller grass.  The figures look alright from a distance but man, they look bad up close.  Good learning opportunity, though.

[commissarmoody]

They are looking good for I me.