Wet Blending for Simple Armor Plates

...and other large surface areas. This comes from DangerMouse, a super prolific and talented painter, often featuring his work on the PP Modeling and Painting forum. His water bases are amazing!

1) Lay down the base coat color (let this dry i do all the base coat at one time)
2) Mix base color with a touch of highlight (in this case about 5 drops of base and one of white)
-at this point a also normally make 3 more mixes of: about 5 to 2 and 50/50
3) Paint the mix on where the highlighting is needed one one plate
4) Wet blend with base cat back into the dark areas (the spots where base coat is showing)
5) Blend 5 to 1 for first highlight area
6) Blend 5 to 2 for the next
7) Blend 50/50 for bright spots, edges and that sort of thing

I also work form ether the top down or the bottom up on the jack that way my lighting stays consistent . Also the mixes are not set at 5 to 1, 5 to 2, and 50/50 i mix them until they look right and give a nice some flow from base color to bright.

Wanted this preserved, so I wouldn't forget it. It's basically the process I had to accidentally discover as I painted my Grundback Blaster. Thanks again, DM! Colonel K says - well done!


EDIT: @Airport... my definition of blending. Hmmm.... Instead of thinning my paints with water, I use drying retardant, flow improver, and distilled water, in a roughly 1:1:2 ratio. A drop or two in my paint on the palette helps keep the paint workable longer.

For the Gun Bunnies below, I would paint the upper third in the first highlight color, and while wet, use a clean brush to pull the color down in streaks into the middle third. Sometimes, I'd need to add a little base color back in and swirl it while it dries. The goal is a smooth gradiant without obviously lines.

Repeat the process with the second highlight, but only cover the top quarter of the area. Blend in with some of the first highlight color. Swirl it, mix it, "blend" it - just play around so it looks right.

The final highlight is more stark, IMO, and usually a little less subtle in the blending. I try to retain a smooth transition without an obvious line, but the distance it takes to go from highlight to next color darker is a much narrower area.