A Grunge pair of Hardboiled

[Francesco Benedettini]

Some time ago, surfing the web I found >this< work from Mr.Alaya's blog..  WOW!
I love this design so much I made a conversion for Wave AFS so I can have fun with it in the years to come! 







Quite conventional painting, now a days:
 
salt&hairspray technique ZLuca's style over an enamel rust colour for the baby blue one and German grey for the white one
Tamiya acrylic airbrushed and immediately removed with hot water and a stiff brush

Cover most of "scratches" with a decoupage sponge and your camo colour well diluted but leave they appear in transparency
 
Local oil washes (Cassel Earth, Van Dyck Brown, Raw and Burnt Umber)

A lot of transparent Vallejo Acrilics shades will made the difference

Skull is from Andrea Miniatures 90mm metal, I used Maschinen Krueger's rust technique on the wreck, Blaken-It on coils power pipes and snow from Rast Deranauo, pedestrian lights are scratchbuild and signs are made in Photoshop (US traffic light and signs are different from Euro but Internet helps )

It is an extreme weathering but.. it was fun  and I learned a lot both in painting and cut out in Photoshop >_<.. and understood that there is a lot more to try and learn

Thank you for viewing ^^

[clee-cm]

You did a great job on the weathering, both of the models turned out great.

Do you have any more photos of both dioramas with the photo backgrounds?

[Francesco Benedettini]

Thank you.
I'm sorry I don't have others jpg with background to share.

The first one thumbnails are the images I used in photo composition, the cut out process was a pain in the neck and I understood how different was try for a good shot of your subject and have to consider the framing for a cover, too.

There is a lot to learn..

Photo-modelling could be an hobby on its own.. and Photoshop-modelling, too 

[Alb]

WOW !
Two great models Francesco !!! 

I really like your painting technique !

[ZLuca]

yes!
Fantastic, inspiring, eye-candies.
Definitely you could show one of the best collection ever,
excellent stuff!
z

[Major Blah]

I think the heavy weathering adds a lot to the hardboiled.  You are having quite a collection of these guys eh?

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy; he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! My gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now? (Hamlet, V.i)

[chaos_theory]

Alas, poor Yorick. I knew him Francesco... 

The white wash is great, and the blue ID bands, the highlights, the scratches and the rust. All of it is beautiful.

The composition in "Machines Have No Conscience" vignette is perfect. The scene seems to convey an epiphany in a great drama just as the grave scene from Hamlet. Very powerful sir, Bravo!

[Maschinen Krueger]

Dude, these are amazing. I love the weathering on the light blue one. So diluted paint over the scratches? I like that idea. The hairspary and salt technique can sometimes look harsh. I like the faded rust and paint on this. The groundwork on both of these is amazing. Did you do anything special with the RAS rust paint for the car? Did you find that brand in Europe or something similar?

I like the details on the busted out pedestrian light box, but No Standing I've not seen that one before. Maybe too many hookers in the area 

Your backgrounds are getting better and better.

[Francesco Benedettini]

Thank you!

This could help:



The steps are:

enamel base colour
hairspray, while wet add salt
hairspray again (will help removing camo colour)
Tamiya acrylic camo colour
wait 10 minutes (no more!) than remove salt and big chunks of camo colour using warm water and a stiff brush

Salt will give you dots, hairspray big, irregular areas

Repaint most of your chipped areas with diluted camo paint using a soft sponge so you can control your camo colour saturation and choose how much base colour areas leave visible

Does it make sense? 

I found an equivalent of RAS paint in Italy and used some blue, purple and light orange acrylic washes to give more shades but I don't like the little grain effect of this paint due the metallic particle; I sanded it but they are still visible 

About signs: I follow <this> image  US Government has signs size .pdf  documents on the web with colour and font specifications, too!

"Winter Warrior" doesn't convince me; I have to improve cut out around feet: It seems floating like a ghost  and hand is a bit out of focus

- live to learn -

[Maschinen Krueger]

Thanks for the further explanation, it makes a lot of sense.

Grit in the Iron Paint is a problem. Maybe some smarty hobby company based in Spain could come up with a better paint that does the same thing.

Regarding the street sign. New York City - figures. They have a street sign for everything.

[Lin.K]

Hi Francesco, thanks for showing these and I must praise such incredibly high level work! These are some of your best pieces yet and your already astronomically high painting abilities have gone even higher!

The level of detail and sophistication in the finish is breath taking, I really enjoy looking at these figures and your bases and backgrounds of course add up to the perceived reality very well.

Thank you very much for the insight into the how-to's of your great work. Although in many ways my humble painting style(s!) is much more simple I can benefit from these ideas and will try to incorporate it into my next projects and let you know, of course!

Cheers,

Lin.K

[Francesco Benedettini]

Thank you Lin.K I'm glad you appreciate 
Your entry in Ma.k Web Tejinkai was my inspiration for the "Winter Warrior".. and I would like to prove myself I can do something better than <the winner> 

[Francesco Benedettini]

I forget to mention I used a mini hairspray can:

simpler to control than the bigger one

[Bawoo]

Wow, the weathering is mind blowing on these!

[FichtenFoo]

Fantastic work as usual FB. Both have really wonderful weathering and I already told you how much I like the signs.

[Francesco Benedettini]

From Alaya-san blog an head to head:  the original design in comparison with my own interpretation of it