Panzer II “Luchs” – Filters and washes
After the filters and the washes this model changed its look, passing from a camo with too much vivid color bands to a more uniform one, whereas the details, once "flat", are now highlighted.
Filters
I applied a coat of satin clear varnish, then I put a blob of each of the following oil colors on a piece of cardboard:
- Naples yellow
- Naples yellow reddish
- yellow ochre
- titan white
- ultramarine blue
- bladder green
- burnt Sienna
- raw umber
- Van Dyck brown
In this way part of their oily medium had been absorbed, thus resulting in a matt finish.
After that I wetted —without dampening it— the surface of the model with white spirit, then I applied small dots of the several colors and I waited about ten minutes. I mostly used light colors in the "bright" parts and vice versa dark colors in the "shadowed" ones.
Finally, I blended the dots with a flat paintbrush soaked in white spirit; I used a circular movement on the horizontal surfaces and a downward one on the vertical panels. The result is an almost imperceptible but effective variation of the colors. Moreover those filters manage to uniform the camouflage bands with the base color, thus blending the different hues.
Washes
Using the washes, especially on such a light color base, gives very good results in highlighting the details.
First I left to dry for a couple of days the oil colors of the previous phase, then I applied a gloss varnish coat and I waithed further 24 hours.
After that I thinned the oil paint with white spirit at a 60% ratio and I applied it, touching the tip of the paintbrush into the slits, around the bolts, into the concave edges and around all the protruding parts. The color flowed on them for capillarity, helped by the gloss varnish.
The color for the washes is Van Dyck brown, except for the deeper slits and around the hatches, where I used Mars black.
