Tips & Tricks 2: Plaques and Oxidized Bronze

Hello once again. Jenny also asked me about the plaque for my T-34 monument. Here is a small SBS on how I did that. There is also a section on how to weather bronze.

I First I am going to show you how to make a simple text plaque. I started with two small pieces of plastic, one about one millimeter smaller than the other.



Using my home made punch & die I cut some round corners of the smaller plastic piece.





Next, I cut a few pieces of 0.3 mm plastic rod in different lengths.



I glued these rods to the plastic, and using a similar method to the one used to make weld lines I textured the rod pieces to resemble words.



Four round bolts from Bronco completed the plaque.



Here it is painted.



For the large plaque, I started with a souvenir I got some years ago in Europe.



I got ready to copy the emblem. I used play dough to make an improvised mold casing.



The silicon rubber was poured and a mold was made.



Here is the resin copy.



And after some trimming and painting.



And finally both of them in place.



Now as far as painting remember this is only one of the many approaches that can be used to make this effect. I have found this technique easy to use and the results quite convincing. My best suggestion is to go ahead and experiment until you find a technique you are comfortable with.

Here is the list of the colors needed. They are all acrylics.
From Vallejo acrylics:
1.Tinny Tin
2.Brassy Brass
3.Bright Bronze
4.Bronze Green
5.German Fieldgrey WWII
6.Turquoise Glaze (from Citadel Color)



I will be using this fantasy warrior’s shield to demonstrate the technique.



I applied a coat of Flat Black primer.



Next I applied drybrushing using Tinny Tin. Make sure you cover a lot of the raised surfaces with this first drybrush.



Once dry I applied a wash using Bronze Green. This will represent the characteristic green patina that forms on bronze when it oxidizes.



Once the wash is dry a second drybrush is applied, this one with Brassy Brass. This coat is lighter than the first drybrush.



Next is a second wash. This time using German Fieldgrey.



Once dry the final drybrush was made using Bright Bronze and making sure you pick all the raised areas.



Finally I applied a thin coat of Turquoise glaze over the piece.



There you have it. I hope these Sep by Steps can help to answer some of the questions on how I created some effects. If you have any questions don’t be afraid of asking I will do my best to answer them.

Until next time.

Model on!

dave

Nice touch David.
Panzer

Now thats cool.