As promised some photos of what I’ve been up to.
To paint the groundwork on the base, I started by painting the rocks and plants w/ acrylic paints. I used Apple Barrel acrylics from Hobby Lobby, and I varied the colors some by mixing multiple shades of each color, which I applied in a semi-random fashion.
(Painting the plants once they were attached to the base was slightly more difficult than I thought it would be. I originally left them unpainted because I was worried that they might get messed up when I put down the groundwork, but that turned out to not be a problem. Next time, I’ll paint them beforehand.)
Then, I airbrushed Tamiya XF-57 Buff over everything, letting a small amount of the overspray get on the plants and rocks.
Next, I mixed some XF-64 Red Brown and XF-52 Flat Earth into the Buff and sprayed it in the places where I wanted some suggestion of shadows, and also behind stuff on the ground – I wanted to give the suggestion that the Scout’s engines were blasting the sand and gravel clear.
The effect was kind of garish, so I went back w/ pure Buff and toned it down some.
Then it was ready for washes and dry-brushing. Because the next steps will bring the colors together and blend them some, I was worried that I may have toned it down too much…
I used Testors Burnt Umber to make a wash and liberally applied it to all surfaces, even the plants. This gave everything a more three dimensional appearance. Then I drybrushed the ground material w/ Buff, and the plants and rocks w/ variations of their base colors.
I like the results, and it seems to go well w/ the vehicle, but it doesn't have that blasted sand appearance i was hoping for. Not sure how to fix that. I may do some more work on the plants later, and I have to clean up the base where some paint leaked under the masking, but I’m liking the way it turned out.
Next, a few remaining details on the vehicle, and then on to weathering…