Trying some chipping effects for the first time recently. Brush chipping went fair but was a Pain. When I tried sponge chipping I wasn’t able to get decent results at all so I’m asking for advice. I tried Vallejo acrylic and AK Real Colors. I had either too much paint on the sponge or the paint dried so fast I got nothing.
What type of paint are you using and how thin?
What kind of sponge are you using? I think what I scrounged up may be too soft.
I always follow this guide/instructions:
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When I do chipping, and it’s not that much, I use a Prismacolor pencil - Cool Grey 90%. It’s precise, easy, controllable, and quick. Available at Michaels or Hobby Lobby.
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Great idea! I have a bunch of prismacolors around somewhere.
I use Ammo MIG chipping solutions, absolute doddle to use and very good results every time.
The sponge technique can be useful but as you have discovered can be quite tricky. You can buy ‘chipping sponges’ from either MIG AMMO or AK (I think). But a standard dish sponge is decent enough. Vallejo is what I would use for this. I would usually just use it straight out of the bottle too- the key bit, I found, was dabbing the sponge on a paper towel to take plenty of the paint back off the sponge so you don’t saturate the surface to be chipped. You can also use a piece of paper too- dab it on that to check how much paint is going on and in that fashion you can work out exactly what you need for it to work on your model.
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I use sponges from the ceramics section of the LHS. I just snip out small wedges and toss them when I’m done.
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Marc, I tried a grout sponge after your suggestion, it worked quite well! I’ve tried some restrained sponge chipping a couple times since and have been happy with the results especially combined with a second layer applied by brush. I found a drop of retarder helped a lot.
My latest, even though I know OD green didn’t really chip much I like the effect here:
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Greg,
I agree. That looks great. As you said, perhaps more aggressive than reality, but you’ve done just enough to give some interest, but not so much as to be distracting. Nice wood effects also.
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