Tiny SHIPS - Diving into WWI Naval Wargaming

I start to find an initial prime of black works best, as per the previous post this is one of the rare occasions I use a spray can primer.

After the primer has had plenty of time to dry (usually I leave it overnight) the first step is a whole over base coat of Navy Blue, I’m using the one from Scale Color here as its easily available and I think works well but any navy blue should work. Your not after a perfect coating but you do want it fully covered so no black shows, I tend to mix this about 3:2 with water to give a thiner coat, that both goes down easier over the texture, makes the paint go further and also gives some slight tonal variation.

Following this are two heavy dry brush or drag brush layers. Here your aiming to give some tonal variation to the base, fist up is Vallejo dark blue which ironically is quite bright.

As per the above action shot iIfind a spare mdf base the perfect pallet here, as you can use the fact the mdf will soak away the paint to get the brush loaded up just right, a wide flat brush is ideal, and your aiming to drag it over the texture in a heavier effect that just drybrushing, hence “drag” brushing.

Once this is done i move string onto the next layer which is the same although slightly lighter Drag Brush of Dark Blue Grey, this layer really brings the sea to life. Again the mdf pallet works wonders, don’t wash your brush, wipe off the excess and start Stright away with the same brush for some extra colour variation.

Finally and with a clean brush I finish the process with a light drybrush of Off White, this wants to be a very light touch, but with extra focus added around the hull as the ship churns up the sea and then a heavier effect aft of the ship to represent the wake.

Below is the list of exact paints I used for anyone wanting to replicate the same effect.