Weathering Master
Weathering Pastels Parts A and B

Reviewed by Glen Porter

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I am relatively new to armour modelling and I stick strictly to 1/72 scale so it would probably come as no surprise to learn that I have had nothing to do with pastels up to now.

A few weeks ago, at a model club meeting, a friend of mine showed me some Tamiya weathering pastels that he had brought along to show the other members and we decided to try them out on a Mirage Grant that I was entering in the competition.

The first thing I noticed was that it dulled done the markings which were far too bright anyway and it gave it that dusty look that any desert tank should have. We were then able to put fuel stains around the filler caps and down the side of the vehicle plus gun powder soot around gun muzzles and exhaust stains in the appropriate places.

I was totally amazed at how affective this product was and how easy to use. The Grant was awarded a gold in the competition.

There are two sets - A and B.

The A set comes with three colours, Sand, Light Sand and Mud. The Sand is roughly the colour of British Light Stone and the Light Sand is a lighter version, say around Portland Stone. The Mud is a medium brown with a slight grey touch to it. Set B also has three colours, Snow, Soot and Rust. The Snow is, I think, badly named as I don't think you could use it to simulate snow but as you can dry-brush with this product it has many uses. The Soot and Rust are self explanatory.

Each set comes with an applicator, about 55mm long, with a foam pad on one end, for applying the pastels over large areas, and a soft haired brush at the other, for cleaning off the excess and dry-brushing. All this is contained in a small plastic case with a flip-top lid.

The pastels themselves, seem to have a slightly waxy texture to them which gives a good adhesion quality and I haven't noticed any finger prints even though I have handled the models extensively.

So far, I've used them on about five Armour models, three of them, I’ve had on Hyperscale, so I asked Brett to shoot them in the same poses and post them side by side with this review.

Before

After

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

I've also tried them on some 1/72 scale figures using the Snow (dry brushed) to bring out the high-lights with reasonable results.

What I haven't had a go at yet, is using them on Aircraft models in the desert as I believe they wouldn't have to sit around long on the ground before they got a healthy coat of sand.

For any of you who haven't tried pastels yet, these seem like a good way to start as they are relatively inexpensive and will last a long time.

Highly Recommended.

Review Text Copyright © 2005 by Glen Porter
Images Copyright © 2005 by Brett Green
This Page Created on13 November, 2005
Last updated 13 November, 2005

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