Spaza Shops with Salt Weathering Technique

The spaza shops (featured earlier) are a kit available from the LaserCutCard web store. I thought I would try the salt weathering technique on them at the same time as I tried it on the Casspir. The only difference is that I thought I would skip the matt varnish undercoat and see if the card could handle the water with just a layer of paint.

To start off I undercoated them matt black

They then got a coat of Tamiya Hull Red

I then wet them with warm water using a paint brush and sprinkled coarse salt onto them.

Once this dried (overnight) I sprayed the one flat blue and the other flat yellow

I then let them drya nd then scrubbed off the salt with a big dry paint brush.

I love the effect! Now I must avoid over-using it.

Casspir with Salt Weathering Technique

The Casspir is a mine-protected infantry troop transport used by the South African Defence Force and the South African Police Services. Steve and I have been working on a card model to add to the LaserCutCard web store.

The model still needs a little work so until the next version comes along I thought I would experiment with this one, trying a paint technique I have read about but never used myself. It involves wetting the model and then sprinkling it with salt.

I thought this would also be an opportunity to demonstrate that, even though these models are made up of cardboard, they are very durable and resistant to water.

Here are all the previous test cuts of the Casspir (the name comes from an amalgamation of the two organisations that developed it... the CSIR (Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research) and SAPS (South African Police Services)

The most recent cut had quite a lot of detail added and I thought it a shame that it would go to waste

Here is the most recent cut compared to my previous vehicle, the Buffel

Here is the Casspir compared to some GW figures

To start off, I gave the model an undercoat of matt fixative (sort of like a matt varnish)

I then gave it two coats of Tamiya Hull Red

I then dabbed on some warm water using a paint brush, and sprinkled coarse salt here and there. I then went over with fine table salt.

I let this dry overnight and the gave it a couple of coats of Tamiya flat yellow. This is the paint scheme that the South African police used to use.

Once this had dried I just scrubbed it off with a dry paintbrush.

I am very chuffed with the result and the card passed with flying colours.