Japanese village building painting tutorial!

Hello and welcome to the OSHIROmodels painting guide for Japanese buildings. I've been asked several times how I paint the Japanese additions and buildings that are shown in the catalogue and for the display models, so here is a quick guide to how I do them.

Firstly, the resin gets a quick wash with some warm soapy water, is rinsed and then left to dry. Once dry, any small holes are filled with normal, ready mixed household wall filler. If necessary, these areas are roughly sanded back using 120 grit sandpaper to help keep the texture in place (a smooth sandpaper would make the area look obvious).

The next phase is to give everything a spray of Colour Forge Hyrax Brown spray. Any matt dark brown spray would suffice and I used to use Halfords camo brown but the recipe has changed and is completely different now. I go over in several light coats, giving each one time to 'flash off' before moving onto the next. The Colour Forge spray acts like a primer as well and dries to a nice, matt finish.

Once I'm happy with the coverage, then everything gets a zenithal over spray of Humbrol Dark Earth. Again, any mid brown spray would do but I personally like the colour of the Humbrol one. Sometimes I'll go over the roof area again if it looks too dark but this is all down to personal taste. A zenithal spray is basically a light overspray from above the model that leaves most recesses the original darker colour.

When the spray coats are dry I take a large, soft brush and load it up with some ochre paint then wipe most of it off and precede to drybrush the whole item. It helps to have a scrap of plain material to test the drybrushing first to make sure there won't be streaks left over the model as there could be too much paint on the brush.

The next colour for drybrushing is a creamy colour. I tend to use Pebeo craft paints for the drybrushing as they give good coverage but I have also used Foundry and Games Workshop paints for a similar effect. Any craft or model paint will do of course, a lot of it is down to personal taste and what you find works for you. The creamy colour can be drybrushed again if necessary but I find it useful to have different drybrush 'strengths' between buildings to make them look different to one another.

After the drybrushing it's time for the panels. I normally use Foundry Base Sand triad for these but again, any suitable similar colour from your chosen paint range would suffice. Usually the base and second layer are given two coats just to give a solid colour. Each layer is inset from the one before with the first layer being inset a millimetre or so from the surrounding woodwork. Don't make the transitions too stark or the edges too straight as this will help to give building a more 'used' and lived in look.

The stones on the roofs are basecoated in a mid grey then given a wash with Games Workshop Athonian Camoshade. This is quickly wiped off with my finger before it dries and finally they have a light grey drybrushed applied to each one in turn. Sometimes I'll add a little line of Camoshade around the stones and the supporting beams to help accentuate them but this depends on how the drybrushing of the roof looks. Again, any brown/green ink would work.

The inside is given a quick coat of a fairly neutral tan colour (whatever comes to hand really) and then given a brown ink wash, removing most of the ink with a paper towel. A quick drybrush of a lighter tan can be given to the insides just to help finish it off.

Once everything is dry then they get a coat of varnish. I either use Windsor and Newton Galleria spray or Windsor and Newton Galleria brush on matt varnish. The spray is generally used in the summer as it goes off fairly quickly in the heat, otherwise the models can smell for quite a while afterwards. The brush on is best used in winter but kept inside near a radiator. Leaving them for a few days is usually best.

Below is a series of photos of the roof painting process which is basically covered above.

I hope this tutorial is useful. As with anything of this nature, other methods are available and a lot of it can be down to individual preferences. Practise is also a big factor so please don't be disheartened if things don't go according to plan the first time out; I've been making and painting terrain for over 20 years and still make mistakes :-)

For a continuation of the tutorials the next main one will be adding the buildings to bases and including gardens and other such scenic elements.

The village range will be available in the webshop in the coming weeks once the final KS pledges have been posted.