Hard Pastels - Good idea?

[countzero99uk]

Im thinking of picking up some hard pastels for weathering my models after seeing some interesting tutorials on there use. I saw these on Amazon but not sure if there are cheaper options elsewhere. Any comments on my colour selection and the price of them would be helpful.





Thanks.
Brian.

[Coen]

Those would do the job fine, good price too. Make sure that you get a decent mortar and pestle as well. A soup bowl size one made from stone would be a good size for pastels.

[countzero99uk]

Cheers Coen. I was planning on just scraping them with the back of a knife, but I do have a pestle and mortar that isn't used.

[Coen]

Scraping with the knife just gets it in the bowl. To get the particles small enough to be almost invisible you should probably use the mortar and pestel. That's the problem with the overthe counter pigments, they aren't ground fine enough and you can see the bits.
Sand is the worse. At 1/35 sand grains are microscopic, so are snowflakes.

[countzero99uk]

Ok thanks for the info

[schweinhund227]

18$ per sets.... OUCH !

I would look in the Art store in your town or city !!!

There must be something more affordable....

Good idea thou !

[Coen]

$18 is about what they all cost for the quality ones. The $5 ones tend to suck pretty bad and have too many colours that you'll never need. The sets with a tight colour range will cost more. Koh I Nor is more expensive than others too.
One package of ten sticks will grind up enough pigments to do 50-60 1/35 armour models. 5-10 if you're using them to make mud.

[FishBowlMan]

I bought a set of the soft pastels by mistake. Are they still usable, or am I better off donating them to the local school's art department?

[nero]

I bought a set of the soft pastels by mistake. Are they still usable, or am I better off donating them to the local school's art department?

I think the problem with soft pastels is that there is a binding agent, wax I guess, which makes it difficult working with them. I haven't tried it myself but I remember one of the MIG videos (i think) mentioned it.

[Coen]

By soft pastels.. do you mean oil pastels John? Like wax crayons?
If that's what you mean then those are different than the ones we use for pigments and dust effects.
Oil pastels would be useless for what we use the chalk ones for.
I try to make use of everything myself but if you can't find a use for them then donating them would be a great kindness to the school.

[FishBowlMan]

I think the problem with soft pastels is that there is a binding agent, wax I guess, which makes it difficult working with them. I haven't tried it myself but I remember one of the MIG videos (i think) mentioned it.

Thanks, nero. I'll have a peruse on youtube and see if I can find the video.

By soft pastels.. do you mean oil pastels John? Like wax crayons?
If that's what you mean then those are different than the ones we use for pigments and dust effects.
Oil pastels would be useless for what we use the chalk ones for.
I try to make use of everything myself but if you can't find a use for them then donating them would be a great kindness to the school.

I'm not entirely sure, Mike. They've got a gritty texture to them rather than a waxy feel, but they're certainly softer than a "chalk stick"

Here's a link to the set:


I'm no artist so if I can't use them for any modelling purpose, they're worthless to me. If someone can make use of them (school, etc) then its one less thing for the bin man to carry back to his wagon.

[Coen]

Ah... those!
Those are chalk pastels John. They'll be fine for your needs. Excellent in fact as the particles in those are really fine.
Keep those bud.

[FishBowlMan]

Ah... those!
Those are chalk pastels John. They'll be fine for your needs. Excellent in fact as the particles in those are really fine.
Keep those bud.

Mike, thanks mate! This set has a lovely range of dark and light mud and sand colours so I'm pleased that I can use them.

I've a couple of builds that are at the "dirtying" stage, so its time to get a-scrapin', a-grindin' and applyin'.