Sci-Fi Crackle: Gary’s Cracked Paint Finish

Gary Faulkner’s cracked paint finish gives this Zone Theta — Settler Hab Pod (S002) white panels, rusty fittings and a few rather tired-looking signs. Here are the finished model, close-ups and Gary’s original notes.

Moving the bulkhead

The Habitation Pods are designed with modification work in mind. You can stack them or link them with walkways. In this example, Gary moved the end bulkhead back into the main body of the pod, creating a small landing area for a jet bike.

The paint and the detail

Gary’s materials and finish notes

The original checklist was supplied as a graphic. The same notes are set out below so you can read them on a phone.

• Base colour: dark brick red.
• Paint selected patches with crackle medium, then overpaint with matt white.
• Spray the internal walls matt white.
• Use liquid rust mediums for the rust effects.
• Use printed paper with a tread-plate texture for the internal floor.
• Add printed paper signs to the walls.
• Design the windows in a desktop publishing package and print them onto inkjet-printable acetate.

The water-effect base

Gary replaced the pod’s base with a terrain tile. He painted the tile with an aqua-and-white mix of artists’ acrylic, then used Winsor & Newton Heavy Structure Gel for the water effect.

More sci-fi terrain

Browse the System Sci-Fi collection, or see the units, stairs and decks in the Mega-City bundle below.

Mega-City Hab Zone (28mm)

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