Groundwork in one day!

My friends, what a wonderful and productive day it was yesterday! I managed to apply the basic colors with an airbrush and treat the muddy groundwork with enamels. On top of that, I also painted the wooden sides! 

Let's talk about the wood stain. My first pick - Oak - looked good on paint samples in the store, but didn't look that great when I painted the ground. My mistake was painting the sides first, then masking them, and only then I proceeded to paint the groundwork. As such, I had no idea about the overall color balance. By the way, the masking is super easy. You just attach the overlapping Tamiya tape, and use a fresh hobby blade to cut it precisely along the terrain. 

So anyway, today I went to the store again and bought Chestnut and Rosewood/Jacaranda (it's called Palisander here). This tone fits the scene much better because of the dark earth tones, but it looks like it'll be a nice universal tone for any type of groundwork. Because I already had the wood stained once, the final result is warmer in tone. On my scrap wood samples, it's more neutral. And most importantly, it feels weird! All my previous bases were black and there's not much to it than that - it's just a neutral, unassuming color that draws your attention directly to the scene. So it's a huge change for me, and I'll have to get used to this look :D But I still think black works much better with certain terrains, such as snow where it enhances the dull, cold color palette. 

As for the ground itself, everything was primed with Mr. Mahogany primer, and then I started with the long, dry grass. It was sprayed with Flat Earth, then German Yellow, and finally with German Yellow and some White. The short, fresh grass, was sprayed with NATO Green, and then I kept adding Yellow Green into the mixture. 

The tree was sprayed with Flat Earth + German Grey, and then a quick highlight with Buff + German Grey. I'll paint it today with more acrylics and enamels. 

The ground itself received a subtle post-shade with the same earth tone as I used on the tank - Buff and German Grey. It was then treated heavily with the same muddy enamels. Dark Mud as a base tone, applied as a heavy, overall wash, then Fresh Mud into recessed areas, and finally a subtle dry brush with a mixture of Dark Mud and Rainmarks Effects. The dark areas in the road will be airbrushed with Tamiya Clear and they'll receive some muddy puddles :) 

Right now I'm off to finish the tree and add some delicate touches to the ground as well, such as fallen leaves, some small paper plants here and there, paint a few stones, the works :)