How to Paint: Martian Terrain and Sector Mechanicus Buildings

I glued down the buildings with Gorilla Glue. I Built the ground up with equal parts plaster, cellulose fiber and water by volume. Once dry, I covered that in pebbles, sand and then a grey dry grout mix and soaked everything with rubbing alcohol to break surface tension and then a slurry of pva glue and water to bind all the loose debris. I airbrushed in some of the ground that was not covered with the grey grout mix once everything was dry w/ black and then Crusty Rust enamel wash from AK interactive in a molted pattern. I spread rust colored pigments over large swaths of the ground to create a natural martian looking surface. I had some reference pictures from the NASA missions.
Martian chemical tank with rusty top. Rust is done with the AK interactive rust and crust shot through an airbrush.

I secured all the pigments by spraying everything with rubbing alcohol. I noticed some of the matte varnish on the buildings that was previously applied was beginning to turn white and blotchy from the alcohol so I sprayed some rust enamel wash over it to tint it and make it look natural. It actually made the walk ways on top look better and in different states of corrosion.
The tanks were painted a w/ rust primer and then airbrushed with black and brick red to give some color differentiation. Hair spray was liberally applied over it in 2 coats. I used tamiya orange to base the tanks and did highlights in yellow. After everything dried I used a stiff brush with warm water to begin removing portions of the orange and let the rust show through. Once happy with the chipping I glossed everything and then did a sludge wash w/ AK interactive streaking grime for yellow vehicles and removed most of it with a cloth dampened with white spirits.
Metals was done in Vallejo Metal Color Burn Iron, and dry brushed everything with necron compound some details were painted in such as cables, computers, vents etc. I sprayed them with rust streaks and then brushed on black oil wash and teal oil wash made with white spirits and oil paint. I removed some of this with the white spirits cloth. Once everything was dry I applied matte varnish and then after that dried applied some pigments around the feet of the stanchions and bases of the tanks to blend them with the ground.
This is a similar process that I use for nearly all industrial or natural gravel type terrain and can easily be repeated by changing the colors. Below is a gallery showing a blown out cityscape done using all the of the above techniques just with different colors.

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Paint & Grime

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