Thanks a lot for the congrats! Now I just need to make another major goal to accomplish. Maybe entering a military academy

Anyway, back on to the wash....Yes, to wash the hand tools you would thin the paint down alot, perhaps 75-80% also, becareful of what thinner you use, as some with attack the gloss coat that washes are best on. That leads to another point, make sure you have sealed the whole model with a gloss finish first, as this will give washes their best effect. Matte is no good!! So, if you don't have a sealed coat on there to protect the basecoat, the wash will take the basecoat off!!!!!

Rich, thats an excellent goal! Keep up the hard work towards that! M.A's are very very difficult but once you are done, you are the best thing in the Army.

Hmm, it looks pretty good Rich. I think the amount of mud is quite appropriate. I'd say try to cover the road wheels and the inside of the tracks a bit more, also the mud should be darker, less beige and more brown. I'm not sure about the grass location. It shouldn't be on top of the mud, as the tracks would sink into the mud and churn the grass up into the mud itself, but very good thinking with that. Vary the mud color a bit, fresh mud would be a deep brown where as the dry mud that is caked up in places would be of a lighter shade.

Overall, nice job with the mud. Also keep in mind when you build the diorama to sink "Eva" a bit into the mud to give her "weight."

hey Richard,
going good so far, only comment is the mud is a bit gloopy,
and the grass could be mixed in a lil more but other than that its a winner

Hey Richard,

Awesome!!! Are you going to do some washes on Eva? I would recommend a dust wash. Your mud looks really cool and so does the weathering you put on Eva's suspension. i just noticed that you have to paint the exhausts(located on both sides just above the tracks in the back of the beast) A hull red rusty colour. Tamiya makes a hull red and I use it. For exhausts I usually lighten it a little with white.
Keep up the awesome work!!!
M4A2Sherman

Richard, great build your doing. Congratulations on your Eagle rank, hope you have some time to get some palms to go with it.
Joe

Richard, an easy way to do a nice dust wash is to buy some cheap acrylic craft paints(available at dollar stores and micheals for $1) that are light brown colours (or anything that looks like dust, depending on what front your vehicle is). Thin this with water and apply on the whole vehicle. I use this and I like my results.
Have fun and keep up the good work!
M4A2Sherman

A for the rust on the exhausts I was referring to the box art. You said you have dust powders? They work well too.
M4A2Sherman

Hey Richard!

I think that the rust and dust looks great. I am glad to help you out! As for toning down the wash, you could try wetting Q-tips and rubbing it off, but try it in a small area or on your practice tank to see if it destroys the basecoat.
Glad to help!
M4A2Sherman

Rich, good job with that wash, makes it look excellent. Dont forget about those ladders too! they need some mud as well. Still waiting for this to take shape my friend.

looking good so far,
soldier on Richard!

very good. the figures look ok, but they're nothing special, so don't worry about messing them up. make sure you remove all mouldin marks and fill all the gaps, which it looks like you're already doing. the positions of the crew look a bit strange though. whats with the two guys leaning over the side? the commander looks like he's leaning odly too but i assume thats cos he's not stuck down. nice wash though. here's my favourite tip for you to try. if possible, get a solid graphite pencil from an artists store, one that looks like a normal pencil but has no wood. if you can't just find a very soft B pencil. then either rub it directly onto the model or rub it on some sandpaper and use your finget to apply it (the better way in my opinion, unless it's hard to get your finger into somewhere). panel edges, rivets, running gear, tracks and tools look great with a metalic sheen to them, it's incredibly convincing. this isn't quite the same, but you'd never believe that this

was once this

http://ultrawerke.blogspot.com/2007/08/rust-painting-tutorial-with-pigments.html