Giuseppe

Hello I am a beginning armor modelernand want to say thanks for this little tutorial. And I am watching with interest I know My first kits will be rough but hope to get better, and cannot wait to see how this comes out.

@Brett : you're welcome
@Eugene : you make me happy, because that's exactly the purpose of this job


In the end i coul not resist do add a bit more "life" : some SDW Tan color was applied with a thin brush to add some scratches. I avoided a metallic color, to keep the whole subtle.

These touches were not randomly applied, but kept into the overall scheme of enhancing shape.

The engine cover plate is subject to continuous heating and cooling, and the paint is prone to wear. This way I wanted to reproduce some oxide-exudation.

I used REBRO RUST, in the range of Structured Filters.
Here one of the possible ways :


At first I place the tank to set that plate perfectly horizontal. Then the selected area is mostened with water.





A bit of filter is placed onto the surface





Some more water is token with the brush, and used to help the filter spreading. Not too much, it must not leak down.






A little of filter + more water = a thin pattern. It will show itself without need of further intervention, just let it dry.

I wanted to build an op. cobra sherman, and a Cullin hedgerow device was a must.
It was easily built with a forex sheet, from Tank Zone n.1 scale plans.





Cause it is a protruding part, subject to shocks and frictions, I primed it with a lot of BLACK PRIMER, followed by a glazing of RUSTBROWN PRIMER, just for toying around a bit.






An overpray of SDW RUST tones, at the lowest possible pressure, will give it a soft and stained rust effect.





An uneven bare-netal effect, due to the cutting torch, is made with a brushed fast pass of METAL PATTERN







And the device finally fitted to the supports of the towing cables.




The small rust streaks you see on the front plate, plus some other here and there, were also made with SDW RUST n.3

This really makes me want to get some of the True earth products. You're doing an amazing job.

@ Jonathan :

As I mentioned before, this tank is set in op.Cobra, July-August 44. After consulting a lot of period pictures, I then applied only a slight dust effect.

A "liquid dust filter" was used. I first tried DUSTY DESERT, but then reverted mainly to the darker DUSTY ROAD.
And here I'll show you three methods of application.

The first one is made with the mentioned filter, thinned in some water, and simply used like a broad wash. For tracks, a priming with MATT LOCK is suggested, since the tracks bare plastic has a lot of surface-tense.






The tank is set on a side, and washed the same way. Then left to set in that position before treating the other side.




No need to touch it any more : the filter will tend to "move" and build up a little towards the crevices and recesses, leaving a thin and shaded effect of dusty particles.








One last note: here, as for the previous filters, a medium matt or satin-matt paint base (like the sdw colos used) is ok. So avoid pure layers of clear gloss like chinese lacquered furniture of the Quing dynasty...

Coming out really well. I really like it!

@ Guy : thanks

Here a further way to use the Liquid Dust Filters.

A bit of water is placed around a raised object like the turret fan, on a larger surface then actually needed for the dirty effect





A minimal amount of DUSTT ROAD, or any other DUSTY color, is placed on the same spot





Let it dry without further touching it, and you will get dirty particles around the object







The reason of this technique is to get the idea of dust, but without covering the whole in dirt (...and missing all the color and filter jobs done previously)

Very good work.

Third way to use True-Earth's Liquid Dust Filters.

The hull side is first dampened with a thin veil of water. (here you already see some dirt, since I've done it in two thin overlapped layers, for a better control).





Then thin streaks of filter are added, in a downward motion.
Do very sparingly, since a so thin glaze of this filter is almost trasparent/invisible while fresh.





The minimal amount of water is enough to let the filter spread a bit, without leaking ...And when dry








Obviously more can be done, but I wanted only a very subtle effect.

There's a couple figures into the box, with a nice and relaxed attitude. I decided to add them for the sake of some more "life" to the model.

Not a great effort in painting, since they will be half-sunk into the hatches.
I was going fast and had to use my smartphone. I apologize for blurry pictures.


EEEEEEEEEasy paintjob for uniforms. A basecoat, SDW Shading Colors mix, is painted and stretched over the primed figure (MULTIMEDIA PRIMER).






Directly over this fresh layer, deep shadows added mixing base color with black. (very deep and contrasted shadows, due to figures laying into hatches)





Same way for lights. No concern about blending colors, just put them where needed.




Then some minutes beside a moderate warmth (a box with a 25 watt bulb)




Most of the blending is made by the interaction of these paints and heat (mind SDW colors can be used like oil colors).

At this stage we can adjust and refine the whole where needed.

Hi Giuseppe, the Sherman looks great. The subtle effects you added blend nicely together for an outstanding weathering job. I just received my order of True Earth paints, and I am looking forward to using them on a couple of projects in the pipe. Great job on the Sherman. Best regards....Dale

Excellent Sherman,Oneo the nicest finishes on a Sherman i have seen for a long time.
I like this very much.
Great job sir.
Richard

thanks Guys !

Now we are coming towards the end of the whole finishing job.
This is what I consider to be the most important step in shape enhance of a model : selective washes.

We need clean water, a n.1 brush and a tone of Transparent Filter suited for tank's colors and contrasts. Here I opted for DARK AGEING.
The black-circled area was already treated and dry, just to show the difference in depht and detail-stand-out such an effect can add.





The area to be treated is dampened with just a bit of water.






With the same wet brush, pick up a bit of pure-unthinned filter and distemper it into recesses and around raised objects.

The wet brush helps the filter flow down the bristles, and gets a sort of thinning.
The water-wet surface avails the filter to flow into recesses and further dilutes the wash.








One more word : We all had the habit of wash = capillarity, Capillarity helps a wash to flow into recesses, but this same feature "pushes" the color outside. This is why many washes have to be cleaned with a solvent around edges, due to staining and shroud.

Transparent Filters instead, when used as washes, have a minimal capillarity. We avail it with water, and "driving" a bit the filter with the brush around the objects.
The counterpart ? Cleanliness. Once placed them in the right spot, and checked for overdoing, just forget them.

so, your trying to sell paint? Right? Where can I get a bottle of rainmarks?

Easy to make them on your own without having to buy them, saving you a little bit of money out of your wallet. I like a really thinned-out "dirty" Gray/Tan mixture, with just a tiny drop of Semi-Gloss added to help with an easier and smoother flow into various recesses. My final sprayed-on "Flat-Coat" obliterates any glossiness from this process. Try it on painted scrap, first...

PS- Gino, FANTASTIC WORK! I've been following your forum with great interest, and your processes remind me very much of my own, except for my uses of enamel-based products, instead of the acrylics... Love what you've done with this old, and sometimes derided kit!

No Sir,
I just show you how it works and it's features.

true-earth.com is less expensive than michtoy.com, including shipping.

Very nice Sherman, and thank you for showing us how to get there.
I like the goods, and have quite a few of them.

I have a request though...

The challenge I have is the printing of the labels...it is probably done with a thermal printer and disappears quite easily, leaving me with an interesting puzzle to figure out what's what...

Harald ...I sincerely wonder where you keep your products... Here I have up to six years old product bottles for durability testing,left at open air on a stash, with a still sharp printing.

And here some pictures of the almost finished tank.
Somewhat naked to be an US tank, but all extra charge will be added later, as soon as some infantrymen figures will be modified to fit over the hull.

I would really like to purchase all of the products you have used, but wallet restrictions are tight.

I'm curious what you used for the metallic finish on the tools and .50cal.

filter STEEL PLATE DARK