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Tasca Sherman III

Weathering and tracks

Weathering is a tricky business. I wanted a tank that was lightly dusty from fighting its way into town, so no real “wet” mud build-up. To start, I used a grimy wash made from Pollyscale Grimy Black and some Boxcar Red, diluted heavily with “wet” water made from de-ionised water with a few drops of Ilfotol flow enhancer added. (I got a pint bottle of Ilfotol years ago – it should see me through a career! Works great for thinning carpenter’s glue for woodworking too… Of course, Kodak Photo Flow is just as good.) This grime wash only just about wetted the tank, toning down the green like a filter and settling into the crevices. With the tank still damp I could then add pin washes of black and of “dirt”, again acrylics with “wet” water. The results look a bit gaudy, but an overall subtle dry-brush of dirt & dust colours soon tames it. The final touch was a targeted overspray of thinned Tamiya Earth (XF-52) mainly on the sides and lower parts to add recent road dust.

Then came those tracks. I glued them into loops first, and found that the Tasca vinyl takes a little time for the plastic cement to get a grip. I found it best to clamp the joints overnight, and used some plastic strip between the teeth on the inside to spread the force until the next day. Painting started with an airbrush of Tamiya NATO Black (XF-69) followed by Red Brown (XF-64) on the end connectors. (I used an old business card held behind the teeth to shield the rubber pads. Scrubbing my “earthen” fingers reminded me I need to get some rubber gloves!) Once done, I then sprayed on thinned Tamiya Earth mainly on the outside pad faces and end connectors. Then I dry-brushed the rubber chevrons with a mix of Vallejo’s Dark Rubber and some black to simulate where road contact has scraped the dirt off.

The bogies got the same treatment as the hull, but with the added touch of some gun-metal along the wheel rims and edges of the return roller where contact with the track teeth scrapes the paint away. The roller faces were then streaked with reddish-brown rust where the tracks grind over them with all that grit. After the bogies had been glued on I added the tracks and sprockets, saving the idlers for last. These were then twisted on their eccentric-crank mounts to tighten up the track, just like the real thing. A drop of liquid cement on these mounts sealed the deal. Note however that the tracks “float” above the return skids and rollers – I had to glue them down around the top of the idler and the track skids. I’ll also need to add some ballast to keep it sitting squarely, since the tracks tend to pull the outer wheels up, but this is less pronounced once the tracks are glued down.