¹⁄48

Staghound Mk. III

weathering

Next comes the chipping – I am not a fan of 2-tone chipping but here I decided to give it a try since the vehicle is monochrome. The original highlighted base color was mixed with few more drops of white paint which provided the base for the paint chips and scratches. After that I used Mr. Metal Iron paint (my favorite!) to finish off the chipping and scratches. Quite convincing, I think. On top of that a nice coat of matt varnish was applied (Mr. Hobby).

For the dust I used the technique described by Jose Luis Lopez – Tamiya enamel was mixed with enamel thinner in a 1:9 ratio and sprayed over the model. The model was set aside for 20 minutes and then with a brush dampened with enamel thinner I started removing the paint, trying to accumulate it in the areas the dust would normally accumulate on the vehicle. For the first round I used Buff + Brown enamels (60:40 ratio) and for the second I used only Buff. The enamel layer is very thin and it is a very realistic way to do the dust. Two days later, when the enamel was dry, I added some oils (brown, ochre and black tones) to vary the dust colors and add some streaking to finish off the weathering.

Conclusion

My first-look expectations with this kit were fulfilled 200%. I enjoyed every minute of assembly and painting. It was a great break from the 1/35 super-detailed models which I usually build and I hope Bronco produces more vehicles with the same level of detail in 1/48 scale – Cruiser tanks, Sd.Kfz.222, etc.

Armorama would like to give special thanks to DragonUSA for providing the kit.