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M4A3E8

I asked my dad (before he passed) about "rusty" equipment. He served in frontline combat in WW2, he said that stuff could get pretty filthy but he said he never saw rust. As he said when not in combat they were taking care of the equipment that would hopefully keep them alive, plus it gave guys something to do. In addition he said that the paint was very good quality, colors might slowly fade but that it did give the equipment very good protection. My Dad's contention was that the equipment wore out before it rusted. He thought that what a lot of people today looking at photos thinks is rust is actually dirt or mud. BTW my Dad also said that from what he saw of knocked out and captured German equipment the same thing went for their stuff as well. Oh just to give a time frame he was in NW Europe from about D+20 through VE Day.

Thanks Ran!

Thanks! I too prefer to show the model and not the mud, however depending the situation that type of weathering is called for.

I asked my dad (before he passed) about "rusty" equipment. He served in frontline combat in WW2, he said that stuff could get pretty filthy but he said he never saw rust. As he said when not in combat they were taking care of the equipment that would hopefully keep them alive, plus it gave guys something to do. In addition he said that the paint was very good quality, colors might slowly fade but that it did give the equipment very good protection. My Dad's contention was that the equipment wore out before it rusted. He thought that what a lot of people today looking at photos thinks is rust is actually dirt or mud. BTW my Dad also said that from what he saw of knocked out and captured German equipment the same thing went for their stuff as well. Oh just to give a time frame he was in NW Europe from about D+20 through VE Day. [/quote] Thank you for the insight!

Interesting that the earlier comments have been deleted. I thought that they added to the discussion.

Hmmm maybe there's a limit?

I was wondering the same thing. Still, kind of a shame that they'll keep long quotes and delete others if space is an issue (re: Photoguy1 and redraider's quote of him, etc. Anyone coming by later would have little reference for what has come before.

Well Frank maybe this area was meant to be a full fledge blogging area.

One poster remarked how a veteran said what modelers see as rust is actually accumulated grime. I would extend that to this representation as well. It doesn't so much yell rust as a buildup of crud with bits of rust in it. Over time there came water, then dirt and it all came together as a sort of brownish, rusty accumulation. Though whenever I see something like this I think of a vehicle just off the wash rack or drying in the sun after a heavy rain that washed off all the road dust. Driving one mile on a dusty trail behind another vehicle will cover a vehicle in dust. Then comes the rain and the dust gets washed away and now you're in a muddy field. Just can't win. But what gets me, if the tank is so free of road dust and dirt, why must the crew be such slobs as to leave huge honking fuel stains? (facetious Rhetorical question. The answer for the pendants is water washes away dust but not oil and fuel stains)

This is why weathering is a variable in modeling. We are representing an object in a single moment in time. One moment it is choked with dirt and the next moment it's not. Neither is wrong it's just a different moment.