Ok, I'm working on my first tank model (Tamiya M-48A3) and I LOVE IT!!! :-) I just have one thing that's bugging me. When do you know when to put metallic scratches on a tank? Could every tank model have them, or would it depend on what the hull it's made out of? Also, would an M-48 have rust? I think the M-113 (my next model to conquer) was made from aluminum, right? So it wouldn't have rust on it. What was the M-48 made from? This has probably been asked before, but I'm a n00b and know nothing #:-)

Personally I prefer to add bare metal areas on parts I know are quite likely to be, as for instance on the handles to get on the tank. It depends also on how worn you want you model to be. Usually if you have lots of scatches visible you should have a very worn vehichle. It's also true that if you let fall something heavy and hard on the hull or the turret you can scratch the paint also if the tank came out of the factory yesterday, or if you damages the fenders, and so on.
In my view it's not 100% true that an aluminium made vehichle like M113 has not got rust on it. Only the hull of that AFV is aluminium, a lot of other parts like the exhaust and the grid around are often quite rusty, as some other parts on the upper hull as well...
Ciao

Every vehicle I have ever seen that has been in the field has scratches on it. Most run horizontally and are from brush, branches, and flying rocks. Some will happen when something falls on the tank and will be vertical. Then there will be ones caused by soldiers crawling around and sliding stuff around on the tank.

Most scratches do not go through the undercoating/primer layer and a good portion of those don't even go through the paint, they just compress it. To demonstrate what I mean, take the rounded end of a paint bruch and draw it with some force over a section of flat paint, you will see what I mean. If you think a scratch is heavy enough to go down to bare metal it can simulated by drawing a line with a graphite pencil. You can also use a pencil to indicate a little wear on sharp edges.

I find that most modern stuff doesn't have a great deal of rust on it. Most WWII stuff wouldn't be rusty either, but only because most stuff was built during the war and was still relatively new. After it had been around for several years, a WWII tank made of steel would have rust a'plenty. The M48 was kind of in the transition years, but I would say there would be some rust if it was several years old. One very important thing to remember is that with rust, a little goes a long way. Don't overdo it. As with all weathering techniques (except mud maybe) subtlety is the key to making a really good model.

Rob

My good buddy Obe had taught me something about scratches, and I find his method to be very effective. SInce I modelling German Armor exclusively, so I cannot really tell you about modern ones, but I think it should apply to it too.

For scratch on the camo color, using the base coat color to make scratches, and for scratch on the base coat, use either baremetal or graphite pencil to duplicate it. Obe has a way of using stretched sprue and dip in the color you wanna to make scratches, and just drag it randomly over the hull. Here is a pic of the effect.



as you can see the base coat is red primer, hence the scratch on the yellow and green are of this color. and scratches on the red primer is of steel color.

As for rust, well I am one of the strong advocate for not rusting you tank too much, as most of the war time tank usually don't survive that long to accumulate rust, and peace time tank in the operational unit, usually has good maintenance.

My 2 cents.

I am also a newbie to armour and I find the weathering debate amusing. As a modeller I attempt to replicate what I see in full scale. I generally view a model from a distance of 18" - 36". That means that my 1/35 model should look the same as a full size vehicle viewed from around 20 - 35 yards. How many scratches would you see at that distance? Also why does armour always have to be worn and shabby? When collecting data for my Centurion, admittedly post war, I have found more pics of clean/well maintained vehicles than I have of dirty/damaged ones. My research for the Cheiftain is also turning up many pics of clean machines. It must be just as accurate to depict a blemish free tank as one covered in muck and damage, cos once upon a time that tank was new, or just out of maintenance, or on parade. It could also be argued that many wartime tanks would have had so little time in action before being knocked out that they would not have had time to accumulate wear and tear.
Paul Owens excellent feature covers the ground well. I would rather make a model that replicates what my research has revealed than slavishly follow a fashion of making models that look like the work of other modellers.

With that I better go and hide for a while!

Regards Dave