I would like some tips on how to make tires and tank threads have a "worn look" meaning being in service for quite some time.

Paint them a dirty grey, or an idea would be to use a hobby knife and cut little chunks out to make it look like they have been "chewed" up. That idea would work for the rubber trakced tanks, like a Sherman. A Tiger tank, I would just paint the tracks a rusty steel color.

~Chip :-)

You could also cut little chunks out of the rubber on the road wheels (if the tank has them)as they would also have been damaged if in heavy use.

I paint the tires with 70%Humbrol Matt Black+30% MM Gunship Grey.it gives a worn look. For the tank tracks,I paint them in steel and weather in rust with pastels.

On wheeled vehicle as well as chunking, you could sand them down to remove a portion of the tread pattern then give them that grayish old look

Like the others have said, sanding, grinding and cutting (little tiny slices) will give you a more realistic look. I paint them flat black then shoot a dirty gunship gray over the tires and when dry I hit it lightly with some wet/dry sandpaper. This technique allows the "black" rubber portion to show through on the surfaces that would meet the road and keep the recessed areas (and side walls) that dirty gray over coat.

Gunnie is our resident soft skin expert and he'll most likely chime in with the expert opinion.

Thanks Sabot!

Tires and tracks are fun hobbes - here's five examples of quick and easy ways to model them. There is no hard and fast rule - and you'll adopt materials and methods that are comfortable for you to reqularly employ. I use acrylic paints, with simple water and pastels to render my finishes. I don't have to contend with long dry times, fumes, and toxicity. But there are lots of different ways to reach the same results - there truly are many roads to Rome...



This one is simply painting the tire flat black and weathering it with pastel chalks - in this case grey, white, and off-white pastels suitable for the sandy/dusty terrain. The flat black serves more as a shadow underneath the pastels and replaces the oil wash technique. Feathering the pastels is easier too - to vary the tone - and is different than the starkness of pin-washes with oils.



Here above and below, the "chunking" method is used. Flat files were applied to both cleanup the polyvinyl casting seam and to impart wear on the tire's tread. After the seam was removed and I "chunked" them to my liking - pastels were applied to the tread area and wiped away with a damp rag to leave the chalk in the recesses. Different terrain, truck, and wear.





Here, I served on Okinawa for four years, so I had plenty of opportunity to look at my own tires and how the elements affected them. This is the technique Sabot pointed out in his post above: a flat black base coat (for depth and shadow) oversprayed with a dark grey color for wear. I wore it down irregularly in places with some fine sandpaper. The coral on Okinawa is very sharp - and was more so when the US invaded Okinawa in 1945. It would easily tear a truck tire to shreds. The coral dust is also quite fine - and slippery - making driving conditions sometimes treacherous. Pastels are best for replicating the coral dust, and you could even "chunk-up" the tire tread too. However, remember that the Maintenance guys replaced these items quickly when worn because of the dangerous coral dust conditions.



For tracks, here's my T55A. Though these are all-steel - the same applies if they had rubber pads - you'd just pick out the rubber pads individually and weather them appropriately. It also doesn't matter if the tracks are white metal or plastic individual links - or the kit-supplied polyvinyl runs like I used here.

Flat Black is used as the base coat (again for depth and shadow to replace an oil-wash technique). I oversprayed these with a mixture of Metallic Grey and Flat Black to replicate the steel tone of the links. In different situations, I overspray with Flat Brown to replicate mid-surface rusting. After the steel coat dried, I applied brown and orange pastels to the track runs with plain water. You can substitute pastel colors here to match any terrain feature you wish to model. I let the pastels sit overnight, and then I come back the next day with an oil weathering application. My favorite is a near 50-50 mix of Burnt Umber and Silver oil paints. Silver alone is much too brilliant for this scale - but cutting it with the Burnt Umber imparts a worn metallic look to the highpoints of the tracks. With that, they're done.

Hopefully, not too long of a post for you. Just don't model your tracks and tires the same way all the time. Take some consideration for the elements and terrain your model subject was used and - and have some fun! There's many different ways to make your wheels & tracks interesting for the observer to look at.

Gunnie

Wow, great post Gunnie. It's like getting a new Armorama article. Can't wait to try some of these.

On smaller tires (like 1/48 and 1/72 airplanes), I have sometimes heated them over a flame and pressed them against a flat surface to replicate sag/deformation under weight. It would probably be tough to do that with 1/35 scale tires, though.

Respect on those models gunnie very nice work love that dragon wagon.

Yes - kinda tough to keep an "even" footprint when you flip the model right-side up and set it down on a flat surface. Sometimes, one wheel winds up flatter than the other. There are so few vehicles that are set to run on such low pressure that the bulge becomes prominent - and so many more that display little to no depression at all that most probably don't consider modeling it often. I always fancied the idea of trying to cast resin versions for 1:35th scale like the True Details aircraft tires, with the depression, but I figure that would catch on like a lead balloon...

Gunnie

that was a very good post Gunnie as Sabot told ..................and Faust is right telling Armoarama is the best military modelling magazine.