I have noticed on many dioramas involving AFV's the amount of rust on vehicles. I think that most people over do the rust and also tend to not consider how the vehicles are mounted by their crews and where the high use areas are. I spent some time in the British army working on Chieftains and I can assure that rust was a very minor issue. paint does an excellent job of keeping rust at bay and tanks accumulate many coats. Even after 6 weeks of winter exercise little rust was present. High use areas are the front glassis plate where crews normally mount the vehicle, the turret top and the engine decks. These areas are very dirty as they see many boots walking over them and the engine decks are normally well oiled. This oil transfers to the boots and gets distributed over the high use areas. Many vehicles that I see in dioramas tend to have 'even' finishes all over and this simply is not prototypical. just thought that you may be interested in this observation

I agree. I admit I admire the skill that some of the builders exhibit when they make a tank look well used, battered with flakes and chips and rust runs but that doesnt represent reality I imagine. Most of the tanks in WWII, for instance didnt survive long enough to get that beat up and if they were that battered they were usually deralict hulks on the battlefield some years after the war.

I really think subtlety is key and at 1/35 scale that can be hard to represent. My stuff tends to end up looking more weathered than reality.

Paul and David, this is an 'interesting' subject for armor and vehicle modelers. What does get rusty on tanks that one can paint? My first hand experience has been on USA M60A1 and M60A3 tanks.

WWII: Exhaust pipes and antenna wells. What I have read and seen in photos the exhaust pipes would get hot and cool due to engine use and would have the bare metal exposed to the elements that would rust fast and stay that way until replaced. Also some German tanks exhaust pipes (like the Panther) would get very hot and the exhaust pipes would get white. The radio antenna wells on the M4 Sherman tanks would have water settling in and cause some surface rust. This is based on my experience on the M60 tanks. Also the exhaust pipes on the M4 would get a rust color as the German tanks.

Modern: The M60A1/A3 would get surface rust from water gathering in the turret fan exhaust located on the back right side of the turret. That is what leads me to think the M4's antenna well to get surface rust. Also the M60 series of tanks had a vehicle heater exhaust pipe that was located on the driver's right side that would get hot and then rusty.

Tracks: If the tracks are not new, they will rust quickly after the tank has moved. The part that rusts are parts that have metal to metal contact like the end connectors and center guides. My experience with the M60 T-142 track is the metal part of the track would get rusty after parking the tank a couple of days (in Germany). It would take some time driving the tank to get the rust off and then the track would have a metalic color. This is driving on the roads and trails in Germany. Any cross country maneuver would get the tracks dirty and hide any rust or metalic color.

Any one else have experience with 'rusty' parts on tanks or armored vehicles.

Duane / Dave
Regarding the rusty areas we are discussing I actually found very little rust anywhere. Exhausts on Chietains were very substantial items and were ususlly coated with a film of diesel oil so never rusted. The only time rust might get a hold was if a tool / storage bin got whacked and the paint was removed and then obviously rust started to show. The tracks were generally sqeaky clean. The action of tracks rolling over the wheels polished the insides shiny bright and the churned up soil and dust did a pretty good scouring action on the outside. I think that too many people are basing condition on static vehicles exposed to the elements for long periods when rust has had a chance to get a hold. I think the eastern front in winter would be an exception but the summers were baking hot and dry on the russian steppes. Lots of rust looks good but if the distribution of dirt over vehicles was considered more and the rust toned down this would represent more closely the real thing. Having said all this I am a firm believer in doing what pleases you, after all this is a hobby!

When I was in Germany, we painted the tanks frequently (pre-CARC days). I think in the year and a half we had M60A3TTS tanks while I was there, we painted the tanks twice. Afterwards, we bought rust colored paint on the economy to add realistic weathering to areas of high wear (joking).

The tanks were washed constantly and the tracks often had surface rust on the metal parts the next day. You avoided bringing a mudcaked tank into the motor pool. That just meant you would have to sweep up the motor pool and shovel up any mud. Tank parks were some of the cleanest concrete areas you would ever see.

Rust is one of the most overused weathering techniques employed by modelers. Although some rust is inevitable no tanker worth his salt would run around in some of the “rust buckets” I’ve seen in modeling magazines or in shows. The next overused technique is paint chipping. Looks great in pictures and on the show table – but it’s not very realistic. And since I’m on this soapbox – the most nagging weathering technique that drives me crazy is the windshield wiper half moons. Like nobody can wipe the windshield?